Business of Drinks

Control states can feel like one of the most confusing parts of the drinks business — even for experienced operators.
They represent 17 states and roughly a quarter of U.S. spirits sales, but they don’t all work the same way. Some states own the retail stores. Some operate through agency stores. Some act more like wholesalers. Each model changes how brands need to think about listings, pricing, store count, broker relationships, data, cash flow, and growth.
In this episode, we’re decoding the control state playbook with Ashley Glickman, Founder & CEO of Control States Consulting Partners. Ashley has worked across all 17 control markets, from brokerage and supplier roles to control board meetings, sales strategy, and data analysis. Today, she helps brands understand where they can win — and what they need to do before they enter.
For founders and sales leaders, one of the biggest takeaways is that control states are not simply another version of open markets. You are entering a structured partnership, with defined expectations and performance metrics.
Ashley explains why shipments don’t equal sales in bailment states, why velocity matters more than broad distribution, and why going into too many stores too early can hurt your brand. She also breaks down how to use state-level data, prepare for a control board pitch, and follow through after getting listed.
The conversation also gets into the upside. Control states can create leverage: centralized buyers, consistent pricing, statewide marketing programs, auto-replenishment, and data that helps brands make better decisions faster.
If you’ve ever looked at terms like bailment, agency stores, listings, control boards, or special orders and wondered what they mean for your business, this episode is for you.
You’ll learn:
- How retail, agency, and wholesale control states differ
- Why velocity is the metric control boards care about most
- How to avoid the cash-flow trap of bailment inventory
- Why “more stores” is not always the right growth strategy
- What a strong control board pitch needs to include
- How brokers, suppliers, and state boards really work together
- How to compete more effectively — and profitably — in control markets
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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.
Erica Duecy LinkedIn
Instagram @ericaduecy
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.
Scott Rosenbaum LinkedIn
Caroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.
Caroline Lamb LinkedIn
Instagram @borkaline
If you enjoyed today’s conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you’re listening, and don’t forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

Chinola Fresh Fruit Liqueurs has grown by doing something that sounds simple, but is much harder to execute: Building a brand around one very specific trade problem, then proving that solution account by account. 
The brand has racked up double-digit growth every year since its founding, ending 2025 at 40K cases, and projecting +37% growth in 2026 to 55K cases. But the more interesting part is how Chinola has built that momentum.
Chinola didn’t grow by chasing every account, every market, or every flavor trend. It grew by giving bartenders a fresh-fruit liqueur that could deliver acidity, consistency, and real fruit flavor without the operational headaches of fresh prep.
That focus shaped the entire business. Chinola started with passion fruit, spent five years and 2,000 test batches getting the liquid right, and built its early momentum in the on-premise — where bartenders could understand the use case, put it on menus, and reorder. Today, roughly 60% of the brand’s sales still come from on-premise, which tells you a lot about how Chinola has built its credibility.
In this episode, Andrew Merinoff, Co-Founder and CEO of Chinola, breaks down what it really takes to grow inside the three-tier system. The real work happens account by account, earning menu placements, supporting the trade, following up at the right moment, and proving that the product can sell through again and again.
That’s why Andrew pushes back on the idea that more points of distribution automatically equal progress. Andrew says he would rather have 30 accounts that move 300 cases than 300 accounts that barely move product at all. For Chinola, the growth equation has been about volume, visibility, and velocity — and knowing which accounts can actually deliver one or more of those things.
The conversation also gets into the realities of expansion. The addition of new mango and pineapple SKUs presented new challenges, with the products requiring years of development, and facing consistency and supply chain issues. Andrew discusses how the brand overcame those problems and continues to scale.
For founders and sales teams, this is a useful case study in focused growth. Chinola’s rise shows how a brand can use the on-premise not just for awareness, but as a proving ground — and how disciplined execution can turn a single clear use case into a scalable business.
For the latest updates, follow us:
Business of Drinks website (sign up for our newsletter!)
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Business of Drinks LinkedIn
Instagram @bizofdrinks
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.
Erica Duecy LinkedIn
Instagram @ericaduecy
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.
Scott Rosenbaum LinkedIn
Caroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.
Caroline Lamb LinkedIn
Instagram @borkaline
If you enjoyed today’s conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you’re listening, and don’t forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by Ryan Looper, Chief Growth Officer at De Maison Selections, for a tactical conversation about how to sell better in today’s drinks market.
Ryan has seen the business from multiple angles: restaurant service, top-performing New York sales rep, distributor leader, and now national growth strategist for a leading importer. His central thesis is this: sales are not the goal; sales are the result. The real work is building ongoing, useful dialogue with accounts.
Ryan breaks down what separates average reps from the ones who consistently win placements. His advice:
• Think like a buyer. Taste like a buyer. Great reps don’t just taste for quality. They taste for fit: where a product belongs, what problem it solves, and which buyer will respond to it.
• Track the person, not just the activity. Calls, samples, and follow-ups matter. But the real advantage comes from understanding who the buyer is, what they say they like, what they actually buy, and how they run their program.
• Treat accounts like a portfolio. Ryan’s advice is to keep building a diverse account base — because restaurants close, buyers move, programs shift, and placements turn over. His shorthand: “Always be opening.”
• Move beyond features. Organic farming, native yeast, small production, and place-based stories may matter. But in top accounts, those cues are often table stakes. The harder question is why a product matters to this buyer, in this program, right now.
• Use objections to deepen the conversation. When a buyer says they already have too much Champagne, that may be true in the moment. But it won’t be true forever. Ryan explains how to keep the dialogue alive without forcing the sale.
• Know when to say no. Saying yes to everything does not scale. Ryan makes the case that boundaries can build trust — and that a well-placed “no” can sometimes lead to better business.
For founders trying to gain traction, distributors building stronger teams, or salespeople looking to improve their craft, this episode is packed with practical guidance on how to build better relationships, smarter account strategies, and more durable sales.
For the latest updates, follow us:
Business of Drinks website (sign up for our newsletter!)
Business of Drinks YouTube
Business of Drinks LinkedIn
Instagram @bizofdrinks
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.
Erica Duecy LinkedIn
Instagram @ericaduecy
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.
Scott Rosenbaum LinkedIn
Caroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.
Caroline Lamb LinkedIn
Instagram @borkaline
If you enjoyed today’s conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you’re listening, and don’t forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

In this episode, we sit down with Jesse Bongiovi, Founder of Hampton Water Wine Company and Lily Pond Group, to unpack how a brand that could have been written off as “celebrity wine” — backed by his father, Jon Bon Jovi — turned into a durable growth engine that’s bucking industry trends.
Hampton Water is now at ~150,000 cases globally, growing ~20% year-over-year, distributed in 60+ countries, and built on a model that looks very different from how wine brands are typically scaled. During the pandemic, it became the #1 selling rosé on Wine.com, while also building one of the largest digital footprints in the category — now the most-followed alcohol brand on TikTok (~400K+ followers), according to Bongiovi — with some ~600,000 followers across platforms.
But the real story is how that growth was built — and what it indicates about how wine is actually selling today.
🔶 Demand-first, not distribution-firstHampton Water didn’t start by chasing placements. It built consumer pull first — through digital, DTC, and community — then used that demand to unlock distribution.
🔶 Awareness doesn’t scale — repeat purchase doesEarly visibility (including the Bon Jovi name) opened doors, but it didn’t drive the business. Growth came once the product earned credibility and consumers came back for a second and third bottle.
🔶 Most consumers aren’t buying wine the way the industry thinksWith ~86% of buyers choosing based on label alone (and another ~10% factoring in price), according to Bongiovi, the strategy shifted toward reducing friction — making the product easy to recognize, choose, and bring into any occasion.
🔶 Sell the occasion, not the categoryHampton Water isn’t positioned around varietal or region. It’s built around moments — what you’re drinking, where you are, and who you’re with — making wine easier to engage with for a broader audience.
This episode is a case study in how a modern wine brand scales — by aligning with how consumers actually behave, not how the industry expects them to.
For the latest updates, follow us:
Business of Drinks website (sign up for our newsletter!)
Business of Drinks YouTube
Business of Drinks LinkedIn
Instagram @bizofdrinks
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.
Erica Duecy LinkedIn
Instagram @ericaduecy
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.
Scott Rosenbaum LinkedIn
Caroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.
Caroline Lamb LinkedIn
Instagram @borkaline
If you enjoyed today’s conversation, follow Business of Drinks wherever you’re listening, and don’t forget to rate and review us. Your support helps us reach new listeners passionate about the drinks industry. Thank you!

What actually makes a buyer say yes?
In this episode of Business of Drinks, we sit down with Erik Segelbaum, founder of Amalfi Beverage Company and creator of Certo Cocktails, to break down how sales actually happen in the drinks industry when you’ve been responsible for a $100M+ beverage program across nearly 50 venues, trained top-tier sommeliers, and now have your own product on the line.
This is a look at selling from the buyer’s seat — how decisions get made, what gets ignored, and why so many pitches never land.
His starting point challenges how most people approach sales: “It is not about your product strengths. It is about understanding the buyer’s needs.”
From there, Erik walks through how strong reps approach accounts differently — often long before they ever introduce a product.
Why top performers spend time in accounts first, observing how they operate before ever asking for a meeting

How buyers evaluate products in terms of time, revenue, and ease of execution — not just taste or story

Why leading with discounts or accolades can weaken your position instead of strengthening it

The conversation also gets into how relationships actually work in this business. As Erik explains, a single order is one thing. Being the person a buyer calls first — and keeps coming back to — is something else entirely. That difference is what determines who gets placements, and who keeps them.
Erik also pushes on how the industry thinks about pricing and profitability: “You don’t put percentage points in the bank.” He explains how buyers think about total dollars, repeat orders, and turnover — and why those factors often matter more than hitting a target margin on a single sale.
One of the most memorable moments comes from a stadium example. Watching a bar take minutes to produce each drink, Erik calculated how much revenue was being left behind simply due to speed of service. The gap ran into the tens of thousands of dollars over a 20-minute window.
Throughout the episode, Erik returns to a simple idea: Strong salespeople make themselves useful to the buyer. “Make the case for why this makes sense for them.”
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Improving Revenue Through Transactional Psychology, Part 1 (p 14) 
Improving Revenue Through Transactional Psychology, Part 2 (p 14) 
Improving Revenue Through Transactional Psychology, Part 3 (p 14) 
Improving Revenue Through Transactional Psychology, Part 4 (p 16) 
Improving Revenue Through Transactional Psychology, Part 5 (p 16) 
Tips to Maximize the Profitability of Your By-The-Glass Program (p 20) 
How to Price Pours and Control Costs by The Glass (p 16)
Understanding Blended Cost of Goods and Sales Frequency (p 16)
For the latest updates, follow us:
Business of Drinks website (sign up for our newsletter!)
Business of Drinks YouTube
Business of Drinks LinkedIn
Instagram @bizofdrinks
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.
Erica Duecy LinkedIn
Instagram @ericaduecy
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.
Scott Rosenbaum LinkedIn
Caroline Lamb, contributor: Caroline is a producer and on-air contributor at Business of Drinks and a key account sales and marketing specialist at AHD Vintners, a Michigan-based importer and distributor.
Caroline Lamb LinkedIn
Instagram @borkaline