In this episode of the Drinks.com Podcast, Brandon Amoroso sits down with Pete Jones, co-founder of Aesthete Wines and former head of wine and spirits at Shopify, now at Stripe. From growing up in Sonoma County to pioneering digital transformation in the beverage alcohol industry, Pete shares how he blended tradition with technology. The conversation dives into the challenges wineries face in modernizing operations, the massive opportunities in direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy, and how platforms like Shopify are reshaping the industry from the ground up.
Here's what you'll learn:
🛍️ What it was like to lead wine and spirits at Shopify during COVID-driven digital transformation.
⚠️ The biggest challenges facing the alcohol industry today — and the tech-forward solutions.
🤝 Why stakeholder buy-in and internal metrics are critical for digital change.
🌪️ How economic headwinds are driving a necessary evolution in alcohol e-commerce.
📬 The strategic value of building a direct-to-consumer relationship for wineries.
🧠 Lessons from lifestyle brands and what wineries can learn from them.
🌿 How consumer behavior is shifting — including the rise of non-alcoholic and cannabis alternatives.
🚫 Why first impressions of wine matter — and how bad wine turns people off forever.
Mores resources at Drinks.com
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.