Ready To Drink Podcast

The Ready To Drink Podcast is built for founders, operators and leaders navigating the next era of beverage. These are honest conversations with the people doing the work, building brands that last in a crowded and regulated marketplace. Hosted by twenty-two year adult beverage industry veteran Nate Fochtman, the show pulls back the curtain on what actually drives growth - distribution strategy, regulatory navigation, sales velocity, and consumer trust.

Ready To Drink Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 78 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.

Unknown Host hosts Ready To Drink Podcast, a business show with 78 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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  Ready To Drink Podcast

  Beer First. Gluten Free Second. | Otherwise Brewing's Aaron Gervais

  Aug 19, 202624 min

  Send us Fan Mail Aaron Gervais is the CEO and co-founder of Otherwise Brewing, one of the only true gluten free breweries in the country. On this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast we get into what it actually takes to build a gluten free beer brand that competes on taste first, not just dietary need. Aaron walks through the two years of test brewing it took to land on a gluten free lager that could stand next to any craft beer on the market. He breaks down why "gluten reduced" brands lost consumer trust and why true gluten free production won out. We also cover the Breakthru Beverage distribution deal that grew Otherwise Brewing's sales nearly 3x, the planogram strategy for deciding when to lean into the gluten free label versus letting the beer speak for itself and why wholesale velocity now matters more than shelf placement alone. If you're building a beverage brand, launching into wholesale, or just trying to figure out how a challenger brand earns retail trust, this conversation has real answers. What we cover: Why "delicious first, gluten free second" was the founding principle at Otherwise Brewing The two year R&D process behind their gluten free brewing method Why gluten reduced beer brands failed and true gluten free won Scaling through Breakthrough Beverage across 16 states plus Canada Planogram strategy: when to market as gluten free and when not to The real cost of beer sales: why it's still a shoes on the street business Aaron's advice for anyone starting a brewery or beverage brand in 2026 Connect with Otherwise Brewing: Website: otherwisebrewing.com Instagram/TikTok: @otherwisebrewing This is the Ready To Drink Podcast. New episodes drop weekdays covering the alcohol, hemp derived and functional non-alc categories from the operator's seat, not the press release. Ready To Drink Podcast: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com Support the show Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

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  Ready To Drink Podcast

  Cannabis Secret Shopping Exposes Why Dispensaries Are Losing Customers | Tammy Puyear, TPP Services

  Aug 14, 202658 min

  Send us Fan Mail Most dispensaries have no idea what their own store feels like to a first time customer. Tammy Puyear runs TPP Services, a secret shopping company for cannabis dispensaries and brands in Missouri. She built a business around a blind spot the entire industry ignores: nobody inside the four walls of a dispensary experiences it the way a real customer does. In this episode we get into why cannabis retail keeps replicating the same sterile, transaction-first experience that killed craft beer's soul for a decade, why loyalty programs built on discounts miss the entire point of loyalty and why an $8 price hike from a dispensary group protecting its own house brand can kill a new brand's momentum overnight. We also go deep on the stuff nobody wants to say out loud: vertical integration and 70% margin demands squeezing producers in Missouri, the entrapment feel of federal rescheduling paperwork and why hemp beverages are quietly becoming the on-ramp into the cannabis consumer journey whether the industry admits it or not. I share my own story too. Four years sober from alcohol and opiates and still working in the beverage industry every day and why I think hemp beverages and dispensaries need each other more than either side wants to admit. What we cover: Why secret shopping cannabis dispensaries surfaces problems leadership never sees The retail vs. brand side of dispensary secret shopping in Missouri Why merchandising in dispensaries still lags a decade behind craft beer and CPG The underutilization of loyalty data and what real retention looks like How a dispensary group jacked an $8 price and killed a competing brand's sales Vertical integration, 70% margins and the cartel lawsuit reshaping Missouri cannabis Rescheduling vs. descheduling and why the paperwork feels like entrapment Why hemp beverages are the beginning of the cannabis consumer journey Pennsylvania HB 2309 and building a bill that lets everyone compete GLP-1s, sobriety and what a shrinking drinking population means for this industry Connect with Tammy Puyear and TPP Services: Website: Tammy-P.com YouTube: The Real Run THC This is the Ready To Drink Podcast. New episodes drop weekdays covering the alcohol, hemp derived and functional non-alc categories from the operator's seat, not the press release. Ready To Drink Podcast: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com Support the show Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

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  Ready To Drink Podcast

  Alex Kllanxhja on Drink Entrepreneurship: Leaving Corporate Beverage Sales to Build Pipeline Autopsy

  Aug 13, 202649 min

  Send us Fan Mail Alex Kllanxhja spent 14 years in beverage sales, cutting his teeth as one of the first reps at Oskar Blues before moving into chain accounts and national sales at Breakthru Beverage. Then his employer doubled his workload with zero extra pay, handed him a small trophy for it and that was the moment he decided to bet on himself. Now Alex runs Pipeline Autopsy, a fractional VP and CRM consultancy working across craft beer, wine, spirits, and hemp-derived THC beverages. In this conversation we get into what actually breaks inside a beverage sales pipeline, why landing a chain account is far harder than people think, the hidden costs nobody warns new brand founders about, and why he'll turn down a good product if the brand's values don't line up. We also talk about running lean as a solopreneur, why limiting your own expectations makes you better at sales and why cold outreach volume still beats cleverness every time. Topics covered: Building a CRM culture inside a growing craft beer supplier What chain accounts actually demand versus what founders think they demand The hidden costs behind every new point of distribution Walking away from a corporate sales role after burnout Running a fractional VP practice as a solopreneur Why cold outreach volume still wins Connect with Alex Kllanxhja: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alex-kllanxhja Website: pipelineautopsy.com Email: hello@pipelineautopsy.com The Ready To Drink Podcast covers the people, brands and policy shaping the beverage alcohol, hemp derived and functional non-alc categories. Ready To Drink Podcast: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com Support the show Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

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  Ready To Drink Podcast

  From Gym Buddies to Brewery Owners: The Battle River Brewing Story | Toms River, NJ

  Aug 12, 202636 min

  Send us Fan Mail Gary Morrison, co-founder of Battle River Brewing in Toms River, New Jersey, joins the Ready To Drink Podcast to tell the story of how three business partners with zero homebrewing experience built a 25-tap craft brewery in the heart of a revitalizing downtown. Gary breaks down why Battle River went wide instead of picking a defined beer style, how a late night text about a beer that would never be brewed again turned into a business plan, and what it actually takes to navigate New Jersey's fragmented brewery license laws. We get into the state's restrictions on food service and events, the lobbying fight behind those rules, and why New Jersey brewers have to build differently than brewers in states like Pennsylvania. We also dig into Battle River's self-distribution model, the mistakes they made scaling too fast across every county before pulling back to their core market, and why Gary believes every craft brand should understand franchise law and treat itself as an asset before signing with a distributor. Topics covered: Battle River Brewing's 25-tap, wide-portfolio approach and the "seat for every ass" philosophy How three non-homebrewers and gym buddies built a brewery from scratch New Jersey brewery license restrictions and the on premise liquor lobby Choosing downtown Toms River to help revitalize a historic Revolutionary War era town Self-distribution strategy, early scaling mistakes, and pulling back to the core market Franchise law and why a brand is an asset the moment it signs with a distributor Battle River Brewing | BattleRiverBrewing.com The Ready To Drink Podcast covers the people, brands and policy shaping the beverage alcohol, hemp derived and functional non-alc categories. Ready To Drink Podcast: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com Support the show Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

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  Ready To Drink Podcast

  High Risk Payment Processing for Hemp & CBD Brands with Henry Mashburn | Ready To Drink Podcast

  Aug 11, 202651 min

  Send us Fan Mail Henry Mashburn is Co-Founder of Alternative Horizons Group (AHG), a payment processing firm built for high risk industries like hemp and CBD. He co-founded AHG two years ago after cutting his teeth in the CBD and hemp payments world for the past seven years. On this episode we break down what payment processing actually does behind the scenes and why it matters so much to hemp beverage and CBD brands trying to scale online and in retail. Henry explains card not present transactions, the corporate ladder of agent groups, processors and sponsor banks, and why your merchant category code can make or break an audit. He shares the questions every brand owner should ask before signing with a payment processor and why so many established hemp businesses have no idea who their agent is or what their fees actually look like. We also get into age verification technology like Blue Check Verified, why D2C sales matter for brands that cannot compete in retail yet, and how the industry is showing up in DC and state capitols across the country to fight for hemp beverage regulation. Henry shares his own story growing up in Peru, Honduras and Suriname, playing goalie for Honduras in back to back World Cups, and walking on at Michigan before landing in payment processing by accident. This conversation is proof that the people building the infrastructure behind hemp and CBD brands are just as important as the brands themselves. Real relationships, real risk and real human connection. Connect with Henry Mashburn on Linkedin AHG Pay: AHGPay.com The Ready To Drink Podcast covers the people, brands and policy shaping the beverage alcohol, hemp derived and functional non-alc categories. Ready To Drink Podcast: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com Support the show Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

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