Ryan Mason

Exciting news from Craveworthy Brands As many of you know, I love to hint at our next big moves. Some might question this approach, but I believe it’s crucial to show my commitment to pushing our team and our dreams to new heights. Our latest acquisition is a game-changer, bringing Taim and Hot Chicken Takeover into our family! This strategic move will supercharge growth for our beloved Soom Soom and The Budlong Southern Chicken providing them an extraordinary platform to thrive. Additionally, it accelerates the expansion for Sigri Indian BBQ, offering immediate opportunities for two to three new locations. We’re also setting the stage to launch Costeño Rojo, testing a few locations to refine our concept further. But it’s not just about growth—it’s about people. We’re thrilled to collaborate with the fantastic teams at Taim and Hot Chicken Takeover. Their passion and innovation are exactly what we need to reach new heights. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together with this incredible talent. Stay tuned. We’re just getting started! #CraveworthyBrands #BusinessGrowth #Acquisition #FoodIndustry #Leadership #Innovation #RestaurantBusiness #Teamwork #Entrepreneurship #BrandExpansion

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The Double-Edged Sword of On-Premise Sales for Small Liquor Brands The on-premise market, while offering significant potential for small liquor brands, comes with unique challenges related to time, cost, and inventory turnover. Securing on-premise placements often requires extensive relationship building with bar owners, managers, and beverage directors. This can be a time-consuming process involving networking, cold calling and attending industry events. To introduce a new product to on-premise establishments, brands often need to invest in sampling events, cocktail competitions, and other promotional activities including a huge investment in time make account visits. These can be costly, especially for smaller brands with limited marketing budgets and employee resources. To address these challenges, small liquor brands should consider targeting specific bar segments or regions, leveraging social media and content marketing as well as collaborating with influencers, bartenders, and other industry professionals to accelerate brand visibility and drive sales. By understanding the time and cost associated with on-premise placements, small liquor brands need to develop effective strategies to navigate this competitive market and achieve long-term success. Alternatively, a targeted spend and off premise strategy might prove more effective to meeting corporate revenue objectives.

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I recently had the opportunity to pen an article for Forbes Business Council. It was fun to reflect back over a couple decades+ (ack! am I that old?) working in the world of DTC retail. I’ve been able to see the scale and speed of a Fortune 5 (Amazon 🚀), a community-focused consumer co-op (REI 🏕️) and some upstart, innovative models somewhere inbetween (The Pro's Closet ♻️). What have I learned? TLDR: brick and mortar ain’t dead, and in fact many of the principles of the best Main Street, mom-and pop shops, apply at scale… they’re just really difficulty to replicate consistently. IMO Naked Wines 🍇 is in the sweet spot, bringing the efficiency of direct-to-consumer to connect our cadre of rockstar, independent winemakers to a growing network of discerning, premium wine-drinking angels. The muscle of scale + the personalized value of hyper-local… Win. Win. 🏆 #NakedWines #ShopYourValues #SupportIndependentWinemakers

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KFC’s largest domestic franchisee’s restructuring leads to HQ layoffs. KBP Foods’ footprint has grown to more than 1,000 restaurants, including KFC, Taco Bell, Arby's, and most recently, SONIC Drive-In http://ow.ly/Yg0Z105PcLR

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Craft Declines Accelerate Through Late April; A Look at Price Swings in Circana Scans Craft beer scans declined -3% in the four-week period ending April 21 in multi-outlet and convenience stores, tracked by market research firm Circana. Volume, measured in case sales, tumbled -4.7% in the period, the firm added. - I post links to resources that I find helpful for our industry- some are mine, some are others. Just because it's posted here does not mean I created the content. Enjoy! https://lnkd.in/eYznQR3 #CraftBeverages #NotYourHobbyMarketing #BeerBusiness #BeverageMarketing #BeverageSales #BeverageDistribution #BeverageBusiness #Consultant #Cider #BevAlc #AlcBev

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Edible® ~ Top 10 Cities for Franchise Growth ~ Fruit was just the beginning...#franchising #fruit #flowers #gifting #franchiseopportunity #investmentopportunity #passion #cakes #growthstrategy #businessmodel #entrepreneur #franchise #bestinclass #franchisestrong #EdibleFamily #greatcompany

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Excellent insights here, pivot or die~

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An importer and/or wholesaler often times has access to supplier resources that can help drive sales. As suppliers can play an active role in sales enablement, it behooves the importer/wholesaler to actively collaborate with suppliers' team to schedule in-store tastings and/or client visits, online tastings and/or education/trainings. The suppliers' staff and/or ambassadors are extra feet on the ground that can generate meaningful sales. It sounds stupid but they are often overlooked and/or poorly communicated with, which amounts to a waste of a ressource.

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As wine marketers, most of us look to refine our approach to marketing & to increase wine consumer engagement. Authenticity & more accurate alignment with consumer values are front & center to our efforts. Many of us are completely revamping our ‘strategic plans’ but still much work is necessary on the farming side of our operations to build the necessary quality & better align with our marketing statements. Organic Grape growing & transitioning to organic farming is fast becoming not only a fashionably good way to market wine (& wine grapes), but a trend in the California Wine Industry for the benefit of grape & wine quality. ​ Quality still matters. It sounds almost silly to state this but so many of our large commercial wine programs make statements of ‘sustainability’ but are still lacking in the level of quality that ‘turns consumers heads’. ​ For many marketers, the terms 'sustainability' or 'organic' are terms that look great on the package and in the marketing materials but consumers are saavy today & can smell a rat a mile away. ​ I’ve left Biodynamic & Regenerative off the list because producers that go to the extent of these certifications most often align their quality shelf presentations with exceptional quality. ​ "What do you mean by that Nick!?" ​ Part of where I’m going with this is that most of us in the wine industry completely understand the terms but most of 'us' (me included) have much to bridge in how we apply our practices (& more importantly, critique our own wines & then write the purchase orders that aptly state our commitment to true sustainability) Sustainable grape growing is actually easier to do than the paperwork involved with achieving the certification (for small growers). Easy to say & much harder to do, is grow grapes organically at high enough quality, producing a wine that historically would cost $25-$45+ a bottle & sell that same wine for $15-$25. Whether or not this is attainable with California wine doesn’t really matter. Why? Because the U.S. retailers are requiring it. “Affordable Luxury” is a price point of $10-$25/bottle. Personally I’ve turned all of my own production planning to no more than 10% barrels to accomplish exactly what the consumers are asking for & what the retailers are requiring. The gap between the requirements of the market and the ability to grow & produce wines in Ca to meet the broad market volume is massive. Foreign producers utilize the current advantage of subsidies & weaker currencies selling into the strong U.S. dollar. US producers must compete and find ways to grow a better grape, pay a decent wage, and produce at high quality with low overheads at the winery, meeting the consumers request for greater sustainability. ​ For more information about organic & sustainable rules, go to https://ccof.org or; https://lnkd.in/gMswNdiD …and for more information on producing luxury grade wines at “Affordable Luxury” price points, go to; https://TheWinefirm.com

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Proactive recall prevention is key to protecting your brand and customers—let Manning Resource help you stay ahead of the risks. Recent recalls across food, beverage, veterinary, and pharmaceutical industries highlight the ongoing risks of contamination, labeling errors, and undeclared allergens. From Salmonella in pet treats to lead in cinnamon powder and E. coli in produce, these issues emphasize the importance of proactive risk management. At Manning Resource, we specialize in recall prevention strategies and operational assessments to safeguard your brand and customers. Don’t wait for a recall to strike—contact us today at ManningResource.com to reduce risk and ensure compliance. #RecallPrevention #FoodSafety #BrandProtection #ManningResource https://lnkd.in/eBCtWNWc

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Join us in honoring industry professional, Jose Lopez, by participating in our upcoming event. You can sign up to play or sponsor a hole, with proceeds supporting the Jose Lopez Never Stop Rising Scholarship and cancer research. Your involvement will help foster future industry leaders and contribute to the fight against cancer. For more information on the cause and details on how to participate or sponsor, please see the flyer below. #NeverStopRising #NeverStopFighting

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Auto-Rinse™ isn't just the fastest way to make cocktails--it also saves water! After the water rinses the tins, it flows down to melt the shaker ice. ♻️💦♻️ It actually uses the water twice before it goes down the drain.💡 So not only do you get an improvement in workflow, you no longer have to waste gallons and gallons of hot water to melt shaker ice.🙌🏼 And Auto-Rinse™ is in a class of its own because it's the only equipment that can rinse 2 mixing tins + the strainer.🏆 Lower your ticket times so your servers can spend more time engaging and selling--instead of waiting in line for their drinks. Learn more about automatic rinsing here: https://lnkd.in/et9MuYD #bars #restaurants #cocktails #foodsafety #restaurantdesign #bardesign

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Looks like the Temperance 2.0 movement is happening and I do not see this being good for the Adult Beverage business. I do wonder if fast food as an example will be called out as well, clearly substitute fast food and alcohol and you now have "No amount of fast food is acceptable for a healthy lifestyle." Can we also reference the benefits of resveratrol? Cheers! https://lnkd.in/gp9NHm-M

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A powerful independent known for a balance of brands and private label. It will be interesting to see the government view on this acquisition as food inflation has been under significant scrutiny lately. While the focus is more on retail food cost, this will certainly get attention. #foodservice #independents #southeast.

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you can reduce cook times by up to 50%

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Game Over for Game Day Vodka ! And now popular vodka distiller Never Forget Brands, which manufactures GameDay Vodka and Spiked canned vodka cocktails, on July 10 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy facing judgment liens from the National Football League's Buffalo Bills, owed $560,000, and New England Patriots affiliate Kraft Sports and Entertainment, owed $450,000.   The debtor, which filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina, also owes unsecured claims to other NFL teams, including the Denver Bronco's affiliate Stadium Management Co. ($500,000,) Baltimore Ravens ($150,000,) New Orleans Saints ($150,000) and Indianapolis Colts ($110,000.) Additionally, the company faces a judgment lien for $377,678 owed to Revel XP, a college hospitality, tailgating and ticket package provider.   All litigation involving Never Forget Brands is subject to an automatic stay while the bankruptcy case proceeds.   The Isle of Palms, S.C., debtor listed $14.8 million in total assets and $13.7 million in total liabilities in its petition. The debtor's largest unsecured creditors include glass bottle manufacturer Pavisa USA, owed $2.1 million; collegiate sports marketing company Learfield Communications, owed $2.1 million; and Acceleration Group, a specialty lender for the craft cocktail industry, owed over $1 million.   The debtor did not state a specific reason for filing bankruptcy in its petition.

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