MAFFEO DRINKS: The Lab

The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast is a leading drinks business podcast delivering actionable insights for drinks leadership.For founders, directors, distributor MDs, and hospitality leaders navigating the tension between bottom-up reality and top-down expectations.20+ years building brands across 30+ markets. Each episode features drinks builders: founders, distributors, commercial directors, sharing how the drinks industry actually works. Not the conference version. Honest conversations.Insights come from sitting at the bar.Beyond episodes: advisory for leadership teams, subscription with episode deep dives and principles to navigate your own reality.Beer, wine, spirits, Low and non-alcoholic.Bottom-up Insights & Episode Deep Dives at https://maffeodrinks.com

MAFFEO DRINKS: The Lab is a business podcast hosted by Chris Maffeo, with 139 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Chris Maffeo hosts MAFFEO DRINKS: The Lab, a business show with 139 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #130

  How To Measure Trade Advocacy And What Actually Builds Brands In The On-Trade | Claire Warner | EP 130

  Aug 16, 202650 minS4

  Join The Maffeo Drinks Substack for Episode Analysis! Chris Maffeo is welcoming Claire Warner, the founder of the Good Measure Guild and former Global Head of Advocacy at Diageo. Why does the on-trade keep getting deprioritised despite being where brands are actually built? Why is advocacy impossible to measure and what happens to brands when they stop investing in it? Are cocktail competitions a genuine learning tool or a shortcut that breaks the ecosystem? And why is the middle tier of bars the most overlooked commercial opportunity in the industry? Find all episodes featuring Claire Warner at themaffeodrinkspodcast.com. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and introductions 00:33 The Good Measure Guild, measuring what matters in hospitality 05:21 The measurement problem, why the on-trade gets deprioritised 07:10 Advocacy and brand cycles, why the bartender is the first customer 13:50 The overlooked middle tier and secondary cities 18:30 Competitions as a learning tool 27:14 Beyond competitions, building brand relevance 32:27 Training and minimum standards 37:19 Consumer education, no and low 47:11 The social score vision 49:28 Closing thoughts This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS . MAFFEO DRINKS is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries with 130+ episodes. How the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom. Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section. You get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast), this analysis, and the full catalog of 130+ episodes, each one translating industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com or on Substack .

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  Episode #7

  Fifty Loyal Accounts Beat Three Hundred Weak Ones | Kaitlin Wilkes | The Ada Coleman Project | Bottom-Up Cut #007

  Aug 9, 202613 minS5

  MAFFEO DRINKS is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries with 130+ episodes. Honest conversations about how the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom. Kaitlin Wilkes is Co-founder of The Ada Coleman Project. “I would rather have fifty accounts pouring two to three bottles of my spirit a week because they love the cocktail,” says Wilkes, “than three hundred accounts that are selling a quarter of a bottle.” 00:00 Why is the drinks industry actually two separate industries wearing one liquid as a disguise? 00:42 What changed when Kaitlin realized bartending and brand marketing were different worlds? 02:44 How does showing up authentically at a bar close the gap with a bartender? 03:58 Why do finance and marketing teams struggle to understand on-trade spend? 05:04 What’s the real purpose of flying a bartender across the world for a guest shift? 06:25 Why should a brand pick partners who genuinely fit, not just any account willing to say yes? 08:24 How should a small brand approach a bar’s menu when it can’t afford the listing fee? 13:32 Why would fifty loyal accounts beat three hundred weak ones every time? Find all episodes featuring Kaitlin Wilkes at maffeodrinks.com. Bottom up. This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS . Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section. For €100 a year you get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast) and get this analysis and access to the full archive of 125 episodes, each one translated from industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com or on Substack .

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  Episode #6

  Be Your Brand’s First Salesman, Then Fire Yourself | Paul Hletko | Few Spirits | Goza Tequila | Bottom-Up Cut #006

  Aug 2, 202616 minS5

  The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries worldwide with 125+ episodes. Honest conversations about how the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom. This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS . Paul Hletko is Founder & Distiller at Few Spirits and CEO of Goza Tequila “You will always be the best salesman for your product,” says Hletko. “Your job is to be so good at it that you have to hire three people to replace you.” 00:00 Why does a founder have to be the brand’s first salesman? 00:41 What makes a founder more credible than any brand ambassador? 02:50 How do you create demand before your team can even capture it? 03:16 Why do things that don’t scale still matter? 05:24 What does it mean to fire yourself when you hire someone? 07:35 How is a brand built bottom up while the business runs top down? 08:38 How do you segment the trade between Italian restaurants and college bars? 11:12 Why do you lose a customer the moment you forget your own occasion? 12:43 What does a distributor actually need before saying yes? 15:30 What’s the one question that actually gets you picked up by a distributor? Find all episodes featuring Paul Hletko at themaffeodrinkspodcast.com. Bottom up. Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section. For €100 a year you get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast) and get this analysis and access to the full archive of 125 episodes, each one translated from industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com

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  Episode #129

  How To Build A Craft Spirits Brand By Modernizing A Classic Category | Amaretto Adriatico | Jean-Robert Bellanger | 129

  Jul 26, 202655 minS4

  The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries worldwide with 125+ episodes. Honest conversations about how the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom. This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS . Chris Maffeo is welcoming Jean-Robert Bellanger, co-founder of Amaretto Adriatico, the new-generation amaretto brand from Puglia available in more than 40 countries. How do you build a brand in a category nobody is paying attention to? Why does drink strategy matter more than product quality alone? How do you manage a portfolio across different ABV levels and limited editions without losing focus? And why is reinventing something that already exists always more powerful than inventing something from scratch? Find all episodes featuring Jean-Robert Bellanger at themaffeodrinkspodcast.com. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction, BCB Berlin and launching Amaretto Adriatico just before COVID 01:33 Reviving the amaretto category, the Amaretto Sour and what Jeffrey Morgenthaler changed 04:57 Why most amaretto is no longer made with almonds and the gap Amaretto Adriatico was built to fill 08:17 Movement as a brand strategy, how new recipes recruit new drinkers into a category 13:25 Spotting cocktails versus inventing them, Campari and the Negroni, Aperol and the Spritz 18:36 The three SKU portfolio, how Adriatico Roasted, Bianco and Zero came about 24:20 How different markets consume the product, Italy versus UK versus America 30:09 The role of the homeland, why being distributed by Velier in Italy opened every door after 33:44 Boots on the ground, why distribution without people on the field is useless 40:00 Collaborations as a brand building tool, from cognac cocktail kits to chocolate in duty free 49:45 Limited editions, Evan Williams bourbon cask, Caroni, Bonollo Grappa and Maison Ferrand cognac 53:00 The US push and final thoughts, go where nobody else is and do not read IWSR data alone Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section. For €100 a year you get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast) and get this analysis and access to the full archive of 125 episodes, each one translated from industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com

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  Episode #5

  How To Get Consumer Insight In Real Life Instead of PowerPoint | Paul Thomas | Suntory | Asahi | Imperial Brands | Bottom-Up Cut 005

  Jul 19, 202620 minS5

  The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries worldwide with 125+ episodes. Honest conversations about how the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom. This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS . Paul Thomas is Global Consumer & Shopper Insight Director at Imperial Brands, formerly Global Insight Director at Beam Suntory. Why do bartenders know more than a hundred-thousand-pound research report? How does the Japanese concept of Gemba change the way brands gather insight? What actually happens when marketers stop hiding behind PowerPoint and go to the bar? Find all episodes featuring Paul Thomas at themaffeodrinkspodcast.com Bottom up. Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section. For €100 a year you get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast) and get this analysis and access to the full archive of 125 episodes, each one translated from industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com

  ListenShow Notes

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