Brandon Amoroso sits down with Pedro Garcia—Managing Director USA & Canada for global wine powerhouse Felix Solis Avantis—to unpack the playbook he’s used to push a family‑owned Spanish brand into Costco, Sam’s Club, and dozens of regional chains. Pedro reveals how deep distributor know‑how, retailer‑focused “experience trips,” and relentless price‑to‑quality discipline can help any wine entrepreneur outmaneuver the three‑tier bottleneck, survive margin‑crunching headwinds, and prep for the coming DTC and “fourth‑tier” e‑commerce wave. Tune in for hard‑won lessons on activating chain buyers, choosing the right moments to invest in digital, and building a sustainability story that resonates with modern consumers. Perfect listening for founders, sales leads, and portfolio managers looking to scale smart in 2025’s hyper‑competitive U.S. market.
Here's what you'll learn:
🗺️ How to navigate—and sometimes outsmart—the U.S. three‑tier labyrinth.
🏬 Pedro’s playbook for landing family brands in Costco, Sam’s Club, and other big‑box chains.
✈️ Why vineyard “immersion trips” turn distributors and buyers into lifelong evangelists—and how to run them on a budget.
⚖️ The price‑to‑quality formula that keeps shelf space during margin‑squeezed times.
☀️ How solar power, low‑carbon logistics, and QR‑code transparency elevate your sustainability story.
💻 A realistic timeline for layering in DTC and emerging “fourth‑tier” e‑commerce without alienating wholesalers.
🎯 Content moves that keep your winery discoverable on TikTok and ChatGPT searches.
🚀 Where indie producers can outmaneuver celebrity labels and private brands in 2025.
Mores resources at Drinks.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brandon (00:00):
Hey, everyone.
Thank you for listening to theDrinks.com podcast, the business
of online alcohol.
I'm your host, Brandon Amoroso.
And today I'm talking withPedro Garcia, who's the managing
director of USA and Canada forFelix Solis.
(00:21):
Thanks for coming on the show.
Pedro Garcia (00:23):
Hey, Brandon.
Thanks for having me.
Brandon (00:25):
So before we dive into all the exciting stuff that
we've been chatting aboutpre-episode, can you give
everybody a quick backgroundjust on yourself and sort of
your career journey?
Pedro Garcia (00:35):
Sure.
My name is Pedro Garcia.
I'm a first-generationCuban-American, born and raised
here in South Florida, and I'vehad the privilege of being in
the adult beverage industry forthe last 23 years.
This is all I've ever done.
My first job was as a stock boyat a fine wine shop in Pine
(00:55):
While I was getting myundergrad, spent about two years
there, then got the opportunityto go work at National
Distributing before they mergedwith RNDC, had a grocery route
there, spent about 18 months onthe grocery side of the business
and then got promoted throughlots of tenacious attempts to
catch the attention of the finewine manager at National to give
(01:17):
me an opportunity in my early20s.
And I was lucky enough toexhaust them and talk them into
giving me a chance and then Iwas able to spend a lot of time
there.
about seven years on the finewine side of the business at the
wholesale side.
During the fine wine side of mycareer, you know, represented
incredible portfolios likeCobran, you know, Penfolds,
(01:37):
Constellation, incredible brandslike Frejeanet, Blackstone,
Sasakaya, and so forth.
During my time at the fine winedivision, we, you know, we lost
a bunch of portfolios toSouthern.
Then I got the itch to want tolearn the on-premise side of the
business, and I got anopportunity to go work on the
on-premise side of the businessfor Republic National and
(02:00):
finally learned that last bit ofthe distributor business that I
didn't have under my belt.
And thankfully to thatdecision, that kind of propelled
me into the supplier jobbecause during a work with on
the on-premise side, I met agentleman by the name of Arturo
Masolo, which ended up being amentor and a very, very good
friend for me who actually gotme my first supplier job after
(02:22):
RNDC for a startup Spanishcompany who had no presence in
the US market and were lookingfor somebody young and
aggressive who wanted to take aswing at it.
And I remember Art bringingthis to me.
And I'm like, Art, man, youknow, I can't do that.
I have no idea how to launch abrand from scratch into the U.S.
market.
You know, I just havedistributor experience.
(02:44):
And this great friend that heis, Art's like, look, you know,
just prep your resume, get someideas ready, and I'll help you
fine tune it.
I think you can do it with myguidance.
And I was lucky enough to getthat chance.
I worked for that company forabout 18 months.
And then I got another offerfor a Argentinian group here
(03:04):
based in Brico called Transnet.
and transnational foods, andtransnational foods had a
division of adult beveragescalled Pampa Beverage, and Pampa
Beverages had the exclusivecontracts for Quilmes beer in
the US.
We had some incredible winebrands from the north of
Argentina in the Cafayata Valleycalled Dalla Vaca Vineyards,
(03:25):
which is high altitude, Saltawines, really, really incredible
portfolio.
And they also had a winery inSan Rafael.
So I took the position there asa regional sales manager
working under the National SalesManager, which is a gentleman
that's still in the business,incredible friend called Paul.
And Paul and I together grewthat business very quickly.
(03:46):
Then Paul moved on to anothersupplier opportunity.
I naturally went up the ranksand got promoted to oversee the
entire operation at PampaBeverage, continuing to scale
our distributive footprint, ourretail relationships with
whether it was a regional, anational, or a local chain that
had at least three to fourpoints of of distribution for us
(04:07):
to present our brands.
And then I got anotheropportunity shortly about the
five year, four year mark withPampa Beverage.
I got an offer for a groupcalled Puerto Viejo Wines, which
is a family from Chile.
And they have incredible brandshere in the U.S.
called Puerto Viejo.
(04:28):
They have Los Riscos.
And I was brought on as theirdirector of national accounts
with the sole purpose ofactivating their chain business
and expanding the distributornetwork into new markets.
So, you know, my prioritieswere simple.
More chain business, moredistributors, go attack as hard
(04:51):
as you can.
And I was only with thatcompany for 11 months because
during my tenure that I got aphone call on a Sunday from Art
Massolo.
I'm like, what's Art doingcalling me on a Sunday?
You know, it's about 4.30 on aSunday and I'm getting a call
from Art.
Although I love Art, I wasn'treally perplexed by his call.
(05:11):
And, you know, fortunately, Ipicked it up and I'm like, yeah,
Art.
He's like, Pedro, you're goingto love me.
I've got your next opportunity.
I'm like, what are you talkingabout?
He's like, yeah, I'm here inProWine with my buddy, Felix
Solis Ramos, which is our, youknow, the marketing director and
sales director for the company,the son of our current CEO, Don
(05:34):
Felix.
And he's like, I'm with mybuddy, Felix.
We've been chatting.
He's been looking for somebodyfor the U.S.
And I told him he has to hireyou.
And I'm like, well, thank you.
I really appreciate that.
And that was it.
You know, it was just somerandom call on a Sunday.
And about a couple of weekslater, I got a follow-up call
from Art telling me that agentleman called Paul Cox was
(05:56):
going to reach out to me andstart the process.
I didn't really hear anythingelse for like about another two
to three weeks.
And then fortunately, thisgentleman, Paul Cox, which was
the export director at that timefor Felix, at least overseeing
the U.S.
market in Canada, gave me abuzz.
They put me through the ringer.
They worked with a recruitmentfirm called the Benchmark
(06:19):
Recruitment out of Napa.
And Don and Kent were awesomethroughout the process.
And I was lucky enough to sellthem on my vision of how I would
take make this incredible, youknow, top 10 global wine company
and establish them in the U.S.
market and grow ourdistributive footprint and, you
know, break into the verydifficult regional and national
(06:42):
chains.
And, you know, eight yearslater, here I am.
Brandon (06:46):
How much of your experience on the distributor
side has lent itself well tobeing on the supplier side now?
Pedro Garcia (06:54):
Oh, wow.
That's a great question.
And I think that knowing everyaspect of the distributor, you
know, grocery, fine wine, whichis the independent market and
the on-premise, I think that'sgiven me a tremendous advantage.
You know, a lot of suppliers,you know, don't even have
distributor experience.
And for somebody to have, youknow, experience in all three
divisions of a distributor, Ithink it's very handy.
(07:16):
At the very least, it justgives you another weapon or tool
to pull out of your arsenal oryour toolbox to think about
innovative ways to just getattention, you know, whether
you're trying to get attentionof the manager or the sales
team, and or if you're justtrying to increase points and
distribution, they're all justvery different.
So I think that, you know, theway in which my career
(07:36):
developed, which is literallyfrom the bottom up, you know,
just throwing boxes in awarehouse and learning has
really armed me and prepared mewith a good background to just
ultimately be creative and anddisruptive as I grow this
business and as I try to do mybest.
Ultimately, I just considermyself a very strategic thinker
(07:57):
and somebody who doesn't have aproblem doing something
differently than it's been doneand disrupting the traditional
status quo in the industry.
Brandon (08:09):
Yeah, and the three-tier system is such a
unique infrastructure that hasbeen created in the U.S.
that is, you know, notsomething that if you only were
selling internationally and thenyou just came into the U S like
you're, you're just notfamiliar with.
Pedro Garcia (08:24):
Yeah.
But you, I feel like you baitedme with the way you, you, you
said that, that comment.
Yeah.
You know, the three tiersystem, it's, you know, it's,
it's outdated for God's sakes.
It's prehistoric, you know,it's a brick and mortars, you
know, waiting for their, youknow, waiting to take advantage
of their zip codes in theirareas.
And, uh, it's been that wayforever.
And a lot of these people stilldon't want to change in the way
(08:46):
they do business.
Um, So it's a shame.
And then when you try toexplain the three-tier system to
European companies who areaccustomed to doing business as
direct as possible, then thatjust becomes a super fun and
comical exercise because theyjust don't get it.
Brandon (09:07):
What was it like?
having to go through that.
Oh,
Pedro Garcia (09:11):
man.
You know, at the beginning, youknow, sitting down with, you
know, my owner is, you know, oneof the most incredibly business
savvy gentlemen I've ever met.
And I mean, our current CEO,Don Felix, is just a
hardworking, incredibly talentedman that, you know, has built
(09:31):
This top 10 global wine companyon the back, on his bare back,
through blood, sweat, and tears,and nothing but just hard work
and ethics.
This man is in his mid-70s.
and still works 10 plus hourdays and he makes it look fun.
So Don Felix is extremelyunique and his son Felix, which
(09:53):
is my direct report.
Felix is an incredibly dynamicprofessional.
Felix has a great diversebackground, covering many
different types of retailers anddistributors and markets.
So where they're very savvy,it's still extremely difficult
to make them understand thethree-tier system and why, you
(10:15):
know, this person needs to makea minimum margin in this, you
know, state like Ohio whenthere's, you know, a mandated
margin for, you know,wholesalers and retailers or
control states and, you know,why we have to be careful, you
know, in Georgia and in Virginiaon who we, you know, sign a
contract with because thenthey're going to have the rights
of that brand.
And, you know, why is thisretailer, you know, working on
(10:37):
penny profits?
This is crazy, you Why don'tthey invest a little bit?
So it was challenging, but atthe end, they trusted in me to
do what was necessary toultimately achieve our strategic
goals, which were...
you know, in phase one, whichwas simply to increase and
(10:58):
activate distributors.
We knew that we will not be aviable player in the U.S.
market if we weren't extremelyeffective early on and
activating distributor partnersquickly because it was only a
matter of time.
And I'm thankful that I wasable to deliver that message of
urgency early on because, youknow, my fears proved to be true
(11:21):
through all the mergers andacquisitions in the space, you
You ask anybody trying to breakinto the U.S.
market now, and to get theattention of any wholesaler has
become almost impossible.
Brandon (11:33):
Yeah, it's been very concentrated.
And if you are not within thatsort of ecosystem, then you're
outside of it.
And it's not...
Something that I would beenvious of anyone right now
who's trying to break into theU.S.
market in 2025.
Pedro Garcia (11:49):
I can't even imagine trying to do what I
replicated in the last eightyears in this current
environment, to be very, veryhonest with you.
I think it'll prove to beextremely difficult.
Brandon (12:02):
You've been in the industry, you know, your entire
professional career.
What do you think has changedthe most in a positive sense and
that you're even excited aboutgoing into the future with
future change?
Pedro Garcia (12:16):
Look, what am I excited about the most is that I
finally start to see acontinuation of more interested
and more educated gatekeepersslash buyers at big regional and
national accounts finallywaking up to the fact that, hey,
you know, maybe the way we'vebeen doing it isn't the best way
(12:38):
at all.
And maybe if we want to beresilient in the face of
headwinds and all these globalups and downs, you know, i.e.,
you know, COVID, you know,logistical bottlenecks, you
know, tariffs and so forth, youknow, then the only way to do it
is to try to be as direct aspossible.
So, you know, I find that to beextremely refreshing because
(13:00):
I've been on the supplier now onthe supplier side now for over
14 years.
And at the beginning of that 14year tenure, you know, nobody,
nobody gave a shit, you know,part of my French, you know,
nobody cared, nobody cared.
And none of these buyers caredthat it was a winery direct
model that I was the winery andthe importer.
And that this is the future of,because of the fact that
(13:22):
there's no additional middlemanmargins baked into the pie.
But now, the businessenvironment has become so
challenging that they need topay attention to that supply
chain and ensure that they'resourcing their products the best
possible way.
So I'm excited about thatbecause that's been a big driver
(13:43):
of our growth.
And I'm excited, you know, Idon't see it as much, but I'm
very excited to see what, youknow, this fourth tier can bring
to the space, you know, andthat's where drinks comes in,
right?
You know, Zach, I remember thefirst time I ever met Zach out
in LA and I'm like, this guy isa genius.
This guy is onto somethingincredible.
And I think that the biggestgains in the adult beverage
(14:07):
space are still yet to come.
But it's, you know, it's about,you know, deploying the right
strategies and, you know,meeting the consumer where the
consumers are.
And I think e-comm is, youknow, is the answer.
Brandon (14:24):
Well, this leads me right into, you know, a little
hanging e-comm question, whichis, you know, there's still not
a huge penetration of e-commercewithin beverage alcohol.
If you look at the stats, youknow, every other category is at
least, you know, three to 10 X,you know, percentage of market
share in terms of sales actuallygoing through e-comm versus
(14:46):
traditional.
And I know as we were talkingbefore this, that, you know, you
don't have a direct presenceyet.
How do you see that changing?
Does it, is it, is it out ofnecessity?
Is it, you know, what are thecurrent sort of gatekeeping
factors to why there's not abigger presence for direct
(15:07):
within the US and really justinternationally as a whole?
Pedro Garcia (15:11):
I think that the bigger players have already
deployed theirdirect-to-consumer e-com
strategies.
I think obviously they've gotthe budgets and the teams to
launch these a lot faster thanemerging families and or brands
in the U.S.
market.
Felix Solis has not launchedits own DTC platform because
(15:34):
we're solely focused on winningwhere we're strong.
And Felix Solis, the way thatFelix Solis is built as a
company and how we've reallybuilt a reputation of success in
the 122 countries where wetrade is really on the
off-premise.
We're huge partners with bigbox retailers across the globe,
(16:02):
and that's where we wanted tofocus on first in the US market.
So Why did we aggressivelyfocus on winning there first is
because of the fact that we hadproven track records in Europe
and we can leverage that trackrecord to these gatekeepers in
the US market and try to force aseat at the table or at the
(16:25):
very least just a test programwith these retailers.
So is Felix Solis interested inhaving these direct-to-consumer
platforms?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
That is something we're goingto, we're going to look at
eventually it's not in the worksyet.
Uh, but I see that being a goodopportunity for us to drive,
you know, more of our premiumpremium plus brands from the
(16:46):
Northern deals like Rioja andLibera, Duero and Toro and
Valdepeñas, which is thebirthplace of Felix Solis as
well.
Brandon (16:54):
Yeah.
I think the online categorylends itself particularly well
to that mid tier price range or,or above.
Um, whereas when you're under acertain price threshold there,
is something that is unique tojust you walk into the store and
you're you know you're grabbingsomething off the shelf and
maybe it doesn't require as mucheducation or as much background
(17:15):
on the actual wine and then itcomes in to play a lot of other
factors that can help with youknow differentiation but you
mentioned uh and everybody istalking about it sort of the
headwinds that have been facinguh alcohol in general but
specifically wine in the us andnorth america at large What do
(17:36):
you view those as and how areyou combating those within Felix
Solis?
Pedro Garcia (17:42):
So, you know, obviously the entire wine
industry in the U.S.
is worried.
You know, we've been down, youknow, 8% to 9% for the last two
years.
You know, the younger, youknow, the data is the younger
consumers aren't drinking asmuch as, you know, the boomers
and that they're, you know, theyhaven't fully taken to wine
(18:04):
yet.
What are we doing to combatthis?
Honestly, look, we're nottrying to aggressively appeal to
the millennials or to theboomers.
What we're trying to do justgoes back to our original
mission statement.
And we're just trying to keepit as simple as possible.
We want to produce the bestwine at the best price so that
(18:27):
everybody can have a good bottleof wine on their table.
And we're going to deliver thatvia the best supply chain.
So I think that, you know, inthese types of tough, you know,
inflationary periods, you know,when we're having these down
turns and trends and negativetrends in wine consumption, I
think that consumers at the endof the day are intelligent.
(18:47):
And I think that consumers aregoing to want to look for, you
know, brands and products thatover deliver price point to
quality.
And that's what Felix Solis isfocused on doing.
We want to make sure that whenwe're selling that $12, $13
bottle of wine, it drinks like a$20 bottle of wine.
Yeah, I
Brandon (19:02):
think the consumer is increasing in terms of savviness
every year.
And, you know, the BS detector,as I like to call it, is, you
know, tenfold what it was 15years ago, 10 years ago, even
five years ago.
Pedro Garcia (19:19):
For sure.
That's a good point.
And, you know, and anotherthing, that's a wonderful point.
You know, I think the days ofthese, you know, corporately
owned private labels, you know,that have been, you know, owning
and penetrating the U.S.
market for such a long time, Ithink those days are coming to
an end as well.
You know, the youngerdemographic, the first thing
(19:40):
they do when they see anyproduct, not just adult Bev, is,
you know, is they Google it.
You know, they go online andthey want to learn about it.
You know, on the back of everybottle of wine that Felix Solis
produces and imports into theU.S.
market, we proudly display theFelix Solis name via QR code.
And, you know, the consumerscan track that back all the way
(20:01):
to our website where we'reredirecting them to the family
story.
This is a real family.
This family was built on hardwork, blood, sweat, and tears
back in 1952.
72 years later, we're a top 10global company and 100% family
owned.
You know, and I think for mostAmericans, that's an exciting
story because at the end of theday, that's just an American
(20:21):
dream, right?
Brandon (20:22):
Yeah, there really is the epitome of it.
And consumers, especially theyounger generation, are shopping
experiences more than they areany other generation prior.
You know, if you look at someof these big brand labels or
names, that's far lessinteresting to, you know, a
25-year-old who's moreexperiential driven and wants to
(20:44):
be part you know, goes beyondjust the label.
You know, it's like, what isactually behind that label?
And the status associated withlabels in the past is not
exactly what is being purchasednow.
Pedro Garcia (20:56):
Yeah, totally.
And, you know, and theseyounger consumers are also
looking at, you know, what'syour social purpose, right?
You know, what's your greenprint to reduce your carbon
footprint on the globe?
You know, and Felix Solis istaking strides in all those
areas.
You know, we're going to launcha solar farm to help reduce our
(21:19):
energy consumption in our mainsite, our state-of-the-art
barrel facility that we justunveiled two years ago in June.
It's the most state-of-the-artbarrel facility in the entire
wine industry, 100% roboticallycontrolled, temperature
controlled, humidity controlled.
And that entire wine barrelfacility, which holds 130,000
(21:40):
barrels, is 100% solar poweredand off the grid.
So I think these things areimportant as well.
And I think that Felix Solishas, at least in the last eight
years since I've been here, hasZora's had a strategic long-term
vision to make sure that we'rechecking the boxes, not only to
make ourselves more efficientand a technological leader in
(22:00):
the wine space, but to also makesure that we take care of
mother nature along the way,because if, you know, at the end
of the day, you know, wine isagriculture without good grapes,
we're not going to have goodwine.
Brandon (22:10):
I think that lends itself well to, even if you
aren't selling direct toconsumer, you need to have an
online presence because what youjust told me is significantly
more more difficult, if notimpossible, to get across to a
consumer who's just walking downan aisle that has hundreds of
different options for them tochoose from.
And so being able to have thatpresence online and share those
(22:33):
stories and share thatbackground and history is
increasingly important.
Pedro Garcia (22:36):
We have a small amount of online presence.
Our biggest partner on e-commis definitely Vivino.
We work a lot with Vivino.
We gave them a first rights tohave an exclusive to one of our
top, our fastest growing brandsglobally, which is called Mucho
Mas.
And we launched that with themabout two years ago.
(22:57):
And fast forward to today, it'sour top selling SKU with
Vivino.
Brandon (23:01):
That's awesome.
It's cool to see, you know,idea and strategy actually play
out in terms of real tangibleresults.
You mentioned people Googlingas well.
You know, one of the thingsthat I've been seeing more and
more is, they're skipping Googleand they're going straight to
TikTok or they're going straightto ChatGPT.
And I think that's going to bean increasingly interesting
(23:23):
dynamic for the wine industry tofigure out because the
traditional Google search goinginto wine search or going into
Vivino, I've been shocked at howoften people just go straight
to TikTok.
And so they're gonna searchFelix Solis on TikTok.
They're not gonna search it onGoogle or they're gonna search
(23:43):
it on ChatGPT instead.
and making sure that you're setup for success within these
different and new essentiallysearch engines is increasingly
important.
Pedro Garcia (23:52):
Yeah, look, I think that I have to give credit
to our marketing department andFelix.
I know they're very aware ofthe changing landscape with
technology and how quickly it'sevolving.
And I know that we're making aneffort to make sure that we're
not left behind the rest of thecrowd for sure.
Brandon (24:13):
What's a...
You know, one thing that justkeeps you up at night about the
industry that you're like, Istill can't believe that we have
to do it this way.
I
Pedro Garcia (24:25):
still can't believe we have to do it this
way.
Yeah.
You know, I still I still, youknow, I have to be careful with
this question.
You know, I understand thethree tier system and I
understand the value of thethree tier system.
And it creates jobs along theline.
So I've worked in every one ofthe tiers along my career.
So it's interesting to see howthe Europeans do it and how the
(24:49):
Americans do it.
So to see huge players likeTesco and Ahold in Europe being
able to buy directly from awinery is a huge advantage in
Europe when it comes tocost-quality relationship.
And obviously that's not thecase in the US.
And then I can imagine at somepoint, not having a need maybe
(25:14):
for retailers, that'll be cool.
If you can just go fromstraight from distributor to
retailer, there'll be some hugesavings if the e-comm or the
software advances enough wherethat can make sense somehow.
And I guess this is where thefourth tier is coming in.
I think that can be verydisruptive in the future.
Brandon (25:33):
Yeah, I mean, with the rise of influencers, They are
essentially the movie stars of2025 for the younger generation.
So many family friends whotheir kids talk about people who
I have no idea who they are.
And then I look them up onTikTok and they have 30 million
(25:54):
followers or something.
Whereas if you looked attraditional celebrities...
They might have like 500,000followers on TikTok, if even
having a TikTok at all.
And even the content theyconsume is like content on
YouTube or content on TikTok.
They're not going and watchinga three hour movie.
They can't even pay attentionto something for longer than 30
seconds.
So, you know, it's a, it's achanging dynamic in terms of
(26:17):
where people are getting theirtrusted, like sources of
information and referrals.
And you see a lot ofinfluencers starting their own
brands, but That's notnecessarily their strong suit.
And the fourth tier lendsitself well to being able to
curate your own sort ofassortment and collection to do
some of these partnerships thatultimately lead to more
distribution and sales for thewinery itself.
Pedro Garcia (26:40):
Yeah, I'll tell you what, I'd be excited to see
an influencer launch an adultbeverage brand.
um in a very effective waywhere you know they can kind of
turn you know flip the hat orthe coin on the head of the you
know the celebrity driven brandsthat have dominated uh the u.s
market for so long
Brandon (26:59):
so i got two fun questions for you here before
Pedro Garcia (27:02):
we wrap up you told me about
Brandon (27:04):
Yes.
So we've had a couple ofguests.
I wouldn't call it cheating,but they did some digging and
got to the questions beforehand.
But I think you're coming incold here, but they're not too
crazy.
But first question is, if youhad to share a bottle of wine
with anyone, who would thatperson be?
(27:27):
Who would it be and what wouldyou drink?
Pedro Garcia (27:29):
Oh, who would it be and what would I drink?
Okay, that's a great question.
It'll definitely be vintagechampagne and I'll drink it with
my incredible wife.
Thanks to my wife, I'm a betterperson and I'm a father and I
can't think of a person moreworthy of sharing a great bottle
of champagne with than myamazing wife.
Brandon (27:50):
I love that.
Is there one particular vintagechampagne that stands out
Pedro Garcia (27:55):
to you?
I feel like you have an insidescoop.
Who did you speak to that knowsme or something?
This is funny.
Yeah, so there is a specialbottle of vintage champagne
that's connected to my wife andI, and I was lucky enough to
serve it at our wedding.
I found two magnums ofChampagne Charlie 1985 while
working the market in Marylandmany, many years ago, and the
(28:17):
The owner or manager of thatstore was kind enough to let me
take that off his hands at avery ridiculous price.
And Monica and I drank one ofthose Magnums on our wedding
day.
And then we drank another oneof those Magnums, you know, some
years later.
So yeah, Champagne Charlie 1985was wonderful.
10 years ago when we drank it.
I'm not sure if it's going tobe drinking as good today, but
(28:39):
vintage champagne is definitelysomething my wife and I like to
drink when we can do it.
It's kind of too expensive.
Brandon (28:46):
very expensive but i think that's one of the cool
aspects of wine that should beyou know tapped into more
especially when it comes to likemarketing to consumers is how
experiential it is it's i wouldargue less about the juice
that's in the bottle and moreabout the people that you're
with the setting that you're inall the other intangibles that
(29:09):
go into that i mean i imagineyou would not be drinking that
vintage champagne I mean, alonecould also be awesome, but it's
not the same as when you're in asetting when you're with
Pedro Garcia (29:18):
them.
I believe in what you said somuch that the majority of our
below the line investments inthe US market has been very
strategically spent on the factthat we've been taking a lot of
people to Spain to see it withtheir own two eyes, to walk the
vineyards, to walk the winery,to drink the wine in Spain, to
(29:41):
have the food and to build thatexperience with the distributor,
Salesforce and managers.
We've invested tremendously indoing that.
And in turn, in return, we'vebeen able to really act lots of
brand ambassadors behind theFelix Solis umbrella, really
pushing that same story via avery passionate way because they
(30:04):
actually had that experienceand were sharing it with their
customers and their friends.
So that is something that Ibelieve to the core of me.
Not only do I believe it nowthat I have the opportunity to
deploy these types of incentivesto my distributor base, but I
remember back on my first trip,my first wine trip ever was to
Oregon.
(30:24):
And I remember that trip likeif it was yesterday and it was
life-changing and I loved everybit of it.
Brandon (30:31):
Yeah, the experience is something that cannot be
replicated.
And I love that you areinvesting in that and actually
bringing people out therebecause, you know, that'll show
off in ways that, you know, weprobably can't even imagine when
it comes to how it impacts theability to educate the consumer
and actually get that storyheard.
Pedro Garcia (30:49):
I always tell my distributors and I always tell
my retail partners or my importpartners, you know, hearing it
is one thing, but seeing it isbelieving it.
Brandon (30:59):
Yeah.
So last fun question.
What is your favorite winememory?
Pedro Garcia (31:05):
My favorite wine memory.
Huh?
Okay.
That's another good question.
My favorite wine memory.
God, there's so many, um, youknow, I've been on so many great
trips and I love wine so muchand wine's such a part of my, of
my DNA and my culture.
I think my favorite wine memoryis a time where I didn't even
(31:26):
get to drink the wine.
It was, uh, I had a bottle of1982 Hot Brion in my wine cellar
that I had found many, manyyears ago and I was saving.
And I get home and mygrandfather is sitting outside
of our house having a burger.
And what do I see on the table?
The bottle of 1982 Hot Brionand my grandfather looking at me
(31:48):
with this like, you know,incredibly innocent, almost
childlike face telling me, man,this bottle is really good.
Do you have any more?
And I'm like, wow.
And I remember at the timebeing upset, but it was for like
five seconds, and thensomething struck me immediately
(32:09):
where like, just sit down andenjoy this memory with your
grandfather, because you'regoing to remember it for the
rest of your life.
And this is a cool, funny storyof how that 82 got drank.
So to me, that is probably oneof my wine stories that I'll
never forget, because mygrandfather was in it, and it
was that bottle of wine that Iwas obsessively saving for the
(32:29):
right occasion that never came.
But my grandfather decided tohave it with a great burger and
it was awesome.
Brandon (32:36):
That's awesome.
I love that.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on and sharing your story
and all of your insights.
I really appreciate it.
But before we hop, can you letpeople who are listening know
where they can find and connectwith you or the Felix Solis
brand
Pedro Garcia (32:52):
online?
Yeah, absolutely.
So my email address is pgarciaat felixolisavantis.com.
And you can find the FelixSolis wines all over the U.S.
You know, Sam's, Sam's Club,Costco, Food Lion, Meijer, Fresh
Market, Winn-Dixie, Hannaford.
You know, we have gooddistribution in the U.S.
(33:14):
and our brands are growing.
And for all of you who see theFelix Solis brand out there,
Just know that we're veryfocused on producing the best
wine at the best price.
Brandon (33:24):
Awesome.
Well, I appreciate it.
For everybody who's listening,as always, this is Brandon
Amoroso.
You can find us at drinks.com.
Thanks for listening, and wewill see you next time.
Hey, everyone.
Thank you for listening to theDrinks.com podcast, the business
of online alcohol.
I'm your host, Brandon Amoroso.
And today I'm talking withPedro Garcia, who's the managing
director of USA and Canada forFelix Solis.
(00:21):
Thanks for coming on the show.
Pedro Garcia (00:23):
Hey, Brandon.
Thanks for having me.
Brandon (00:25):
So before we dive into all the exciting stuff that
we've been chatting aboutpre-episode, can you give
everybody a quick backgroundjust on yourself and sort of
your career journey?
Pedro Garcia (00:35):
Sure.
My name is Pedro Garcia.
I'm a first-generationCuban-American, born and raised
here in South Florida, and I'vehad the privilege of being in
the adult beverage industry forthe last 23 years.
This is all I've ever done.
My first job was as a stock boyat a fine wine shop in Pine
(00:55):
While I was getting myundergrad, spent about two years
there, then got the opportunityto go work at National
Distributing before they mergedwith RNDC, had a grocery route
there, spent about 18 months onthe grocery side of the business
and then got promoted throughlots of tenacious attempts to
catch the attention of the finewine manager at National to give
(01:17):
me an opportunity in my early20s.
And I was lucky enough toexhaust them and talk them into
giving me a chance and then Iwas able to spend a lot of time
there.
about seven years on the finewine side of the business at the
wholesale side.
During the fine wine side of mycareer, you know, represented
incredible portfolios likeCobran, you know, Penfolds,
(01:37):
Constellation, incredible brandslike Frejeanet, Blackstone,
Sasakaya, and so forth.
During my time at the fine winedivision, we, you know, we lost
a bunch of portfolios toSouthern.
Then I got the itch to want tolearn the on-premise side of the
business, and I got anopportunity to go work on the
on-premise side of the businessfor Republic National and
(02:00):
finally learned that last bit ofthe distributor business that I
didn't have under my belt.
And thankfully to thatdecision, that kind of propelled
me into the supplier jobbecause during a work with on
the on-premise side, I met agentleman by the name of Arturo
Masolo, which ended up being amentor and a very, very good
friend for me who actually gotme my first supplier job after
(02:22):
RNDC for a startup Spanishcompany who had no presence in
the US market and were lookingfor somebody young and
aggressive who wanted to take aswing at it.
And I remember Art bringingthis to me.
And I'm like, Art, man, youknow, I can't do that.
I have no idea how to launch abrand from scratch into the U.S.
market.
You know, I just havedistributor experience.
(02:44):
And this great friend that heis, Art's like, look, you know,
just prep your resume, get someideas ready, and I'll help you
fine tune it.
I think you can do it with myguidance.
And I was lucky enough to getthat chance.
I worked for that company forabout 18 months.
And then I got another offerfor a Argentinian group here
(03:04):
based in Brico called Transnet.
and transnational foods, andtransnational foods had a
division of adult beveragescalled Pampa Beverage, and Pampa
Beverages had the exclusivecontracts for Quilmes beer in
the US.
We had some incredible winebrands from the north of
Argentina in the Cafayata Valleycalled Dalla Vaca Vineyards,
(03:25):
which is high altitude, Saltawines, really, really incredible
portfolio.
And they also had a winery inSan Rafael.
So I took the position there asa regional sales manager
working under the National SalesManager, which is a gentleman
that's still in the business,incredible friend called Paul.
And Paul and I together grewthat business very quickly.
(03:46):
Then Paul moved on to anothersupplier opportunity.
I naturally went up the ranksand got promoted to oversee the
entire operation at PampaBeverage, continuing to scale
our distributive footprint, ourretail relationships with
whether it was a regional, anational, or a local chain that
had at least three to fourpoints of of distribution for us
(04:07):
to present our brands.
And then I got anotheropportunity shortly about the
five year, four year mark withPampa Beverage.
I got an offer for a groupcalled Puerto Viejo Wines, which
is a family from Chile.
And they have incredible brandshere in the U.S.
called Puerto Viejo.
(04:28):
They have Los Riscos.
And I was brought on as theirdirector of national accounts
with the sole purpose ofactivating their chain business
and expanding the distributornetwork into new markets.
So, you know, my prioritieswere simple.
More chain business, moredistributors, go attack as hard
(04:51):
as you can.
And I was only with thatcompany for 11 months because
during my tenure that I got aphone call on a Sunday from Art
Massolo.
I'm like, what's Art doingcalling me on a Sunday?
You know, it's about 4.30 on aSunday and I'm getting a call
from Art.
Although I love Art, I wasn'treally perplexed by his call.
(05:11):
And, you know, fortunately, Ipicked it up and I'm like, yeah,
Art.
He's like, Pedro, you're goingto love me.
I've got your next opportunity.
I'm like, what are you talkingabout?
He's like, yeah, I'm here inProWine with my buddy, Felix
Solis Ramos, which is our, youknow, the marketing director and
sales director for the company,the son of our current CEO, Don
(05:34):
Felix.
And he's like, I'm with mybuddy, Felix.
We've been chatting.
He's been looking for somebodyfor the U.S.
And I told him he has to hireyou.
And I'm like, well, thank you.
I really appreciate that.
And that was it.
You know, it was just somerandom call on a Sunday.
And about a couple of weekslater, I got a follow-up call
from Art telling me that agentleman called Paul Cox was
(05:56):
going to reach out to me andstart the process.
I didn't really hear anythingelse for like about another two
to three weeks.
And then fortunately, thisgentleman, Paul Cox, which was
the export director at that timefor Felix, at least overseeing
the U.S.
market in Canada, gave me abuzz.
They put me through the ringer.
They worked with a recruitmentfirm called the Benchmark
(06:19):
Recruitment out of Napa.
And Don and Kent were awesomethroughout the process.
And I was lucky enough to sellthem on my vision of how I would
take make this incredible, youknow, top 10 global wine company
and establish them in the U.S.
market and grow ourdistributive footprint and, you
know, break into the verydifficult regional and national
(06:42):
chains.
And, you know, eight yearslater, here I am.
Brandon (06:46):
How much of your experience on the distributor
side has lent itself well tobeing on the supplier side now?
Pedro Garcia (06:54):
Oh, wow.
That's a great question.
And I think that knowing everyaspect of the distributor, you
know, grocery, fine wine, whichis the independent market and
the on-premise, I think that'sgiven me a tremendous advantage.
You know, a lot of suppliers,you know, don't even have
distributor experience.
And for somebody to have, youknow, experience in all three
divisions of a distributor, Ithink it's very handy.
(07:16):
At the very least, it justgives you another weapon or tool
to pull out of your arsenal oryour toolbox to think about
innovative ways to just getattention, you know, whether
you're trying to get attentionof the manager or the sales
team, and or if you're justtrying to increase points and
distribution, they're all justvery different.
So I think that, you know, theway in which my career
(07:36):
developed, which is literallyfrom the bottom up, you know,
just throwing boxes in awarehouse and learning has
really armed me and prepared mewith a good background to just
ultimately be creative and anddisruptive as I grow this
business and as I try to do mybest.
Ultimately, I just considermyself a very strategic thinker
(07:57):
and somebody who doesn't have aproblem doing something
differently than it's been doneand disrupting the traditional
status quo in the industry.
Brandon (08:09):
Yeah, and the three-tier system is such a
unique infrastructure that hasbeen created in the U.S.
that is, you know, notsomething that if you only were
selling internationally and thenyou just came into the U S like
you're, you're just notfamiliar with.
Pedro Garcia (08:24):
Yeah.
But you, I feel like you baitedme with the way you, you, you
said that, that comment.
Yeah.
You know, the three tiersystem, it's, you know, it's,
it's outdated for God's sakes.
It's prehistoric, you know,it's a brick and mortars, you
know, waiting for their, youknow, waiting to take advantage
of their zip codes in theirareas.
And, uh, it's been that wayforever.
And a lot of these people stilldon't want to change in the way
(08:46):
they do business.
Um, So it's a shame.
And then when you try toexplain the three-tier system to
European companies who areaccustomed to doing business as
direct as possible, then thatjust becomes a super fun and
comical exercise because theyjust don't get it.
Brandon (09:07):
What was it like?
having to go through that.
Oh,
Pedro Garcia (09:11):
man.
You know, at the beginning, youknow, sitting down with, you
know, my owner is, you know, oneof the most incredibly business
savvy gentlemen I've ever met.
And I mean, our current CEO,Don Felix, is just a
hardworking, incredibly talentedman that, you know, has built
(09:31):
This top 10 global wine companyon the back, on his bare back,
through blood, sweat, and tears,and nothing but just hard work
and ethics.
This man is in his mid-70s.
and still works 10 plus hourdays and he makes it look fun.
So Don Felix is extremelyunique and his son Felix, which
(09:53):
is my direct report.
Felix is an incredibly dynamicprofessional.
Felix has a great diversebackground, covering many
different types of retailers anddistributors and markets.
So where they're very savvy,it's still extremely difficult
to make them understand thethree-tier system and why, you
(10:15):
know, this person needs to makea minimum margin in this, you
know, state like Ohio whenthere's, you know, a mandated
margin for, you know,wholesalers and retailers or
control states and, you know,why we have to be careful, you
know, in Georgia and in Virginiaon who we, you know, sign a
contract with because thenthey're going to have the rights
of that brand.
And, you know, why is thisretailer, you know, working on
(10:37):
penny profits?
This is crazy, you Why don'tthey invest a little bit?
So it was challenging, but atthe end, they trusted in me to
do what was necessary toultimately achieve our strategic
goals, which were...
you know, in phase one, whichwas simply to increase and
(10:58):
activate distributors.
We knew that we will not be aviable player in the U.S.
market if we weren't extremelyeffective early on and
activating distributor partnersquickly because it was only a
matter of time.
And I'm thankful that I wasable to deliver that message of
urgency early on because, youknow, my fears proved to be true
(11:21):
through all the mergers andacquisitions in the space, you
You ask anybody trying to breakinto the U.S.
market now, and to get theattention of any wholesaler has
become almost impossible.
Brandon (11:33):
Yeah, it's been very concentrated.
And if you are not within thatsort of ecosystem, then you're
outside of it.
And it's not...
Something that I would beenvious of anyone right now
who's trying to break into theU.S.
market in 2025.
Pedro Garcia (11:49):
I can't even imagine trying to do what I
replicated in the last eightyears in this current
environment, to be very, veryhonest with you.
I think it'll prove to beextremely difficult.
Brandon (12:02):
You've been in the industry, you know, your entire
professional career.
What do you think has changedthe most in a positive sense and
that you're even excited aboutgoing into the future with
future change?
Pedro Garcia (12:16):
Look, what am I excited about the most is that I
finally start to see acontinuation of more interested
and more educated gatekeepersslash buyers at big regional and
national accounts finallywaking up to the fact that, hey,
you know, maybe the way we'vebeen doing it isn't the best way
(12:38):
at all.
And maybe if we want to beresilient in the face of
headwinds and all these globalups and downs, you know, i.e.,
you know, COVID, you know,logistical bottlenecks, you
know, tariffs and so forth, youknow, then the only way to do it
is to try to be as direct aspossible.
So, you know, I find that to beextremely refreshing because
(13:00):
I've been on the supplier now onthe supplier side now for over
14 years.
And at the beginning of that 14year tenure, you know, nobody,
nobody gave a shit, you know,part of my French, you know,
nobody cared, nobody cared.
And none of these buyers caredthat it was a winery direct
model that I was the winery andthe importer.
And that this is the future of,because of the fact that
(13:22):
there's no additional middlemanmargins baked into the pie.
But now, the businessenvironment has become so
challenging that they need topay attention to that supply
chain and ensure that they'resourcing their products the best
possible way.
So I'm excited about thatbecause that's been a big driver
(13:43):
of our growth.
And I'm excited, you know, Idon't see it as much, but I'm
very excited to see what, youknow, this fourth tier can bring
to the space, you know, andthat's where drinks comes in,
right?
You know, Zach, I remember thefirst time I ever met Zach out
in LA and I'm like, this guy isa genius.
This guy is onto somethingincredible.
And I think that the biggestgains in the adult beverage
(14:07):
space are still yet to come.
But it's, you know, it's about,you know, deploying the right
strategies and, you know,meeting the consumer where the
consumers are.
And I think e-comm is, youknow, is the answer.
Brandon (14:24):
Well, this leads me right into, you know, a little
hanging e-comm question, whichis, you know, there's still not
a huge penetration of e-commercewithin beverage alcohol.
If you look at the stats, youknow, every other category is at
least, you know, three to 10 X,you know, percentage of market
share in terms of sales actuallygoing through e-comm versus
(14:46):
traditional.
And I know as we were talkingbefore this, that, you know, you
don't have a direct presenceyet.
How do you see that changing?
Does it, is it, is it out ofnecessity?
Is it, you know, what are thecurrent sort of gatekeeping
factors to why there's not abigger presence for direct
(15:07):
within the US and really justinternationally as a whole?
Pedro Garcia (15:11):
I think that the bigger players have already
deployed theirdirect-to-consumer e-com
strategies.
I think obviously they've gotthe budgets and the teams to
launch these a lot faster thanemerging families and or brands
in the U.S.
market.
Felix Solis has not launchedits own DTC platform because
(15:34):
we're solely focused on winningwhere we're strong.
And Felix Solis, the way thatFelix Solis is built as a
company and how we've reallybuilt a reputation of success in
the 122 countries where wetrade is really on the
off-premise.
We're huge partners with bigbox retailers across the globe,
(16:02):
and that's where we wanted tofocus on first in the US market.
So Why did we aggressivelyfocus on winning there first is
because of the fact that we hadproven track records in Europe
and we can leverage that trackrecord to these gatekeepers in
the US market and try to force aseat at the table or at the
(16:25):
very least just a test programwith these retailers.
So is Felix Solis interested inhaving these direct-to-consumer
platforms?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
That is something we're goingto, we're going to look at
eventually it's not in the worksyet.
Uh, but I see that being a goodopportunity for us to drive,
you know, more of our premiumpremium plus brands from the
(16:46):
Northern deals like Rioja andLibera, Duero and Toro and
Valdepeñas, which is thebirthplace of Felix Solis as
well.
Brandon (16:54):
Yeah.
I think the online categorylends itself particularly well
to that mid tier price range or,or above.
Um, whereas when you're under acertain price threshold there,
is something that is unique tojust you walk into the store and
you're you know you're grabbingsomething off the shelf and
maybe it doesn't require as mucheducation or as much background
(17:15):
on the actual wine and then itcomes in to play a lot of other
factors that can help with youknow differentiation but you
mentioned uh and everybody istalking about it sort of the
headwinds that have been facinguh alcohol in general but
specifically wine in the us andnorth america at large What do
(17:36):
you view those as and how areyou combating those within Felix
Solis?
Pedro Garcia (17:42):
So, you know, obviously the entire wine
industry in the U.S.
is worried.
You know, we've been down, youknow, 8% to 9% for the last two
years.
You know, the younger, youknow, the data is the younger
consumers aren't drinking asmuch as, you know, the boomers
and that they're, you know, theyhaven't fully taken to wine
(18:04):
yet.
What are we doing to combatthis?
Honestly, look, we're nottrying to aggressively appeal to
the millennials or to theboomers.
What we're trying to do justgoes back to our original
mission statement.
And we're just trying to keepit as simple as possible.
We want to produce the bestwine at the best price so that
(18:27):
everybody can have a good bottleof wine on their table.
And we're going to deliver thatvia the best supply chain.
So I think that, you know, inthese types of tough, you know,
inflationary periods, you know,when we're having these down
turns and trends and negativetrends in wine consumption, I
think that consumers at the endof the day are intelligent.
(18:47):
And I think that consumers aregoing to want to look for, you
know, brands and products thatover deliver price point to
quality.
And that's what Felix Solis isfocused on doing.
We want to make sure that whenwe're selling that $12, $13
bottle of wine, it drinks like a$20 bottle of wine.
Yeah, I
Brandon (19:02):
think the consumer is increasing in terms of savviness
every year.
And, you know, the BS detector,as I like to call it, is, you
know, tenfold what it was 15years ago, 10 years ago, even
five years ago.
Pedro Garcia (19:19):
For sure.
That's a good point.
And, you know, and anotherthing, that's a wonderful point.
You know, I think the days ofthese, you know, corporately
owned private labels, you know,that have been, you know, owning
and penetrating the U.S.
market for such a long time, Ithink those days are coming to
an end as well.
You know, the youngerdemographic, the first thing
(19:40):
they do when they see anyproduct, not just adult Bev, is,
you know, is they Google it.
You know, they go online andthey want to learn about it.
You know, on the back of everybottle of wine that Felix Solis
produces and imports into theU.S.
market, we proudly display theFelix Solis name via QR code.
And, you know, the consumerscan track that back all the way
(20:01):
to our website where we'reredirecting them to the family
story.
This is a real family.
This family was built on hardwork, blood, sweat, and tears
back in 1952.
72 years later, we're a top 10global company and 100% family
owned.
You know, and I think for mostAmericans, that's an exciting
story because at the end of theday, that's just an American
(20:21):
dream, right?
Brandon (20:22):
Yeah, there really is the epitome of it.
And consumers, especially theyounger generation, are shopping
experiences more than they areany other generation prior.
You know, if you look at someof these big brand labels or
names, that's far lessinteresting to, you know, a
25-year-old who's moreexperiential driven and wants to
(20:44):
be part you know, goes beyondjust the label.
You know, it's like, what isactually behind that label?
And the status associated withlabels in the past is not
exactly what is being purchasednow.
Pedro Garcia (20:56):
Yeah, totally.
And, you know, and theseyounger consumers are also
looking at, you know, what'syour social purpose, right?
You know, what's your greenprint to reduce your carbon
footprint on the globe?
You know, and Felix Solis istaking strides in all those
areas.
You know, we're going to launcha solar farm to help reduce our
(21:19):
energy consumption in our mainsite, our state-of-the-art
barrel facility that we justunveiled two years ago in June.
It's the most state-of-the-artbarrel facility in the entire
wine industry, 100% roboticallycontrolled, temperature
controlled, humidity controlled.
And that entire wine barrelfacility, which holds 130,000
(21:40):
barrels, is 100% solar poweredand off the grid.
So I think these things areimportant as well.
And I think that Felix Solishas, at least in the last eight
years since I've been here, hasZora's had a strategic long-term
vision to make sure that we'rechecking the boxes, not only to
make ourselves more efficientand a technological leader in
(22:00):
the wine space, but to also makesure that we take care of
mother nature along the way,because if, you know, at the end
of the day, you know, wine isagriculture without good grapes,
we're not going to have goodwine.
Brandon (22:10):
I think that lends itself well to, even if you
aren't selling direct toconsumer, you need to have an
online presence because what youjust told me is significantly
more more difficult, if notimpossible, to get across to a
consumer who's just walking downan aisle that has hundreds of
different options for them tochoose from.
And so being able to have thatpresence online and share those
(22:33):
stories and share thatbackground and history is
increasingly important.
Pedro Garcia (22:36):
We have a small amount of online presence.
Our biggest partner on e-commis definitely Vivino.
We work a lot with Vivino.
We gave them a first rights tohave an exclusive to one of our
top, our fastest growing brandsglobally, which is called Mucho
Mas.
And we launched that with themabout two years ago.
(22:57):
And fast forward to today, it'sour top selling SKU with
Vivino.
Brandon (23:01):
That's awesome.
It's cool to see, you know,idea and strategy actually play
out in terms of real tangibleresults.
You mentioned people Googlingas well.
You know, one of the thingsthat I've been seeing more and
more is, they're skipping Googleand they're going straight to
TikTok or they're going straightto ChatGPT.
And I think that's going to bean increasingly interesting
(23:23):
dynamic for the wine industry tofigure out because the
traditional Google search goinginto wine search or going into
Vivino, I've been shocked at howoften people just go straight
to TikTok.
And so they're gonna searchFelix Solis on TikTok.
They're not gonna search it onGoogle or they're gonna search
(23:43):
it on ChatGPT instead.
and making sure that you're setup for success within these
different and new essentiallysearch engines is increasingly
important.
Pedro Garcia (23:52):
Yeah, look, I think that I have to give credit
to our marketing department andFelix.
I know they're very aware ofthe changing landscape with
technology and how quickly it'sevolving.
And I know that we're making aneffort to make sure that we're
not left behind the rest of thecrowd for sure.
Brandon (24:13):
What's a...
You know, one thing that justkeeps you up at night about the
industry that you're like, Istill can't believe that we have
to do it this way.
I
Pedro Garcia (24:25):
still can't believe we have to do it this
way.
Yeah.
You know, I still I still, youknow, I have to be careful with
this question.
You know, I understand thethree tier system and I
understand the value of thethree tier system.
And it creates jobs along theline.
So I've worked in every one ofthe tiers along my career.
So it's interesting to see howthe Europeans do it and how the
(24:49):
Americans do it.
So to see huge players likeTesco and Ahold in Europe being
able to buy directly from awinery is a huge advantage in
Europe when it comes tocost-quality relationship.
And obviously that's not thecase in the US.
And then I can imagine at somepoint, not having a need maybe
(25:14):
for retailers, that'll be cool.
If you can just go fromstraight from distributor to
retailer, there'll be some hugesavings if the e-comm or the
software advances enough wherethat can make sense somehow.
And I guess this is where thefourth tier is coming in.
I think that can be verydisruptive in the future.
Brandon (25:33):
Yeah, I mean, with the rise of influencers, They are
essentially the movie stars of2025 for the younger generation.
So many family friends whotheir kids talk about people who
I have no idea who they are.
And then I look them up onTikTok and they have 30 million
(25:54):
followers or something.
Whereas if you looked attraditional celebrities...
They might have like 500,000followers on TikTok, if even
having a TikTok at all.
And even the content theyconsume is like content on
YouTube or content on TikTok.
They're not going and watchinga three hour movie.
They can't even pay attentionto something for longer than 30
seconds.
So, you know, it's a, it's achanging dynamic in terms of
(26:17):
where people are getting theirtrusted, like sources of
information and referrals.
And you see a lot ofinfluencers starting their own
brands, but That's notnecessarily their strong suit.
And the fourth tier lendsitself well to being able to
curate your own sort ofassortment and collection to do
some of these partnerships thatultimately lead to more
distribution and sales for thewinery itself.
Pedro Garcia (26:40):
Yeah, I'll tell you what, I'd be excited to see
an influencer launch an adultbeverage brand.
um in a very effective waywhere you know they can kind of
turn you know flip the hat orthe coin on the head of the you
know the celebrity driven brandsthat have dominated uh the u.s
market for so long
Brandon (26:59):
so i got two fun questions for you here before
Pedro Garcia (27:02):
we wrap up you told me about
Brandon (27:04):
Yes.
So we've had a couple ofguests.
I wouldn't call it cheating,but they did some digging and
got to the questions beforehand.
But I think you're coming incold here, but they're not too
crazy.
But first question is, if youhad to share a bottle of wine
with anyone, who would thatperson be?
(27:27):
Who would it be and what wouldyou drink?
Pedro Garcia (27:29):
Oh, who would it be and what would I drink?
Okay, that's a great question.
It'll definitely be vintagechampagne and I'll drink it with
my incredible wife.
Thanks to my wife, I'm a betterperson and I'm a father and I
can't think of a person moreworthy of sharing a great bottle
of champagne with than myamazing wife.
Brandon (27:50):
I love that.
Is there one particular vintagechampagne that stands out
Pedro Garcia (27:55):
to you?
I feel like you have an insidescoop.
Who did you speak to that knowsme or something?
This is funny.
Yeah, so there is a specialbottle of vintage champagne
that's connected to my wife andI, and I was lucky enough to
serve it at our wedding.
I found two magnums ofChampagne Charlie 1985 while
working the market in Marylandmany, many years ago, and the
(28:17):
The owner or manager of thatstore was kind enough to let me
take that off his hands at avery ridiculous price.
And Monica and I drank one ofthose Magnums on our wedding
day.
And then we drank another oneof those Magnums, you know, some
years later.
So yeah, Champagne Charlie 1985was wonderful.
10 years ago when we drank it.
I'm not sure if it's going tobe drinking as good today, but
(28:39):
vintage champagne is definitelysomething my wife and I like to
drink when we can do it.
It's kind of too expensive.
Brandon (28:46):
very expensive but i think that's one of the cool
aspects of wine that should beyou know tapped into more
especially when it comes to likemarketing to consumers is how
experiential it is it's i wouldargue less about the juice
that's in the bottle and moreabout the people that you're
with the setting that you're inall the other intangibles that
(29:09):
go into that i mean i imagineyou would not be drinking that
vintage champagne I mean, alonecould also be awesome, but it's
not the same as when you're in asetting when you're with
Pedro Garcia (29:18):
them.
I believe in what you said somuch that the majority of our
below the line investments inthe US market has been very
strategically spent on the factthat we've been taking a lot of
people to Spain to see it withtheir own two eyes, to walk the
vineyards, to walk the winery,to drink the wine in Spain, to
(29:41):
have the food and to build thatexperience with the distributor,
Salesforce and managers.
We've invested tremendously indoing that.
And in turn, in return, we'vebeen able to really act lots of
brand ambassadors behind theFelix Solis umbrella, really
pushing that same story via avery passionate way because they
(30:04):
actually had that experienceand were sharing it with their
customers and their friends.
So that is something that Ibelieve to the core of me.
Not only do I believe it nowthat I have the opportunity to
deploy these types of incentivesto my distributor base, but I
remember back on my first trip,my first wine trip ever was to
Oregon.
(30:24):
And I remember that trip likeif it was yesterday and it was
life-changing and I loved everybit of it.
Brandon (30:31):
Yeah, the experience is something that cannot be
replicated.
And I love that you areinvesting in that and actually
bringing people out therebecause, you know, that'll show
off in ways that, you know, weprobably can't even imagine when
it comes to how it impacts theability to educate the consumer
and actually get that storyheard.
Pedro Garcia (30:49):
I always tell my distributors and I always tell
my retail partners or my importpartners, you know, hearing it
is one thing, but seeing it isbelieving it.
Brandon (30:59):
Yeah.
So last fun question.
What is your favorite winememory?
Pedro Garcia (31:05):
My favorite wine memory.
Huh?
Okay.
That's another good question.
My favorite wine memory.
God, there's so many, um, youknow, I've been on so many great
trips and I love wine so muchand wine's such a part of my, of
my DNA and my culture.
I think my favorite wine memoryis a time where I didn't even
(31:26):
get to drink the wine.
It was, uh, I had a bottle of1982 Hot Brion in my wine cellar
that I had found many, manyyears ago and I was saving.
And I get home and mygrandfather is sitting outside
of our house having a burger.
And what do I see on the table?
The bottle of 1982 Hot Brionand my grandfather looking at me
(31:48):
with this like, you know,incredibly innocent, almost
childlike face telling me, man,this bottle is really good.
Do you have any more?
And I'm like, wow.
And I remember at the timebeing upset, but it was for like
five seconds, and thensomething struck me immediately
(32:09):
where like, just sit down andenjoy this memory with your
grandfather, because you'regoing to remember it for the
rest of your life.
And this is a cool, funny storyof how that 82 got drank.
So to me, that is probably oneof my wine stories that I'll
never forget, because mygrandfather was in it, and it
was that bottle of wine that Iwas obsessively saving for the
(32:29):
right occasion that never came.
But my grandfather decided tohave it with a great burger and
it was awesome.
Brandon (32:36):
That's awesome.
I love that.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on and sharing your story
and all of your insights.
I really appreciate it.
But before we hop, can you letpeople who are listening know
where they can find and connectwith you or the Felix Solis
brand
Pedro Garcia (32:52):
online?
Yeah, absolutely.
So my email address is pgarciaat felixolisavantis.com.
And you can find the FelixSolis wines all over the U.S.
You know, Sam's, Sam's Club,Costco, Food Lion, Meijer, Fresh
Market, Winn-Dixie, Hannaford.
You know, we have gooddistribution in the U.S.
(33:14):
and our brands are growing.
And for all of you who see theFelix Solis brand out there,
Just know that we're veryfocused on producing the best
wine at the best price.
Brandon (33:24):
Awesome.
Well, I appreciate it.
For everybody who's listening,as always, this is Brandon
Amoroso.
You can find us at drinks.com.
Thanks for listening, and wewill see you next time.
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