April 1, 2025 • 33 mins
Let's talk mixers! Host Jimmy Moreland and MHW's Cassidy Poe chat with H Ehrmann, Executive Vice President of National Accounts and Chief Mixology Officer at Fresh Victor about the value of partnerships, and how solving the logistical puzzle of refrigerated shipping opened a new world of business.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the MHW Mark podcast, where we take deep
dives into various aspects ofthe alcohol industry.
My name is Jimmy Moreland.
Mhw is a US and EU beveragealcohol importer, distributor
and service provider.
My friends in the industry knowthat this is a busy time, and
boy have the MHW people beenjet-setting around at all these
different industry events.
(00:26):
You can keep up with the teamby following them on Instagram,
LinkedIn, pick your poison.
Well, as a result of these busyschedules, I am flying solo on
this introduction, but we havean excellent interview that we
recorded earlier, during which Iwas joined by MHW's Cassidy Poe
, so you'll hear her voice as wechat with our guest, and it's a
(00:46):
great conversation that divesinto the non-ALC side of this
business, specifically cocktailmixers.
So let's get into it.
Our guest today is theExecutive Vice President of
National Accounts and ChiefMixology Officer at Fresh Victor
.
Welcome to the show, H Ehrman.
Thanks for having me it's greatto have you here.
(01:08):
Can you give us a little bit ofbackground on yourself, how you
came to be at Fresh Victor andtell us about Fresh Victor?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, I started my career as a cook when I was 16,
on the Jersey Shore.
I learned how to cook from achef who had just come out of
CIA but had previously workedfor Paul Prudhomme.
That was in the mid 80s, so Ilearned the early days of some
of the trending Cajun cuisine,blackening seafood and such back
(01:38):
in the day.
And I caught the bug, like likea lot of people do when they're
a teenager and in thatenvironment.
And I went on from there justcontinually, like a lot of
people do when they're ateenager, in that environment.
And I went on from there justcontinually, like a lot of
people of my generation workingin the restaurant industry,
always saying that it's justwhat I'm doing now, not what I'm
going to do worked my waythrough the house through
(02:01):
various restaurants in NewJersey, boston, orlando, vail,
colorado, phoenix, arizona, allthe way through college and grad
school.
Eventually, when I graduated, Iwent to Boston College and I
cooked in school.
And then I went to Vail to be aski bum after school and that's
where I started bartending.
After several years ofbartending and having a great
(02:24):
time as a ski bum, I decided Ineeded to get an MBA in order to
pursue my business dreams.
So I went and did that and Ibartended through my MBA at
Thunderbird in Phoenix, went onfrom there to live in Europe and
work in PR for a bit andtraveled around, continued
traveling around Europe,visiting wineries, breweries,
(02:44):
distilleries and bars, and cameback from that into tech, the
dot-com boom, which eventuallybrought me to San Francisco.
At the dot-com bust I ended upback behind a bar to make rent
and pay for my MBA.
Marketing MBAs were not in muchdemand in 2000.
(03:06):
And so after six months ofhelping somebody else open a bar
, I decided all right, enoughtech, I don't like the tech
world.
It's time for me to open a bar.
So at that point I had worked in18 different bars and
restaurants around the countryand I wrote a business plan,
surveyed the market, quiteverything else I was doing and
(03:27):
raised the capital, bought a bar, bought the second oldest
saloon in San Francisco becauseit fit what I was looking for.
And as a history nut, I wasreally enthralled by what I
could find of this place.
And over the last 21 years ofowning that bar called Elixir in
the Mission District, I haveuncovered tons of history about
(03:50):
it, and now it is known as thesecond oldest saloon in San
Francisco.
I also, getting into the firstfew years of it, decided that in
order to make it different andsuccessful, I needed to ditch
all of the stuff I had knownabout being in a bar forever and
wrote my first cocktail menu,got rid of all of the artificial
(04:11):
ingredients.
I had been collecting tequila.
I built a great tequilaselection and then decided that
I needed to switch it to whiskey, which fit more with the saloon
motif.
So I built up the whiskeycollection and today we're known
as one of the best whiskey barsin America.
We were one of the pioneeringcocktail bars of the early
(04:32):
cocktail renaissance and it wasabout that time in the mid 2000s
when I met Ken McKenzie and Kenhad been in the tequila
industry building a brand at thetime and then eventually with
another brand and he and Ibasically, and when we first met
, he hired me several times toexecute catering bars and events
(04:54):
for his tequila brands.
We became friends and eventually, when he came up with the idea
of creating mixers like this,it's kind kind of it was perfect
for us as partners because it'swhat I made my name in.
In those early days of thecocktail revival, I was one of
the guys that was muddlingeverything in a glass and buying
(05:16):
everything at the farmer'smarket and incorporating
culinary processes andtechniques and concepts into my
cocktails, into my originalrecipes, as well as employing
and digging up old recipes andbringing back the cocktail
heyday of the late Victorian eraup to Prohibition, which also
was in line with being aVictorian bar.
(05:38):
So all of this stuff kind oflined up and Ken, basically
after exiting from one of histequila companies, came to me
and said let's take this conceptand turn it into its own
company and get it out there andthe whole idea was basically a
lot of what I'd been doing inculinary cocktails and putting
it in a bottle.
So I'd spend a lot of the earlyto late 2000s traveling the
(06:01):
country building another spiritbrand as the brand ambassador,
teaching bartenders how tosqueeze limes and make simple
syrup, back when they were allpouring basically shelf-stable
mixers and lime cordials out ofa bottle and calling them fresh
when they weren't really fresh.
So I was teaching people how touse juicers and food processors
(06:23):
and things like infusions andsuch to get flavor and use real
ingredients.
And through that process, as alot of people in the cocktail
scene at the time will tell you,we went through a wave, I'd say
between 2005 and 2010, ofreally exploring that.
(06:44):
But also I personally even gotinto this bad habit of putting
too many things in a glass,putting too many ingredients
into and and taking too long toexecute a cocktail, and so that
was something that I think we asan industry, we went down a
rabbit hole and then we kind ofcame back because we realized,
well, we're getting all thesegreat flavors and everything,
but at the same time, peoplewant service.
They don't they don't want tolose the hospitality, they don't
(07:05):
want to lose the experiencewaiting for 15, 20 minutes for a
cocktail.
So that all kind of got fixedand it also inspired.
What fresh victor became wasthis whole idea of taking really
fresh, truly fresh ingredientsand processing them properly to
maintain the flavor andintegrity of a clean label, but
making it convenient andefficient for people, and so
(07:29):
that message started initiallywith the brand as a consumer
message, as we launched, as aconsumer product.
But we found that, as we knewthat the trade would embrace it
as a solution for labor issues,spoilage issues, excessive
expenses et cetera, and so wefound that by pursuing the
(07:54):
on-premise industry as asolution, we could really, from
a business perspective, we couldsell pallets instead of pints.
So we kind of went down pints.
So we kind of went down, madethat our main focus, going into
basically into the pandemic.
We had decided to get rid ofour retail line and focus on
(08:18):
on-premise and then COVID hit.
But in the same time we had,unfortunately, we had done all
of like the branding redesign tointo a 16 ounce package for
retail and said let's sit onthis for a while and focus on
on-premise.
Then the pandemic hit and we'relike whoa, there goes all our
business, call the printers.
So we printed the 16-ouncelabels and within six weeks we
had set up a DTC channel throughour website and we're selling
(08:40):
to seven states in the West.
Within two months I think wehad 48 states for dtc and I
spent most of the pandemic bothselling fresh victor in in in
the 64 ounce on-premise package,along with my entire liquor
inventory at elixir to bay areaconsumers who were drinking at
(09:03):
home, and I set up my own onlinesystem and had to let go of all
of my staff at the bar.
But eventually I brought backpeople as I could, and my
bartenders became deliverydrivers and we were selling a
liter of tequila with a 64-ouncebottle of Mexican lime and
agave.
That makes 25 to 33 margaritasand we were delivering it to
(09:26):
people's homes and I was duringthe day.
I was going through our wholelineup of products and creating
all of the fresh Victor versionsof classic cocktails that
utilize fresh juice and bakingthose recipes and then selling
those as cocktail kits.
And so when we came out of thepandemic, I had this bank of
(09:46):
recipes and ideas and then wewent back into the bars and
restaurants and we started backup with our accounts and getting
them going again.
So now we have a really bigbank of all of that, and so
that's kind of where we are now.
We've got nine differentproducts.
We have three differentchannels between on-premise,
off-premise and DTC, and we'regrowing those all over the
(10:09):
country.
We're in quite a few number ofmarkets now and looking to grow.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
You talk about some of the, I guess, unexpected
difficulties, like obviously thepandemic and all of these sort
of exogenic factors that no onecould have predicted.
But it sounds like A you werekind of prepared in your own way
for some of those things byjust doing your groundwork in
general.
But can you talk about, giventhat you're producing a product
that doesn't have alcohol in it,you're saving yourself some
(10:37):
regulatory difficulties.
But can you talk about issuesyou might have had with, I don't
know, fda or other regulatorythings, getting your products
sort of certified or licensed,other regulatory things, getting
your products sort of certifiedor licensed, especially given
that you're shipping these DTC,just any of those kind of
difficulties and strategies thatyou may have employed to
overcome those?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well, you know, the reason that nobody has done this
before is that refrigerateddistribution is very difficult
and expensive.
You know, I always say FreshVictor is, as a clean label,
natural, better for you productis nothing more than juice,
sugar and water in a bottle.
It's not magic.
(11:17):
The magic comes from, really,our production partner, who is
not just an outsourcedproduction but an equity partner
, a large equity partner in thebusiness, and they are our
second generation family juicecompany with all of the
expertise in sourcing andprocessing.
(11:37):
It's 100% solar powered juiceplant.
They're just a great partnerand they have the long-term
contracts to secure the greatjuices and products that go into
making Fresh Victor on along-term basis, and that gives
us the ability to not onlyprovide a completely consistent
product on a quality and costbasis, but the expertise and
(12:02):
vision for creating new products.
And so their partnership hasbeen key to overcoming so many
of those hurdles, because wedidn't have to learn those
lessons.
They already learned.
They brought that to the tableand, just like building any
business, it's all about havingthe right partners, the right
investors, the smart money, thepeople that you know are going
(12:22):
to open doors and bypass hurdles, being able to not have to
learn the lesson that tooksomebody 10 years to learn saves
you 10 years, so that was amajor thing, but that's.
We are learning our lessons,though, and again, you know,
despite the fact that they knewall of those things, the
(12:43):
regulatory, all of that wedidn't have to worry about it.
We are learning the lessons ofrefrigerated distribution, and
that you think about the spiritworld and we come from spirits.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
You know, like I said , ken has built tequila
companies.
I've been in the bar businessas a buyer and a bartender.
As a buyer my own place for 21years.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Plus I have a consulting business where I
consult to spirit brands and Ihave built spirit brands and I
continue to build spirit brands.
I understand all of the channelsand all of the challenges and
the nice thing about being anon-alcoholic is that you don't
have that.
We don't have to deal with theABC, we don't have to deal with
compliance issues for alcoholand I always say we're a mixer
(13:25):
company, we mix with everybody,we dance with everybody.
The whole current trend innon-alcoholic drinks.
We're partnering with lots ofthose non-alcoholic spirit
brands.
We're partnering with champagneand sparkling wine companies
and beer companies to createshandies and mimosas and
sparkling water for kids' drinksand just simple fr non-elk
(13:49):
drinks.
You know we have a lot ofopportunities based on the fact
that we're non-elk and that weare juice based, and so I think
that gives us a world ofopportunities.
But at the same time, thechallenge of navigating a
refrigerated distribution systemfor on and off premise is
really big, because thosesystems are disparate and old
(14:14):
and clunky and well-establishedand especially when you're
talking about a country as largeas this and 50 different states
that can operate like 50different countries, those
challenges that you have inalcohol we still have because of
this difficult distribution.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
H, you have talked a lot about developing different
cocktail menus for your own barand also playing around with
Fresh Victor.
I'm curious for the spiritbrands listening.
Why is developing a cocktailstrategy inclusive of mixers
like Fresh Victor so importantto do early on?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, you know, especially in the markets that
are super competitive, insomething, as you know, simple
as calling it bourbon or tequilaor vodka, you know you're going
to come up against thebartender who's going to be like
, oh, it's just vodka I can put,I can put any vodka in it.
You know you're going to come upagainst the bartender who's
going to be like, oh, it's justvodka I can put, I can put any
vodka in it.
So you have to lean on and youfeel like you're leaning on your
(15:13):
the quality of your production,the quality of your source
ingredient, the skill of yourdistiller, the source of your
water, the quality of your yeast, all of these things are.
(15:35):
You have to do that in order tofocus on the quality of your
product.
At the end of the day, you alsohave to move product, and the
way you move product in mostspirits.
Besides, you know when you'regetting into the, you know $40,
$50 plus bottle range, at leastfrom an on-premise wholesale
pricing perspective, you'restarting to price yourself out
of the cocktail market for mostmarkets.
Speaking as a bar owner and abuyer and looking at my poor
cost and what I'm going to puton my menu so that I can make a
(15:56):
margin in an increasinglydifficult squeezed margin market
or reality.
But you have to embrace the ideathat cocktails are going to
move your product on theon-premise and if brands are
built on the on-premise then youhave to know what those
cocktails are going to move yourproduct on the on-premise.
And if brands are built on theon-premise then you have to know
what those cocktails are goingto be.
And again, having built a brandthrough the early days of this
(16:17):
cocktail renaissance, you knowthose recipes were evolving on
the crazy side at a rapid paceand they continue to.
I mean, the things thatbartenders are doing today amaze
me.
They have far outpaced me.
I got a lot of press and a lotof attention in the 2000s for
doing things like putting vodkawith lemon, blueberry and thyme.
(16:37):
I was just taking you know thefact that blueberry, lemon and
thyme work in food and I wasputting it into a cocktail and I
got a lot of press for it.
You know this was long before Ihad heard the word centrifuge
or you know, spherification.
These things were not part ofmy vocabulary when I was doing
this.
Again, I was teachingbartenders literally how to cut
(16:59):
limes, squeeze them and makesimple syrup and blend them to
make a sour and trying to getthem to do that process.
And now I've reversed withFresh Victor to telling them you
don't have to do that anymore,because now you can get high
quality.
You can get that high qualityin a product.
But knowing that that lime souris going to move your tequila in
(17:20):
a margarita, which is thebiggest selling cocktail in the
country, is key.
Like you can't just say, oh, wedon't want to be, we don't want
to do a margarita, because youknow everybody does a margarita
yeah, everybody does a margarita, because it sells.
So put your tequila in amargarita and get it out there.
And then there's the argumentof oh well, if you, if you
change two, three moreingredients, it's no longer a
(17:42):
margarita, it's something else.
Great, whatever.
You can stand on your highhorse in your soapbox and claim
that your mixology is betterthan the next guy's mixology,
but at the end of the day, theconsumer sees a margarita and if
you're not building a strategywith your spirit to move it
through margaritas, throughMoscow mules, through espresso
martinis, you're not payingattention and you're losing plot
(18:06):
.
You really need to be on boardwith the things that move
product and a good cocktailstrategy is how you're going to
move your product.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Can you talk about, on the topic of strategy for the
spirits, for the brands who arelistening?
A lot of our listenership willbe brands.
Can you talk about how theymight approach working with a
fresh victor or someone whoprovides the non-alcoholic
ingredients?
If you talk about how theymight approach working with a
fresh victor or someone whoprovides the non-alcoholic
ingredients, if you will, thatmight go with their spirit.
What sort of strategy shouldthey be employing?
(18:38):
What kind of ways can theyleverage what a fresh victor
might be offering?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I always focus on this idea of us being a mixer
and the idea of mixing and thatwe can mix with anything and
everything.
And again, if you're notemploying a proper cocktail
strategy and you're focusing ona neat pour or a sip, you know
again, if you're in the higher,if you're in that market, you're
in a sipping market.
That's a different thing.
But approaching a company likeus, you know we are still a
(19:06):
startup, we're a young companyand I would argue a good
majority of those in the mixerand accoutrement cocktail
accoutrement market are, and sowe're still very open to all
kinds of ideas and the way thatI head up a lot of our
partnerships with Spirit Brandsand we've had some great
(19:29):
partnerships with a number ofbrands, including I think with
one of your brands, humano, thatwe're at WSWA with Stuff like
that.
You know, if you're going to goout and you're going to make a
margarita, let me know.
I want to be the Mexican limeand agave in your margarita.
You know, if you're going to goout and make a pina colada, do
it with our pineapple and gingerroot and you'll have an
(19:51):
amazingly little twisted ginger,twisted pina colada to promote
your rum.
That kind of stuff.
We've got product, we want toget it out there.
We want to get our brand outthere.
So, partnering on workingtogether to show these cocktails
that move and these drinks thatpeople want to drink in the
different marketing events thatyou're doing, whether they're
(20:11):
on-premise or off-premisefocused, whatever it is, you
know, sampling in Total Wine,where we're growing, or a
retailer like that.
Or showing up at a tastingtable at Aspen Food and Wine, or
presenting at a big buyerconference like in a couple of
weeks we'll be at the VibeConference in San Diego with all
(20:33):
of the big national accountbeverage buyers.
I'm open to those partnershipsall the time, and so that's the
thing is like you can, if you'resqueezing all your own limes
and making your own simple oryour and then it gets to other
products of ours like cactus,pear and pomegranate Nobody
wants to juice a prickly pear,nobody wants to juice
(20:55):
pomegranate aerials.
We've done it for you and we'vegot it in a great bottle, so
you can do something that's evena little bit different to
provide that prickly pearmargarita, which is really big
across the Southwest and growingin other areas, or mix it with
your mezcal or whatever it is.
So we're open for that, and Iwould say most others are as
(21:15):
well.
And anytime you see me on apodcast making drinks or on a
show, I'm always bringing inother partner ingredients
because we're just part of theformula.
So we have bitters partnersthat I work with and I like to
promote their different bittersor syrup partners.
Because if I take, like youknow, when Ken and I designed
(21:36):
the lemon sour, for example, Idesigned that specifically to be
a little bit more sour than therest of our mixers, because
it's just lemon sour, it doesn'thave that tertiary flavor
complexity to go down adifferent avenue.
Right, you're going to use itfor a whiskey sour or a Collins,
but I want it to be able toabsorb a little more syrup or
(21:58):
liqueur.
That's going to add some flavorcomplexity.
And then we can add a dash ofbitters, we can switch it up
with some different texturalelements, and so as we present
the drinks that it's possible tomake with Fresh Victor, we have
to have these other partners tomake the drink complete.
It's the sum of its parts.
So we're open to all kinds ofpartnerships like that and I
(22:20):
think that really not enoughspirit companies realize that
they're not on their own andthat they can do this and you
look at like it's interesting.
You know I'm sure you followlots of marketing stuff, like I
do, outside of just the beverageindustry.
Look at these crosspartnerships that are happening
and we've done them, we do.
We've done partnerships withcooler companies, we've done
(22:41):
partnerships with all kinds oflike other products that are not
related directly to thecocktail itself but to the
lifestyle and the image, and sopartnering amongst product
companies I think is a great wayto amplify exponentially your
exposure and get brought intothe view of new buyers and new
(23:04):
audiences.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
I want to talk about these juices more specifically
and the flavors a little bit.
I've tried Fresh Victor myselfgreat products.
How did you go about likepicking what juices to do and
what different like flavors?
Like, did you start with acocktail you wanted to make and
think this is what I need to putin this, or was it kind of the
(23:26):
other way around, like, oh, thissounds like it would be a
really good juice and a mixturetogether?
What can I make out of this?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Well, it all started with the Mexican lime and agave.
Like I said, ken was buildingtequila, so margaritas, he was
selling margaritas and he foundthis solution as he was making
drinks for guests at his home aswell as at events.
We were making lime juice andmaking agave syrup and blending
(23:57):
it all and he was doing thathimself and people kept saying
you know, that's great, but Ihad to wait five, 10 minutes for
that drink and so and he wasdoing it out of Texas and, you
know, focused in the Southwest.
So a lot of Southwest flavorsthat's where the cactus pear
comes from, is big in thatregion and the jalapeno and lime
(24:19):
, again, perfect for spicyanything.
So those kinds of things thatline up with the Southwest
flavors were kind of the initialpart of it.
But then, when you look at theset of nine different flavor
profiles that we have now,there's something for just about
every common cocktail style,right Like our latest two that
(24:40):
were introduced a couple yearsago are the grapefruit and sea
salt and the strawberry andlemon, and that brought us from
seven to nine, and that filledthe gap.
There was a need we had.
We were hearing from ourcustomers.
So, like a lot of companies,you develop products based on
customer demand and we werehearing from our customers that
they needed a strawberry productand they needed a strawberry
product that was versatile inorder to do margaritas, but they
(25:01):
also needed to do strawberrylemonades for kids, and so we
went with strawberry lemoninstead of strawberry lime.
It still makes a greatmargarita, but you can make a
great lemonade out of it.
You can do a lot with it.
The grapefruit and sea salt wasall about the Paloma, the rising
popularity of the Paloma, andagain, ken and I dialed in that
level of sea salt that's inthere.
(25:22):
I think is perfect and itwasn't accidental, it was
purposeful and it took us awhile to get exactly where he
and I agreed that this isperfect and it's.
You know.
That mixer went on to becomethe mixer of the year at the San
Francisco World SpiritsCompetition in 2022.
Eight of our nine products havedouble goals in San Francisco
and the other's got a goal.
(25:42):
So you know, the people agree,the judges agree, and that's the
applicability.
Like I said, the pineapple hasits applicability to things like
a pina colada or a painkiller,but the ginger gives it a little
bit of a unique twist and so wecan find some differentiation
between our products.
So we're not selling commodityjuice and we're going up against
(26:04):
that lower quality level that'sgenerally available.
We're not only amplifying ourquality level but we're also
amplified in the diversity offlavor profiles that we can
provide and the drinks thatthose can make.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
What I also think is really cool is you have the
recipes on the bottles, if I'mcorrect.
So it says the cocktail andexactly what you need to put in
to make that cocktail.
But what I didn't know untilrecently is, if you go on the
website, there is even morecocktails to choose from, which
is really interesting.
(26:40):
So for our listeners, you haveto be sure to check it out.
I hope to help that out Again.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
As a startup and evolving company, our website is
continually evolving.
Our most recent evolution wasthat you can now buy our
64-ounce package on the website,direct to your door.
So people are getting tired ofbuying too many 16-ounce
packages for their big party, sonow you can get 64 ounces at
once.
I have infinitely more recipesthan are available on the
(27:10):
website, but we're continuallytrying to update the website and
build that out.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
And we'll put links in the show notes for people to
check out the website, andrecipes are right there, and it
looks like right now you've gotnon-alcoholic recipes featured,
so that'll be the first thingthat you see, and then you can
scroll down and obviously seeeverything else.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yep, and that will swap out soon with spring
cocktails.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Well, you were just mentioning how, as you guys are
growing, the website's havingmore additions and I'm sure
there's more to come in thefuture as well.
But I'm curious the next fiveyears for Fresh Victor what do
those look like and what are thegoals?
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Well, right now, on-premise sales is the majority
of our business and, like Isaid earlier, it's where we can
move high volume and so wecontinue to press forward with
that, securing contracts withsmaller regional chains that are
growing.
Partners like Chicken andPickle and Walk-Ons are two
(28:09):
stellar examples of verysuccessful fast-growing
businesses that have reallyembraced the value proposition
of Fresh Victor and how it cansatisfy their P&L and
operational needs as well asprovide great product and great
drinks to their guests.
So we're looking to grow withthose kinds of partners from a
(28:30):
distribution perspective becausewe can amplify volume quickly.
But the nice thing is also, aswe get new partners we get
pulled into new markets and sowithin I would say in five years
, we would expect to be in all48, lower 48 states.
We've got some interest in theCaribbean.
That gets into some complexityof shipping and export and
(28:54):
freezing and pallets and it's alittle bit of a different thing
to go beyond our shores but it'spossible and it's in the works,
so I would hope to be there.
We're also on the retail side.
We're expanding with differentbrands and chains and growing in
a smart way to make sure thatwe can.
We have no capacity issuesbecause our production partner
(29:17):
is so, so great.
But you know, growth is bestdone in a smart way so that you
don't overstep your bounds andover-promise and under-deliver
if we want to avoid that.
But again, in five years' time,at the pace that we're going, I
would expect that we've gotsome major national retail
accounts that are secured andactive in all units.
(29:39):
Some of those are happening now.
Some of them are on the tableand there are others that are in
our viewfinder.
And then our third channel, onDTC growth that continues to
grow.
That's really a brand builder.
All the online marketing andsocial media and stuff that
builds the public awareness ofour brand tends to point to the
(30:01):
website, which then points toDTC.
But we really do want to getpeople into the stores and
buying from their local storesso we can help build that
channel.
But, if we're not in a storenear you, there's a where to buy
channel.
Click on our website that showsyou where those stores are and
those are ever expanding and Iwould expect that within five
years all three of thosechannels are pumping and we're
(30:22):
able to help consumers makegreat drinks with ease and
businesses deliver profits andsatisfied customers.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
For our fun final question that we always like to
ask what is your favoritealcoholic beverage or adult
beverage?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
let's say I am like everyone else.
I am enthralled with themargarita as much as I own a
whiskey bar and I love mywhiskey, when it comes to making
drinks I tend to mix withtequila or mezcal, exploring
with more rica sotol bacanora.
But the early days of my bar Iwas like I said, I was really
(31:04):
into tequila and I was spendinga lot of time in Mexico.
I was touring I've probablybeen to 25, 30 distilleries in
Mexico and really in those earlydays of going to El Tesoro and
hanging out with people like youknow, helping Guillermo Salsa
launch Portaleza when it wasstill Los Abuelos, you know.
So I love my.
(31:24):
The concept of additive freeblanco or additive free tequila
is so hot right now, but itreally for those in the know.
That's what it's always beenabout, just like Fresh Victor is
all about clean ingredients anda clean label and honesty in
what we produce.
That's what's driving thisadditive-free tequila focus and
(31:44):
attention.
So that's my go-to is all nineFresh Victors go with a good
Blanco and I rotate in betweenthose and I play with my.
I have a fairly extensive homelab of ingredients.
I'm constantly tweaking thingsto come up with new recipes for
Fresh Victor and using FreshVictor and all of those
(32:05):
margarita variations at home tothe point where and my wife has
been along for the ride since Iwas squeezing everything myself
always says are you ever goingto squeeze juice again?
I'm like why do I need to?
I've got a refrigerator full ofFresh Victor.
This is, you know, I'm livingthe dream and I like to say
drinking the Fresh Victor, notthe Kool-Aid.
I'm drinking the Fresh Victor.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Well, a margarita, one way or another, seems to be
the answer, and that's a goodanswer there.
I want to thank you so much foryour time.
Our guest has been H Ehrman ofFresh Victor.
For folks, we will put links inthe show notes that you can
check out so, again, you can seethose recipes and you could
even order some yourselfdirectly from the website, or
(32:48):
you could find out where you cango and maybe sit by in a bar
and have it right away.
So, h Ehrman, thank you so muchfor stopping by.
We appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
This has been great and thank you, listeners, for
joining us on the MHW Markpodcast and thanks again to
Cassidy Poe for joining me inhosting.
Thanks, Jim.
This podcast is produced by me,Jimmy Moreland, with booking
and planning support by CassidyPoe and Bridget McCabe.
It's presented by MHW.
Find out more at mhwltvcom orconnect with MHW on LinkedIn.
Lend us a hand by subscribing,rating and reviewing this
podcast wherever you listen.
(33:24):
We'll be back in your feed intwo weeks.
We'll see you then, Cheers.
Welcome to the MHW Mark podcast, where we take deep
dives into various aspects ofthe alcohol industry.
My name is Jimmy Moreland.
Mhw is a US and EU beveragealcohol importer, distributor
and service provider.
My friends in the industry knowthat this is a busy time, and
boy have the MHW people beenjet-setting around at all these
different industry events.
(00:26):
You can keep up with the teamby following them on Instagram,
LinkedIn, pick your poison.
Well, as a result of these busyschedules, I am flying solo on
this introduction, but we havean excellent interview that we
recorded earlier, during which Iwas joined by MHW's Cassidy Poe
, so you'll hear her voice as wechat with our guest, and it's a
(00:46):
great conversation that divesinto the non-ALC side of this
business, specifically cocktailmixers.
So let's get into it.
Our guest today is theExecutive Vice President of
National Accounts and ChiefMixology Officer at Fresh Victor
.
Welcome to the show, H Ehrman.
Thanks for having me it's greatto have you here.
(01:08):
Can you give us a little bit ofbackground on yourself, how you
came to be at Fresh Victor andtell us about Fresh Victor?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, I started my career as a cook when I was 16,
on the Jersey Shore.
I learned how to cook from achef who had just come out of
CIA but had previously workedfor Paul Prudhomme.
That was in the mid 80s, so Ilearned the early days of some
of the trending Cajun cuisine,blackening seafood and such back
(01:38):
in the day.
And I caught the bug, like likea lot of people do when they're
a teenager and in thatenvironment.
And I went on from there justcontinually, like a lot of
people do when they're ateenager, in that environment.
And I went on from there justcontinually, like a lot of
people of my generation workingin the restaurant industry,
always saying that it's justwhat I'm doing now, not what I'm
going to do worked my waythrough the house through
(02:01):
various restaurants in NewJersey, boston, orlando, vail,
colorado, phoenix, arizona, allthe way through college and grad
school.
Eventually, when I graduated, Iwent to Boston College and I
cooked in school.
And then I went to Vail to be aski bum after school and that's
where I started bartending.
After several years ofbartending and having a great
(02:24):
time as a ski bum, I decided Ineeded to get an MBA in order to
pursue my business dreams.
So I went and did that and Ibartended through my MBA at
Thunderbird in Phoenix, went onfrom there to live in Europe and
work in PR for a bit andtraveled around, continued
traveling around Europe,visiting wineries, breweries,
(02:44):
distilleries and bars, and cameback from that into tech, the
dot-com boom, which eventuallybrought me to San Francisco.
At the dot-com bust I ended upback behind a bar to make rent
and pay for my MBA.
Marketing MBAs were not in muchdemand in 2000.
(03:06):
And so after six months ofhelping somebody else open a bar
, I decided all right, enoughtech, I don't like the tech
world.
It's time for me to open a bar.
So at that point I had worked in18 different bars and
restaurants around the countryand I wrote a business plan,
surveyed the market, quiteverything else I was doing and
(03:27):
raised the capital, bought a bar, bought the second oldest
saloon in San Francisco becauseit fit what I was looking for.
And as a history nut, I wasreally enthralled by what I
could find of this place.
And over the last 21 years ofowning that bar called Elixir in
the Mission District, I haveuncovered tons of history about
(03:50):
it, and now it is known as thesecond oldest saloon in San
Francisco.
I also, getting into the firstfew years of it, decided that in
order to make it different andsuccessful, I needed to ditch
all of the stuff I had knownabout being in a bar forever and
wrote my first cocktail menu,got rid of all of the artificial
(04:11):
ingredients.
I had been collecting tequila.
I built a great tequilaselection and then decided that
I needed to switch it to whiskey, which fit more with the saloon
motif.
So I built up the whiskeycollection and today we're known
as one of the best whiskey barsin America.
We were one of the pioneeringcocktail bars of the early
(04:32):
cocktail renaissance and it wasabout that time in the mid 2000s
when I met Ken McKenzie and Kenhad been in the tequila
industry building a brand at thetime and then eventually with
another brand and he and Ibasically, and when we first met
, he hired me several times toexecute catering bars and events
(04:54):
for his tequila brands.
We became friends and eventually, when he came up with the idea
of creating mixers like this,it's kind kind of it was perfect
for us as partners because it'swhat I made my name in.
In those early days of thecocktail revival, I was one of
the guys that was muddlingeverything in a glass and buying
(05:16):
everything at the farmer'smarket and incorporating
culinary processes andtechniques and concepts into my
cocktails, into my originalrecipes, as well as employing
and digging up old recipes andbringing back the cocktail
heyday of the late Victorian eraup to Prohibition, which also
was in line with being aVictorian bar.
(05:38):
So all of this stuff kind oflined up and Ken, basically
after exiting from one of histequila companies, came to me
and said let's take this conceptand turn it into its own
company and get it out there andthe whole idea was basically a
lot of what I'd been doing inculinary cocktails and putting
it in a bottle.
So I'd spend a lot of the earlyto late 2000s traveling the
(06:01):
country building another spiritbrand as the brand ambassador,
teaching bartenders how tosqueeze limes and make simple
syrup, back when they were allpouring basically shelf-stable
mixers and lime cordials out ofa bottle and calling them fresh
when they weren't really fresh.
So I was teaching people how touse juicers and food processors
(06:23):
and things like infusions andsuch to get flavor and use real
ingredients.
And through that process, as alot of people in the cocktail
scene at the time will tell you,we went through a wave, I'd say
between 2005 and 2010, ofreally exploring that.
(06:44):
But also I personally even gotinto this bad habit of putting
too many things in a glass,putting too many ingredients
into and and taking too long toexecute a cocktail, and so that
was something that I think we asan industry, we went down a
rabbit hole and then we kind ofcame back because we realized,
well, we're getting all thesegreat flavors and everything,
but at the same time, peoplewant service.
They don't they don't want tolose the hospitality, they don't
(07:05):
want to lose the experiencewaiting for 15, 20 minutes for a
cocktail.
So that all kind of got fixedand it also inspired.
What fresh victor became wasthis whole idea of taking really
fresh, truly fresh ingredientsand processing them properly to
maintain the flavor andintegrity of a clean label, but
making it convenient andefficient for people, and so
(07:29):
that message started initiallywith the brand as a consumer
message, as we launched, as aconsumer product.
But we found that, as we knewthat the trade would embrace it
as a solution for labor issues,spoilage issues, excessive
expenses et cetera, and so wefound that by pursuing the
(07:54):
on-premise industry as asolution, we could really, from
a business perspective, we couldsell pallets instead of pints.
So we kind of went down pints.
So we kind of went down, madethat our main focus, going into
basically into the pandemic.
We had decided to get rid ofour retail line and focus on
(08:18):
on-premise and then COVID hit.
But in the same time we had,unfortunately, we had done all
of like the branding redesign tointo a 16 ounce package for
retail and said let's sit onthis for a while and focus on
on-premise.
Then the pandemic hit and we'relike whoa, there goes all our
business, call the printers.
So we printed the 16-ouncelabels and within six weeks we
had set up a DTC channel throughour website and we're selling
(08:40):
to seven states in the West.
Within two months I think wehad 48 states for dtc and I
spent most of the pandemic bothselling fresh victor in in in
the 64 ounce on-premise package,along with my entire liquor
inventory at elixir to bay areaconsumers who were drinking at
(09:03):
home, and I set up my own onlinesystem and had to let go of all
of my staff at the bar.
But eventually I brought backpeople as I could, and my
bartenders became deliverydrivers and we were selling a
liter of tequila with a 64-ouncebottle of Mexican lime and
agave.
That makes 25 to 33 margaritasand we were delivering it to
(09:26):
people's homes and I was duringthe day.
I was going through our wholelineup of products and creating
all of the fresh Victor versionsof classic cocktails that
utilize fresh juice and bakingthose recipes and then selling
those as cocktail kits.
And so when we came out of thepandemic, I had this bank of
(09:46):
recipes and ideas and then wewent back into the bars and
restaurants and we started backup with our accounts and getting
them going again.
So now we have a really bigbank of all of that, and so
that's kind of where we are now.
We've got nine differentproducts.
We have three differentchannels between on-premise,
off-premise and DTC, and we'regrowing those all over the
(10:09):
country.
We're in quite a few number ofmarkets now and looking to grow.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
You talk about some of the, I guess, unexpected
difficulties, like obviously thepandemic and all of these sort
of exogenic factors that no onecould have predicted.
But it sounds like A you werekind of prepared in your own way
for some of those things byjust doing your groundwork in
general.
But can you talk about, giventhat you're producing a product
that doesn't have alcohol in it,you're saving yourself some
(10:37):
regulatory difficulties.
But can you talk about issuesyou might have had with, I don't
know, fda or other regulatorythings, getting your products
sort of certified or licensed,other regulatory things, getting
your products sort of certifiedor licensed, especially given
that you're shipping these DTC,just any of those kind of
difficulties and strategies thatyou may have employed to
overcome those?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well, you know, the reason that nobody has done this
before is that refrigerateddistribution is very difficult
and expensive.
You know, I always say FreshVictor is, as a clean label,
natural, better for you productis nothing more than juice,
sugar and water in a bottle.
It's not magic.
(11:17):
The magic comes from, really,our production partner, who is
not just an outsourcedproduction but an equity partner
, a large equity partner in thebusiness, and they are our
second generation family juicecompany with all of the
expertise in sourcing andprocessing.
(11:37):
It's 100% solar powered juiceplant.
They're just a great partnerand they have the long-term
contracts to secure the greatjuices and products that go into
making Fresh Victor on along-term basis, and that gives
us the ability to not onlyprovide a completely consistent
product on a quality and costbasis, but the expertise and
(12:02):
vision for creating new products.
And so their partnership hasbeen key to overcoming so many
of those hurdles, because wedidn't have to learn those
lessons.
They already learned.
They brought that to the tableand, just like building any
business, it's all about havingthe right partners, the right
investors, the smart money, thepeople that you know are going
(12:22):
to open doors and bypass hurdles, being able to not have to
learn the lesson that tooksomebody 10 years to learn saves
you 10 years, so that was amajor thing, but that's.
We are learning our lessons,though, and again, you know,
despite the fact that they knewall of those things, the
(12:43):
regulatory, all of that wedidn't have to worry about it.
We are learning the lessons ofrefrigerated distribution, and
that you think about the spiritworld and we come from spirits.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
You know, like I said , ken has built tequila
companies.
I've been in the bar businessas a buyer and a bartender.
As a buyer my own place for 21years.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Plus I have a consulting business where I
consult to spirit brands and Ihave built spirit brands and I
continue to build spirit brands.
I understand all of the channelsand all of the challenges and
the nice thing about being anon-alcoholic is that you don't
have that.
We don't have to deal with theABC, we don't have to deal with
compliance issues for alcoholand I always say we're a mixer
(13:25):
company, we mix with everybody,we dance with everybody.
The whole current trend innon-alcoholic drinks.
We're partnering with lots ofthose non-alcoholic spirit
brands.
We're partnering with champagneand sparkling wine companies
and beer companies to createshandies and mimosas and
sparkling water for kids' drinksand just simple fr non-elk
(13:49):
drinks.
You know we have a lot ofopportunities based on the fact
that we're non-elk and that weare juice based, and so I think
that gives us a world ofopportunities.
But at the same time, thechallenge of navigating a
refrigerated distribution systemfor on and off premise is
really big, because thosesystems are disparate and old
(14:14):
and clunky and well-establishedand especially when you're
talking about a country as largeas this and 50 different states
that can operate like 50different countries, those
challenges that you have inalcohol we still have because of
this difficult distribution.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
H, you have talked a lot about developing different
cocktail menus for your own barand also playing around with
Fresh Victor.
I'm curious for the spiritbrands listening.
Why is developing a cocktailstrategy inclusive of mixers
like Fresh Victor so importantto do early on?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, you know, especially in the markets that
are super competitive, insomething, as you know, simple
as calling it bourbon or tequilaor vodka, you know you're going
to come up against thebartender who's going to be like
, oh, it's just vodka I can put,I can put any vodka in it.
You know you're going to come upagainst the bartender who's
going to be like, oh, it's justvodka I can put, I can put any
vodka in it.
So you have to lean on and youfeel like you're leaning on your
(15:13):
the quality of your production,the quality of your source
ingredient, the skill of yourdistiller, the source of your
water, the quality of your yeast, all of these things are.
(15:35):
You have to do that in order tofocus on the quality of your
product.
At the end of the day, you alsohave to move product, and the
way you move product in mostspirits.
Besides, you know when you'regetting into the, you know $40,
$50 plus bottle range, at leastfrom an on-premise wholesale
pricing perspective, you'restarting to price yourself out
of the cocktail market for mostmarkets.
Speaking as a bar owner and abuyer and looking at my poor
cost and what I'm going to puton my menu so that I can make a
(15:56):
margin in an increasinglydifficult squeezed margin market
or reality.
But you have to embrace the ideathat cocktails are going to
move your product on theon-premise and if brands are
built on the on-premise then youhave to know what those
cocktails are going to move yourproduct on the on-premise.
And if brands are built on theon-premise then you have to know
what those cocktails are goingto be.
And again, having built a brandthrough the early days of this
(16:17):
cocktail renaissance, you knowthose recipes were evolving on
the crazy side at a rapid paceand they continue to.
I mean, the things thatbartenders are doing today amaze
me.
They have far outpaced me.
I got a lot of press and a lotof attention in the 2000s for
doing things like putting vodkawith lemon, blueberry and thyme.
(16:37):
I was just taking you know thefact that blueberry, lemon and
thyme work in food and I wasputting it into a cocktail and I
got a lot of press for it.
You know this was long before Ihad heard the word centrifuge
or you know, spherification.
These things were not part ofmy vocabulary when I was doing
this.
Again, I was teachingbartenders literally how to cut
(16:59):
limes, squeeze them and makesimple syrup and blend them to
make a sour and trying to getthem to do that process.
And now I've reversed withFresh Victor to telling them you
don't have to do that anymore,because now you can get high
quality.
You can get that high qualityin a product.
But knowing that that lime souris going to move your tequila in
(17:20):
a margarita, which is thebiggest selling cocktail in the
country, is key.
Like you can't just say, oh, wedon't want to be, we don't want
to do a margarita, because youknow everybody does a margarita
yeah, everybody does a margarita, because it sells.
So put your tequila in amargarita and get it out there.
And then there's the argumentof oh well, if you, if you
change two, three moreingredients, it's no longer a
(17:42):
margarita, it's something else.
Great, whatever.
You can stand on your highhorse in your soapbox and claim
that your mixology is betterthan the next guy's mixology,
but at the end of the day, theconsumer sees a margarita and if
you're not building a strategywith your spirit to move it
through margaritas, throughMoscow mules, through espresso
martinis, you're not payingattention and you're losing plot
(18:06):
.
You really need to be on boardwith the things that move
product and a good cocktailstrategy is how you're going to
move your product.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Can you talk about, on the topic of strategy for the
spirits, for the brands who arelistening?
A lot of our listenership willbe brands.
Can you talk about how theymight approach working with a
fresh victor or someone whoprovides the non-alcoholic
ingredients?
If you talk about how theymight approach working with a
fresh victor or someone whoprovides the non-alcoholic
ingredients, if you will, thatmight go with their spirit.
What sort of strategy shouldthey be employing?
(18:38):
What kind of ways can theyleverage what a fresh victor
might be offering?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I always focus on this idea of us being a mixer
and the idea of mixing and thatwe can mix with anything and
everything.
And again, if you're notemploying a proper cocktail
strategy and you're focusing ona neat pour or a sip, you know
again, if you're in the higher,if you're in that market, you're
in a sipping market.
That's a different thing.
But approaching a company likeus, you know we are still a
(19:06):
startup, we're a young companyand I would argue a good
majority of those in the mixerand accoutrement cocktail
accoutrement market are, and sowe're still very open to all
kinds of ideas and the way thatI head up a lot of our
partnerships with Spirit Brandsand we've had some great
(19:29):
partnerships with a number ofbrands, including I think with
one of your brands, humano, thatwe're at WSWA with Stuff like
that.
You know, if you're going to goout and you're going to make a
margarita, let me know.
I want to be the Mexican limeand agave in your margarita.
You know, if you're going to goout and make a pina colada, do
it with our pineapple and gingerroot and you'll have an
(19:51):
amazingly little twisted ginger,twisted pina colada to promote
your rum.
That kind of stuff.
We've got product, we want toget it out there.
We want to get our brand outthere.
So, partnering on workingtogether to show these cocktails
that move and these drinks thatpeople want to drink in the
different marketing events thatyou're doing, whether they're
(20:11):
on-premise or off-premisefocused, whatever it is, you
know, sampling in Total Wine,where we're growing, or a
retailer like that.
Or showing up at a tastingtable at Aspen Food and Wine, or
presenting at a big buyerconference like in a couple of
weeks we'll be at the VibeConference in San Diego with all
(20:33):
of the big national accountbeverage buyers.
I'm open to those partnershipsall the time, and so that's the
thing is like you can, if you'resqueezing all your own limes
and making your own simple oryour and then it gets to other
products of ours like cactus,pear and pomegranate Nobody
wants to juice a prickly pear,nobody wants to juice
(20:55):
pomegranate aerials.
We've done it for you and we'vegot it in a great bottle, so
you can do something that's evena little bit different to
provide that prickly pearmargarita, which is really big
across the Southwest and growingin other areas, or mix it with
your mezcal or whatever it is.
So we're open for that, and Iwould say most others are as
(21:15):
well.
And anytime you see me on apodcast making drinks or on a
show, I'm always bringing inother partner ingredients
because we're just part of theformula.
So we have bitters partnersthat I work with and I like to
promote their different bittersor syrup partners.
Because if I take, like youknow, when Ken and I designed
(21:36):
the lemon sour, for example, Idesigned that specifically to be
a little bit more sour than therest of our mixers, because
it's just lemon sour, it doesn'thave that tertiary flavor
complexity to go down adifferent avenue.
Right, you're going to use itfor a whiskey sour or a Collins,
but I want it to be able toabsorb a little more syrup or
(21:58):
liqueur.
That's going to add some flavorcomplexity.
And then we can add a dash ofbitters, we can switch it up
with some different texturalelements, and so as we present
the drinks that it's possible tomake with Fresh Victor, we have
to have these other partners tomake the drink complete.
It's the sum of its parts.
So we're open to all kinds ofpartnerships like that and I
(22:20):
think that really not enoughspirit companies realize that
they're not on their own andthat they can do this and you
look at like it's interesting.
You know I'm sure you followlots of marketing stuff, like I
do, outside of just the beverageindustry.
Look at these crosspartnerships that are happening
and we've done them, we do.
We've done partnerships withcooler companies, we've done
(22:41):
partnerships with all kinds oflike other products that are not
related directly to thecocktail itself but to the
lifestyle and the image, and sopartnering amongst product
companies I think is a great wayto amplify exponentially your
exposure and get brought intothe view of new buyers and new
(23:04):
audiences.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
I want to talk about these juices more specifically
and the flavors a little bit.
I've tried Fresh Victor myselfgreat products.
How did you go about likepicking what juices to do and
what different like flavors?
Like, did you start with acocktail you wanted to make and
think this is what I need to putin this, or was it kind of the
(23:26):
other way around, like, oh, thissounds like it would be a
really good juice and a mixturetogether?
What can I make out of this?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Well, it all started with the Mexican lime and agave.
Like I said, ken was buildingtequila, so margaritas, he was
selling margaritas and he foundthis solution as he was making
drinks for guests at his home aswell as at events.
We were making lime juice andmaking agave syrup and blending
(23:57):
it all and he was doing thathimself and people kept saying
you know, that's great, but Ihad to wait five, 10 minutes for
that drink and so and he wasdoing it out of Texas and, you
know, focused in the Southwest.
So a lot of Southwest flavorsthat's where the cactus pear
comes from, is big in thatregion and the jalapeno and lime
(24:19):
, again, perfect for spicyanything.
So those kinds of things thatline up with the Southwest
flavors were kind of the initialpart of it.
But then, when you look at theset of nine different flavor
profiles that we have now,there's something for just about
every common cocktail style,right Like our latest two that
(24:40):
were introduced a couple yearsago are the grapefruit and sea
salt and the strawberry andlemon, and that brought us from
seven to nine, and that filledthe gap.
There was a need we had.
We were hearing from ourcustomers.
So, like a lot of companies,you develop products based on
customer demand and we werehearing from our customers that
they needed a strawberry productand they needed a strawberry
product that was versatile inorder to do margaritas, but they
(25:01):
also needed to do strawberrylemonades for kids, and so we
went with strawberry lemoninstead of strawberry lime.
It still makes a greatmargarita, but you can make a
great lemonade out of it.
You can do a lot with it.
The grapefruit and sea salt wasall about the Paloma, the rising
popularity of the Paloma, andagain, ken and I dialed in that
level of sea salt that's inthere.
(25:22):
I think is perfect and itwasn't accidental, it was
purposeful and it took us awhile to get exactly where he
and I agreed that this isperfect and it's.
You know.
That mixer went on to becomethe mixer of the year at the San
Francisco World SpiritsCompetition in 2022.
Eight of our nine products havedouble goals in San Francisco
and the other's got a goal.
(25:42):
So you know, the people agree,the judges agree, and that's the
applicability.
Like I said, the pineapple hasits applicability to things like
a pina colada or a painkiller,but the ginger gives it a little
bit of a unique twist and so wecan find some differentiation
between our products.
So we're not selling commodityjuice and we're going up against
(26:04):
that lower quality level that'sgenerally available.
We're not only amplifying ourquality level but we're also
amplified in the diversity offlavor profiles that we can
provide and the drinks thatthose can make.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
What I also think is really cool is you have the
recipes on the bottles, if I'mcorrect.
So it says the cocktail andexactly what you need to put in
to make that cocktail.
But what I didn't know untilrecently is, if you go on the
website, there is even morecocktails to choose from, which
is really interesting.
(26:40):
So for our listeners, you haveto be sure to check it out.
I hope to help that out Again.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
As a startup and evolving company, our website is
continually evolving.
Our most recent evolution wasthat you can now buy our
64-ounce package on the website,direct to your door.
So people are getting tired ofbuying too many 16-ounce
packages for their big party, sonow you can get 64 ounces at
once.
I have infinitely more recipesthan are available on the
(27:10):
website, but we're continuallytrying to update the website and
build that out.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
And we'll put links in the show notes for people to
check out the website, andrecipes are right there, and it
looks like right now you've gotnon-alcoholic recipes featured,
so that'll be the first thingthat you see, and then you can
scroll down and obviously seeeverything else.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yep, and that will swap out soon with spring
cocktails.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Well, you were just mentioning how, as you guys are
growing, the website's havingmore additions and I'm sure
there's more to come in thefuture as well.
But I'm curious the next fiveyears for Fresh Victor what do
those look like and what are thegoals?
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Well, right now, on-premise sales is the majority
of our business and, like Isaid earlier, it's where we can
move high volume and so wecontinue to press forward with
that, securing contracts withsmaller regional chains that are
growing.
Partners like Chicken andPickle and Walk-Ons are two
(28:09):
stellar examples of verysuccessful fast-growing
businesses that have reallyembraced the value proposition
of Fresh Victor and how it cansatisfy their P&L and
operational needs as well asprovide great product and great
drinks to their guests.
So we're looking to grow withthose kinds of partners from a
(28:30):
distribution perspective becausewe can amplify volume quickly.
But the nice thing is also, aswe get new partners we get
pulled into new markets and sowithin I would say in five years
, we would expect to be in all48, lower 48 states.
We've got some interest in theCaribbean.
That gets into some complexityof shipping and export and
(28:54):
freezing and pallets and it's alittle bit of a different thing
to go beyond our shores but it'spossible and it's in the works,
so I would hope to be there.
We're also on the retail side.
We're expanding with differentbrands and chains and growing in
a smart way to make sure thatwe can.
We have no capacity issuesbecause our production partner
(29:17):
is so, so great.
But you know, growth is bestdone in a smart way so that you
don't overstep your bounds andover-promise and under-deliver
if we want to avoid that.
But again, in five years' time,at the pace that we're going, I
would expect that we've gotsome major national retail
accounts that are secured andactive in all units.
(29:39):
Some of those are happening now.
Some of them are on the tableand there are others that are in
our viewfinder.
And then our third channel, onDTC growth that continues to
grow.
That's really a brand builder.
All the online marketing andsocial media and stuff that
builds the public awareness ofour brand tends to point to the
(30:01):
website, which then points toDTC.
But we really do want to getpeople into the stores and
buying from their local storesso we can help build that
channel.
But, if we're not in a storenear you, there's a where to buy
channel.
Click on our website that showsyou where those stores are and
those are ever expanding and Iwould expect that within five
years all three of thosechannels are pumping and we're
(30:22):
able to help consumers makegreat drinks with ease and
businesses deliver profits andsatisfied customers.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
For our fun final question that we always like to
ask what is your favoritealcoholic beverage or adult
beverage?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
let's say I am like everyone else.
I am enthralled with themargarita as much as I own a
whiskey bar and I love mywhiskey, when it comes to making
drinks I tend to mix withtequila or mezcal, exploring
with more rica sotol bacanora.
But the early days of my bar Iwas like I said, I was really
(31:04):
into tequila and I was spendinga lot of time in Mexico.
I was touring I've probablybeen to 25, 30 distilleries in
Mexico and really in those earlydays of going to El Tesoro and
hanging out with people like youknow, helping Guillermo Salsa
launch Portaleza when it wasstill Los Abuelos, you know.
So I love my.
(31:24):
The concept of additive freeblanco or additive free tequila
is so hot right now, but itreally for those in the know.
That's what it's always beenabout, just like Fresh Victor is
all about clean ingredients anda clean label and honesty in
what we produce.
That's what's driving thisadditive-free tequila focus and
(31:44):
attention.
So that's my go-to is all nineFresh Victors go with a good
Blanco and I rotate in betweenthose and I play with my.
I have a fairly extensive homelab of ingredients.
I'm constantly tweaking thingsto come up with new recipes for
Fresh Victor and using FreshVictor and all of those
(32:05):
margarita variations at home tothe point where and my wife has
been along for the ride since Iwas squeezing everything myself
always says are you ever goingto squeeze juice again?
I'm like why do I need to?
I've got a refrigerator full ofFresh Victor.
This is, you know, I'm livingthe dream and I like to say
drinking the Fresh Victor, notthe Kool-Aid.
I'm drinking the Fresh Victor.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Well, a margarita, one way or another, seems to be
the answer, and that's a goodanswer there.
I want to thank you so much foryour time.
Our guest has been H Ehrman ofFresh Victor.
For folks, we will put links inthe show notes that you can
check out so, again, you can seethose recipes and you could
even order some yourselfdirectly from the website, or
(32:48):
you could find out where you cango and maybe sit by in a bar
and have it right away.
So, h Ehrman, thank you so muchfor stopping by.
We appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
This has been great and thank you, listeners, for
joining us on the MHW Markpodcast and thanks again to
Cassidy Poe for joining me inhosting.
Thanks, Jim.
This podcast is produced by me,Jimmy Moreland, with booking
and planning support by CassidyPoe and Bridget McCabe.
It's presented by MHW.
Find out more at mhwltvcom orconnect with MHW on LinkedIn.
Lend us a hand by subscribing,rating and reviewing this
podcast wherever you listen.
(33:24):
We'll be back in your feed intwo weeks.
We'll see you then, Cheers.
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