129: Is Your Drinks Brand Actually Growing? With Danelle Kosmal
transcript
show notes
How do you know if your drinks brand is actually growing?
It sounds like a simple question. But in beverage alcohol, the answer can get complicated fast.
Shipments may be up because inventory moved into distribution. Revenue can rise because of a price increase even as volume declines. And a brand can add dozens of new accounts without generating enough velocity or reorders to make those placements sustainable.
In this episode of Business of Drinks, we talk with Danelle Kosmal, Consultant at 3 Tier Beverages, about how to use data to understand what’s really happening in your business — and distinguish true consumer traction from growth that may look better on paper than it does in the market.
Danelle spent more than a decade at NielsenIQ, ultimately leading its beverage alcohol practice, and later served as VP of Research at the Beer Institute. She brings a deep understanding of the datasets available to drinks companies, as well as their limitations.
She explains why no single metric tells the whole story — and why emerging brands, in particular, need to know which numbers actually matter.
We get into:
🔶 Why distribution is only the beginning — and velocity is critical to understanding whether a product is working
🔶 What shipments, depletions, and scan data each tell you
🔶 Why revenue growth can mask declining volume
🔶 Why repeat rate may be one of the best measures of real consumer traction
🔶 How to diagnose whether slow growth is coming from distribution, price, promotion, placement, or demand
🔶 Which numbers matter most when pitching retailers, distributors, and investors
🔶 How smaller brands can access useful data without paying for more than they need
One of Danelle’s most important points: Data isn’t strategy. The goal isn’t to accumulate more reports or build bigger dashboards. It’s to use the right information to understand what’s working, what isn’t, and where to focus next.
For drinks entrepreneurs trying to build healthier, more sustainable growth, this episode is a practical guide to knowing what the numbers are really telling you.
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Erica Duecy, co-host: Erica Duecy is founder and co-host of Business of Drinks and one of the drinks industry’s most accomplished digital and content strategists. She runs the consultancy and advisory arm of Business of Drinks and has built publishing and marketing programs for Drizly, VinePair, SevenFifty, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies.
Scott Rosenbaum, co-host: Scott Rosenbaum is co-host of Business of Drinks and a veteran strategist and analyst with deep experience building drinks portfolios. Most recently, he was the Portfolio Development Director at Distill Ventures. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of T. Edward Wines & Spirits, a New York-based importer and distributor.
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