Clover

Catskill Distilling

Spent some time on the phone with the distillery's owner.  Like some of the other distillery owners we've met, he's most passionate about distilling, and his advice centered around his business model.  He did give information about bottles, an insurance broker, and liquor lawyer, which was very helpful.

WSWA

It stands for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America.  This trade group is the national trade organization representing the wholesale tier of the wine and spirits industry, and is an invaluable resource.  Three Meadows joined some time ago.  I find the daily email briefing useful for keeping my finger on the pulse of what's happening in the liquor business.  Recent news: maple is the trendiest whiskey flavor for fall, and the author of "Fifty Shades of Grey" is launching red and white wines  ("Red Satin" and "White Silk").  Erm, there's more serious stuff in there too :-).

Lucky 13!

Just got word that a thirteenth person has decided to invest!  (Happy dance!).  That leaves just seven more spots until we've reached our minimum capital needed to START.  Onwards!

Queen Ann's Lace

Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation

On Friday we met with Brian Gates, of the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation.  Besides his current position, Brian was at Bacardi for 20+ years.  He gave us lots of valuable advice, including

- Get NY right -- be great locally; start with concentric circles

- put the product in mouths as quickly as possible

- do no advertising, it is too expensive.  Put the money into promotions.

- he gave great advice on distribution, and was impressed with our distributor connection

- branch out to other states in 2 - 3 years

- we must have a gift box for the holidays

- talk to other distillers to get their advice

- there are NY State grants for business, but it all hinges on the number of jobs created

- and he invited us to the "Beer, Wine and Spirits Summit" he's organizing in a month's time

It turns out he knows our distributor contact and was effusive in his praise.  (Before he learned we'd already talked to this distributor, he told us "if you can get him interested in your brand, you are set!")

He also told us we'd already avoided a lot of traps and were well on our way.  

Another meeting where we left feeling pretty great about where things were.

Farm View

And more wildflowers

Hudson River Ventures

from their website

Hudson River Ventures is a new venture capital fund concentrating on Food, Beverage and Agriculture investments in the Hudson Valley.  Right up our alley!

We contacted them over the summer, and met with their CEO in August.  He gave us some economic development leads that we are following up.  And while sadly they are not funding us now, they did encourage us to recontact them when we are further along.  In hiindsight we were probably a bit premature in speaking with them, as their announced investments have all been to ongoing businesses, some many years in operation.

Farm Flowers

Advice from a Scottish Distillery

In a word:  don't spend money on advertising.  Instead, capitalize on marketing and PR opportunities. This confirms our approach, which is to do little to no advertising in the beginning stages (but to do word of mouth marketing instead).

Here's their story of how Yellow Submarine Whiskey came to be:

Their approach seems to have worked:  Remy Martin bought them a year ago for $90 million.

More wildflowers

All these flower pictures come from the farm.  I take them as I walk to feed the retired horses that live here.  This particular flower is blooming next to their watering trough.

Yes, we've talked to him!

And his number one piece of advice was to do a Brand Brief.  Tom and I are hard at work on it as I write, and are lucky enough to work with my husband's ex-girlfriend who owns her own boutique branding firm.

Wildflowers on the farm

Investor Funding: HalfwayThere!

When I started the funding phase of Three Meadows' development I had many thoughts, along the lines of "I can't do this!" or, "I've never raised money before!" or, "This will be so hard!"   I have a very wise friend, who said "Instead of saying 'this will be so hard' why not say, 'this will be easy'?"  So I tried replacing all my doubts with "this will be easy."

And, so far, that's pretty much how it has been.  After only two months we have commitments for over half the amount we need to get started!

One of the literal Three Meadows

Photo courtesy of Meredith Tiedemann

Isn't it magical?

In which we visit the largest local retailer

Whose owner very generously gave us an hour of his time.  We learned they would carry us, they'd let us do tastings, they could fulfill online sales for us, confirmed our price point was right, and would do promotions, and told us to only start with the 750 ml sized bottles.

The best part, though, was when he tasted our vodka.  He sipped it thoughtfully, noted its slight sweetness, and then said it was "surprisingly smooth" with a "smooth finish".  It was so smooth he asked in mild disbelief how we did it.  And he said he, someone who drinks straight vodka, would drink it.

So, we are feeling pretty good right now.