January 7, 2025 • 34 mins
The MHW Mark Podcast kicks off 2025 with a bang, welcoming leaders from The Tasting Alliance to share advice and insights for brands curious about entering a tasting competition - and how to capitalize on their awards when they win.
The Tasting Alliance's President and Chief Operating Officer Amanda Blue and Chairman and Board Member Toby Blue joins MHW's Brigid McCabe and host Jimmy Moreland to talk about how tasting competitions work, what goes on at awards shows, and how Tasting Alliance Consulting helps brands fill in blind spots.
More about The Tasting Alliance: Website
More info about MHW at https://www.mhwltd.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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 Morland.
Mhw is a US and EU beveragealcohol importer, distributor
and service provider.
Co-hosting with me today is forthe new year MHW's Bridget
McCabe.
Welcome and Happy New Year.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Happy New Year.
Glad to kick this off.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Good to have you back .
Resolutions Bridget, New onesfor this year.
Reflections on last year.
Are you a resolutions person?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I like to take a look .
I'm very introspective, so Ilike to take a look at the year
past and try and level set andcreate new goals for the new
year.
Resolutions for this year.
I would say certainly be morehealthy.
I think that's one thateverybody tries to adapt in the
new year.
But I'm going back, afterhaving birth, to Pilates three
(00:59):
times a week and spinning atleast two to three times a week.
So that is something that Ireally want to anchor for just
some time to myself, as well assome time working out.
So that's one.
And then, of course, you know,mhw is growing at a fast clip.
So, helming the marketingdepartment here, I'm looking to
(01:20):
explore more partnerships andbuild relationships with people.
I think that's what thisindustry is all about and what
this podcast is all about.
So I think we're going to havesome really, really great guests
in your head.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
That's great Good personal and professional
resolutions there.
Mine are pretty similar tryingto take better care of myself
personally and thenprofessionally I'm actually
trying to tap the brakes alittle bit on some of my
professional growth.
That kind of like got a littlebit out of control to where I
was kind of pulling my hair out,trying to keep on top of
everything.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You're very much in demand.
I'm happy that we have you.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I've got a 200-year-old house that
desperately needs a whole lot ofattention this winter, and so I
want to make some space to getsome of that work done.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That's great, and you know what?
That could also be a creativeoutlet as well.
You could do a little bit ofboth.
It's very technical, but youand Freya could make it fun.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Creative.
Creative is an interesting word.
It's creating some new baldspots, for sure.
All right, well, let's, let'sget to it.
We've got a really coolconversation today.
Can you tell us, like, what arewe diving into with this chat
today?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yes, so we've talked about competitions in previous
podcast episodes.
This one, I'm really excited.
We have the Tasting Allianceteam and Tasting Alliance I
think 98% of people in thebeverage alcohol industry know
of this, but if you don't it'scomprised of world-class
competitions including, butcertainly not limited to, san
(02:50):
Francisco, new York, singaporeand recently, latin American
World Wine and Spiritscompetitions.
It has an incredible legacy.
They've been around for many,many years, since the 80s, and
what many people may be pleasedto learn is that Tasting
Alliance has also launched anadvisory group called the TAA
the Tasting Alliance Advisorsand they're brand agnostic, no
(03:13):
fee.
They're a consultancy thatbasically matchmakes the world's
most trusted spiritsprofessionals with brands that
are looking for different areasof support.
You only get access to that ifyou are an entrant to one of the
competitions.
So we'll hear more about thisdevelopment, along with many
others, in speaking with Amandaand Toby Blue.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
It's a very good chat , and so we'll quit delaying
here and jump right into it.
Let's go ahead and introduceour guests.
They are the president andchief operating officer of the
Tasting Alliance and chairmanand board Officer of the Tasting
Alliance and Chairman and BoardMember of the Tasting Alliance,
respectively.
Welcome to the show, amanda andToby Blue Welcome.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Thank you for having us Thank you so much for having
us.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
It's nice to be here.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Now I'd love to have Bridgettake the lead here, since you're
the expert, bridget.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Absolutely so.
If you know anything about finewine, beer or spirits, you know
the name, amanda.
She's been at this for a betterpart of a decade.
She previously was in the filmbusiness before she took the
helm at Tasting Alliancecompetitions, and everyone who's
been following Tasting Alliancehas seen the growth and the new
opportunities that have arisenfrom this amazing company.
(04:26):
Toby Blue I've had theopportunity to get to know
through the Laura Badish firm asshe's on their Tasting Alliance
consulting board, and so I'veheard a little bit about all of
the great technology marketingadvertising that he's brought to
the Tasting Alliance consultingspace and excited to get a
chance to really dive into theTasting Alliance advisors, which
(04:47):
is their strategic brandagnostic consultancy and
advocacy network, which isreally built of the world's most
trusted and respected spiritsprofessionals.
So I just want to kick it offand say, amanda and Toby, thank
you so much for joining.
We're really excited to haveyou here.
And first I want to acknowledgethe incredible spirit of your
late father, anthony Diaz-Blue,who was one of the earliest
(05:09):
names that I heard when I joinedthe industry and it was very
important when I was at PurityVodka to make sure that we, you
know, had the respect and theattention of him and that we
were a part of all thecompetition.
So this is something I've beenfollowing for a very long time.
I want to hear from you aboutthe origin story of the business
and how it all began.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well, our father was the wine and spirit editor for
Bon Appetit for many years andwas the editor for the Zagat
Guide in San Francisco winecompetition, which was a state
fair, city state fair in about1983 and started running it and
the fair itself closed and so hedecided to take it over and
create a competition separatefrom the fair.
So that happened around 1986.
And that grew into one of thelargest North American wine
competitions in the world.
And then he started the spiritscompetition, when spirits were
(06:11):
not really that hot on themarket but cocktails were
beginning to.
There was a renaissance forcocktails and he began the
spirits competition in 2000,.
And it has grown into thelargest spirits competition in
the world and we thank him forhis amazing pioneership in our
(06:31):
industry.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I'd like to know sort of from both of you how did you
?
How and perhaps why?
Why did you decide to join thebusiness?
Why not go somewhere else?
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, for me it was sort of not something that I was
planning to do.
I was in the film business,started having children so took
some time off and then startedbeing interested in my dad's
business, but wasn't somethingthat I was planning to get
involved in, but saw the needfor the leadership that was
(07:07):
involved at that point to bereplaced and sort of revive the
competition and create a newleadership team that was more
invested and more part of ourfamily.
Because this is our family'slegacy, it's really important
that everything is done withextreme integrity and it's our
(07:31):
responsibility to keep up thename for our dad.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, and my route is a little bit more circuitous
and I came in a little bit later.
I come from a background inmarketing and had my own agency
for many years, also worked inthe entertainment industry and
own agency for many years, alsoworked in the entertainment
industry and came in a coupleyears ago and really have kind
of applied my entrepreneurshipand background within the
(07:56):
marketing world and we're goingto talk a little bit about
advisors later.
But that's really the skill setthat I brought into it and it's
been really interesting tolearn more about this business
and the industry and Amanda'sdone an incredible job of really
growing the Tasting Alliance tobe what it is today.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And so that actually flows really nicely, toby.
Into my next question, which isfor Amanda how have you been
able to keep San FranciscoSpirits and Wine Competition the
top vanguard?
Over the years, I've seen anumber of initiatives come out.
Is there something you canshare with our listeners about
what is cooking and what aresome of the latest things that
(08:38):
you have introduced over thelast two to three years?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Sure, well, I felt like it was important when I
first stepped in to sort ofshake up the judging panel.
There was a lot of industryicons on that panel, but there
was not a lot of diversity, sothat was one of the things that
I wanted to concentrate on wasadding different not only
(09:01):
different backgrounds, butdifferent genders, different
races, just you know in order tomake sure that we had the full
breadth of people that couldjudge and give an accurate
description of, you know, thebest of the best.
So we have writers, we havecritics, we have experts.
We've got masters of whiskey,masters of wine, so we have
(09:27):
people that are in education,and I think that that's really
important to have that breadthof knowledge represented.
We've standardized the judgingprocedure as well, with judging
education as well as addingtechnology, meaning we do all of
our judging now on iPads, sothere's no bias in the
(09:49):
competition judging sessions,meaning you know you might have
a newer judge that says oh, youknow, I don't know what to give
this, I'm going to wait tilleverybody else says what they're
going to give and then maybe,you know, I'll come up with the
same thing.
We don't allow for that anymore.
Everything is done on iPads.
The panel coordinator who istaking the votes gets the is
(10:11):
populated with the votes thatall the judges have given, so
there is no bias involvedanymore.
And then a media plan.
We've put in a strong mediaplan in place where we we have
made our results come out inspurts, where it's finalists
first, to sort of entice theconsumer and the enthusiast
(10:32):
about what is the best of thebest, and then again it goes to
Top Shelf, which is our bigevent of the year where the
winners are actually announced.
So we have these finalistarticles coming out every two
weeks right after thecompetition that leads up to Top
Shelf where the winners areactually announced.
So I think all of that together, plus a lot of different other
(10:56):
initiatives we have we'vestarted a competition in
Singapore, we've started onejust this year in Latin America,
so I think it's just coveringall territory.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I honestly don't know how you do it.
Your expansion is so fast butit's also so thorough, so it's
not something.
I've never seen, something thatyour company has put out where
it hasn't been just complete 360thought around what the brands
might want, what the judgesmight want, what reflects the
consumer.
(11:28):
I think the diversity aspectyou just brought up is a really
good point too, because a lot ofthe consumers that are shopping
and looking at these metalswant to know that it reflects
their palates as well.
So I think the capability foryou to have built that in is
very smart and excited to sharesome information with our brands
about the Latin Americancompetitions as well.
So we'll make sure to get thatout over our listservs.
(11:49):
But definitely all good thingsand I you know if there's any
brands listening, we'll drop itin the show notes, but please
make sure that you're enteringthese competitions.
They're the number one in theworld and the medal means a lot
and, just like Amanda said,there's a lot that you can do
with it from a marketingperspective.
It doesn't just end after thecompetition.
These medals span years andyears after you secure them, so
(12:12):
definitely make sure to checkthem out.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
And that's something I would love to address, because
some people obviously there area lot of big brands that enter
which are, you know, stalwartsin the industry and you know the
Diageos, the Brown Formans, theSampson, surrey's, the Heaven
Hills that want to keepcementing their legacy as these
very high quality brands.
But there's also a lot of youngbrands that are coming onto the
scene, that enter just sort offor a fluke, and we know that
(12:44):
the entry fee is pricey.
We definitely are aware of that.
But, as a lot of our judgeshave said, and some of these
companies as well, the return oninvestment, if you do well, is
so exponentially more valuablethan the $595 that you have to
(13:05):
pay to enter.
You can't pay a publicist, youcan't create a marketing
campaign or even take a photoshoot for that amount of money
and the amount of publicity thatwe get you afterwards, whether
you're in Forbes or you're onour social media, where our
40,000 followers are looking, oryou're on our website and
(13:26):
you're shoppable, all of thesethings are.
I mean, you know I canunderstand how daunting $595
sounds to the small brand, butagain, it's sort of priceless if
you do well.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
It is so worth it.
I would second that big time.
And I think even the top shelfevent, which MHW sponsored this
past year, that had so many goldand double gold winners that
some of them weren't even in themarket yet, Some of them had
just come to market.
So listen, if you're trying tomake your entry into the US,
which is a collection ofcountries, not states, I say in
(14:01):
terms of your marketing and yoursales plans, this is an
opportunity to really get anational look from distributors,
from importers, from differentretailers.
So definitely get involved.
And I think that actually flowsnicely into the question that
Jimmy had about the Top Shelfevent.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, I guess sort of .
I'm looking at the website.
You know the website forlisteners out there.
We will put it in the shownotes.
You just simply just go tothetastingalliancecom.
You can look at past awardwinners and take a look at the
Top Shelf dot com.
You can look at past awardwinners and take a look at the
top shelf.
There's a.
There's a funny note in herethat some folks out there have
known this as the Oscars ofalcohol.
Now I don't want the Academycoming and suing the MHW Mark
(14:42):
podcast, so some people haveknown this as the Oscars.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
It's been published in lots and lots and lots of
articles that we are the Oscarsof the booze industry.
So, you are not going to getinto any problems, we'll
consider that safe to say then.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
So tell us about the Top Shelf event, like the
background, how did it come tobe?
And, just yeah, give us thelowdown.
What's the event about?
What's the vibe, what does itoffer to people who submit, who
participate, who win and soforth?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
So Top Shelf is geared towards the expert and
the enthusiast, meaning peoplethat want to be more educated
about the spirits that they'redrinking or to learn about the
culture of how their mezcal ismade, where their mezcal is made
.
So that is the person thatwe're trying to reach and we
(15:31):
give this opportunity to allbrands that win double gold in
our competitions to exhibit andthey will get in front of all
the retailers.
We had a speed networking eventwhere MHW sponsored, where we
had five different retailers, wehad PR companies, we had
(15:51):
importers, we had e-comcompanies.
So all those brands that werein attendance, that were
exhibiting and then were justattending, could meet with those
people, get in front of themand explain, you know, their
project, their passion.
I thought it was reallyimportant to have an event like
(16:11):
this because it shouldn't endwith just receiving a medal.
It should be a full, you know,360, holistic approach to your
brand.
So meaning, you know once,there's a lot of people that are
like that they know what theywant to do.
Once they have the medal,they'll put it on their social
media, they'll put it in theirmarketing campaigns.
But there are some, you know,younger companies that are like
(16:33):
what do we do now?
I have no idea.
So they can come to Top Shelf,they can meet all with all these
people and really find out whattheir next steps are.
And then for the consumer, youget to see things that you know
are rare releases or are noteven at market yet and explore
some of the best spirits in theworld.
(16:53):
And then that culminates youknow the masterclasses, the
Grand Expo, the speed networking.
That all culminates in a bigblack tie gala, which is a lot
of fun because you know thesepeople, these brands.
It was like the VIP, all in oneroom and everyone gets to wear
their nice fancy dresses and weget to find out who wins the
(17:14):
best of the best.
I don't think that we havementioned yet, but in San
Francisco alone we get around6,000 entries.
So for you to be, you know,invited to that gala, it's a
very big deal.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Absolutely, and we had MHW and USA Wine West team
members and directors represent,and I got a call the next day
after the gala from ouroperations director out of USA
Wine West, serena, who was likeyou'll never believe it.
I was seated at a table withone of our spirits clients who
I'd been working with for eightyears and had never had an
(17:47):
opportunity to meet in person.
They flew in from across theworld to attend the top shelf
and they had won one of thegolds and it was just such a
nice opportunity for her toreconnect with one of her
clients that she had never metin person.
And so it's a really dazzlingnight and it's a great
opportunity to, you know,connect with different brands
(18:10):
and you know, one of the thingsthat our brands ask us a lot is,
after they enter thesecompetitions, there might be a
request for, you know, maybethey're looking to modify their
formula a little bit or perhaps,as Amanda mentioned, they need
a little bit of help with theirmarketing plan or identifying
different markets, maybe a salesstrategy.
(18:32):
So, toby, this question is foryou.
I would love to hear a littlebit about your thought process
behind starting the partnernetwork Tasting Alliance
Consulting.
I think it's a really brilliantaddition.
And what are the areas ofstrategic alignment that you
provide guidance in?
Speaker 4 (18:47):
It's something I identified pretty early after I
came in and really it's it's theopportunity to create a network
and to give back to theindustry.
It's something that we we donot charge any money for for the
winners of the competition.
And really the basis of it isthat I identify kind of a white
(19:08):
space for a lot of the emergingbrands that come into the
competition.
And so we created this networkand it's everything from product
development to brand strategy,to recruitment and headhunting,
to brand activations andeverything along that value
chain.
And really what happens is alot of the emerging brands that
come to San Francisco and end upwinning, they don't really know
(19:29):
what to do with that sort ofaccreditation, that validation
that they get from thecompetition.
And so I went out and sort ofbuilt this network that includes
about 25 different what I willcall partners and they're
agencies of all differentstripes along that value chain
(19:50):
again of product development,brand strategy, recruitment and
brand activations.
I have the brands that come tous, and brands that come to us
usually reach out to me atadvisors at
thetastingalliancecom and I havethem fill out an intake form of
what they're trying to achieveand it's like a five-page form
(20:12):
where they go through all thedifferent things and I just say
you know, fill out where yourneeds are in terms of
communications, in terms ofwhether or not you're looking
for new branding, new packaging,and then we spend a couple
hours together going through allof that and once I sort of go
through that with them, I triageand look at the partners that
(20:33):
we have within our network and Ido what ostensibly is a
matchmaking service and I takethe partner again usually in
this case will be an agency Iintroduce them to the brand and
then they're off to the races,to the brand, and then they're
(20:55):
off to the races.
And we've had tremendous successin the first year of doing this
, where, again, a lot of thebrands don't really know how to
maximize the exposure that theyget from San Francisco.
And it's such a great platformand, as Amanda pointed out, the
investment can be exponentialand a force multiplier as long
as you're really applying it andusing it to your advantage.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
I think this is something that a lot of our
clients could definitely utilize, so I'm going to be encouraging
them to enter, because do Ihave it correct that they have
to flow through the competitionin order to access the Tasting
Alliance consulting resources?
Speaker 4 (21:29):
That's exactly right.
And again, it comes at no cost,Obviously, once just to be
clear, once we introduce them tothe agency, the agencies do
obviously have their fees and wetry to be as transparent as
possible.
But the offering, the servicefrom San Francisco Spirits
Competition is free, from theTasting Alliance is free.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
And this applies to all of our competitions Latin
America, singapore and New York.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Excellent.
So just another reason,listeners, why you should be
entering.
You get access to this table ofagencies and resources and
matchmaking there.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Can I ask a quick question about the different?
So we've got these differentsort of global sort of
geographies with thesecompetitions.
Should I, as a brand, if I'vegot a very limited budget for my
competition, spend, if you will, should my, if I've got a
mezcal or something like that?
Should the particular type ofspirit that I'm producing,
(22:26):
should that factor into whichcompetition I enter?
Does it matter if my mezcalgoes into Singapore versus LATAM
versus San Francisco, or isthere like a different vibe in
each of these differentcompetitions, or is it pretty
well each one is a globalcompetition?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Each one is a global competition, but we have, let's
say, for Singapore, we havelocal media and we have local,
you know brand reps anddistribution and importers that
are concentrating on thoseresults a little bit more.
Each of these countries hasdifferent distribution and
different even alcohol laws.
(23:05):
So, again, latin America juststarted this year, but it was
about local media.
We had the support from the CRT, which is the governing board
of tequila.
We had a press conference therethat we did all in Spanish,
which was quite fun.
We had the support of thegovernment of Guadalajara, which
(23:25):
is in Jalisco, which is themain producing region for
tequila.
So, yeah, it really justdepends on what you're looking
for.
For a small brand that's justavailable in Mexico, it probably
doesn't make a lot of sense toenter into San Francisco.
The shipping fees are going tobe a lot more and if you have no
plans to be distributed in theUS, it's not as valuable as
(23:50):
getting in front of your localmarket, your local retailers,
your local distributors.
For people that are on a globalscale, it makes sense to.
We have a lot of brands thatenter all of our competitions.
First of all.
You have the chance then to wina triple still award, which
means if you've gotten a doublegold at all of our competitions,
(24:12):
you get that award and thatrecognition at Top Shelf and
you're featured a lot in all ofour marketing materials and
stuff like that as a winner ofall of those different
competitions.
So I would say there's value inentering all of them.
Plus, the palettes in each ofthese different regions are very
(24:32):
different.
You know, the American palatefor agave-based spirits tends to
go sweeter.
Our judges are not tastingbased on their personal
preference.
They're tasting based on whatthey think will do best at
market.
So it also is about regionalpalates and regional preferences
(24:53):
.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
That's a great point.
And the other thing that I hadlittle beaker of double gold or
finalists from the competitionVery cool, very cool.
(25:28):
And then the other area that Iwanted to address, because I've
been wishing and praying andhoping for this for so long, is
an RTD competition.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Praying.
Don't waste your prayers onRTDs.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
It's the area that needs it the most, because
consumers love them.
It's continuing to take off.
Every month at MHW we'resigning new RTD clients, so
there's no sign of stopping.
But it's really hard.
When you're shopping, yourjudgment basically goes down to
the packaging design, which it'sreally hard.
When you're shopping, you know,your judgment basically goes
down to the packaging design,which that's important too.
I'm sure that's a judgingcategory, but you know, if
(26:05):
someone wants an RTD, that'seasy, convenient.
You know, maybe they'retailgating or they have a picnic
or family in town, something'sgoing on where they're not going
to be making elaboratecocktails.
You want to know that thattaste profile is good at least.
So, out of curiosity, how didyou put together the judges for
this sector, since it's a littlebit of a creative, new,
(26:25):
innovative category?
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Well, I will say we started it right, I think in the
first year of pandemic.
I mean, we had already alwaysbeen accepting RTDs, but
obviously during pandemic thatsector sort of exploded.
I think then we were seeingthat a lot of the stuff that was
on the market before pandemicwas sort of low quality, low
quality based liquors and justso we're clear.
(26:51):
I don't know that if we evenspoke about this before, but all
of our judging is blind.
So packaging does really affectthe consumer, but I think that
they do want to know what's thequality of the juice inside the
bottle.
So our judges do not see anypackaging, so they are just
poured, you know, a littleGlencairn of the liquid and have
(27:12):
to go from there.
I think the quality of theproducts has gotten so much more
interesting and the flavorprofiles are really really
interesting and dynamic.
The way we pick judges for thatis people that are passionate
about it, because there are somejudges that will not.
They will not do the RTD.
(27:33):
That's not their wheelhouse,that's not what they want to do.
Maybe they think it's a littlebit not in their scope, but
there are a lot of people thatare really passionate about the
area because it is such agrowing area and it gives a lot
of power to the consumer.
So we ask our spirits judges,because it is a spirits
(27:54):
competition.
We ask all of our spiritsjudges you know, is this an area
that you are excited about?
Because we don't really want toput it in front of them if
they're not.
So we gather from our own poolof judges that we already have
Now for our non-alcoholic sector, which is also a big, exploding
sector.
We get specific judges just forthose panels.
(28:14):
Spirits judges also can tastethe non-alcoholic.
But we also get specificnon-alcoholic experts to judge
those flights, because it is areally important sector that
needs to have its own sort ofspecialized judge.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's really cool that you're
kind of putting together thosetwo different judge types.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat drink and then stop
drinking and go the NA route,and there's some as we're seeing
with this new generation thereare some people that just never
drank but they still want to beinvolved in the culture of it,
and so you do have sort of thosefolks that are looking for
(28:52):
almost like the gin replica.
But then you have some that arelooking for more of you know
that juice forward or you knowmore interesting flavor than
just trying to replicate thealcohol itself.
So that's very interesting toknow.
Any other new teasers for theindustry to look out for in the
(29:15):
future or anything that you wantto share live on the MHW Mark
podcast.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
We will be going to Pro Wine this year, so great,
set up some meetings with usthere.
We will be taking on the wswa,the wine and spirits wholesalers
of america.
We're taking over their tastingcompetition at their access
live event in february in Denver, so we will be leading their
wine and their spiritscompetition.
So that's a big deal.
We'll be there hitting theground, meeting with all the
(29:49):
brands that are out there.
We will be at Tales of theCocktail, doing another couple
activations there as well, andthen hopefully we'll see all of
you as guests or as nominees atTop Shelf in November, hopefully
in San Francisco again.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Excellent, and do you plan to keep it in San
Francisco that?
Speaker 3 (30:10):
would be my goal.
That is our city of origin.
That is where I grew up, is acity that I love to pieces.
It's obviously going through ahard time right now, so we're
trying to bring you know thebeverage community together
there, which is very, verystrong.
So, yes, our ideal would be tokeep it in San Francisco.
(30:30):
We had it in Vegas for one year, but hopefully we keep it in
San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
I just wanted to add.
We started this conversation byspeaking about our father,
anthony Dias Blue, and hislegacy, and that's obviously
really important to our family,and I think what he did over the
course of 40 years is create anenvironment and ecosystem which
is defined by its integrity,and the integrity of the
(30:59):
competitions and the proprietaryprocess whereby the judging
takes place with those judges isthe tip of the sword for us,
and the quality attribution thatthese brands are getting as a
result of that is very valuableby virtue of that integrity and
the fact that the San FranciscoSpirits Competition and the.
(31:20):
Tasting Alliance is synonymouswith quality.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
So we'll move on to our fun question that we like to
ask all of our guests here, andthat is what is your favorite?
We'll say adult beverage whatare we liking right now?
And we'll ask both of you andToby.
We'll say adult beverage whatare we liking right now?
And we'll ask both of you andToby we'll go ahead and let you
answer first.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
You know my go-tos are definitely scotch.
That's something that my dadand I enjoyed together.
We would have Oban quite a bit,but just as a kind of a sipping
adult beverage.
I'm really into tequila rightnow and I usually just get it
neat and I'm really enjoying alot of the brands that are
(32:06):
emerging out there in thetequila category.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Very good Amanda.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Well, I would say I am now really into dirty
martinis With some blue cheesestuffed olives yes, why not?
But for the holidays, since weare talking right now, during
the holidays, I love a bourboncocktail, an old fashioned or a
Manhattan while sitting aroundthe Christmas tree by the fire.
(32:34):
We have a tradition in ourhouse where, the day that we
decorate the tree, we makespaghetti and meatballs from my
husband's Italian family recipeand we drink Manhattan.
So that's what I'll be sippingon this season.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
That sounds incredibly cozy.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
And do you both just have an incredible bar from all
of the spirits and wines aroundthe world?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
I do, I can't lie.
Um, I definitely, you know,cherry pick, which ones come
home with me, um, because thereis so much volume of of what we
get.
But, um, you know, we just hadour wine competition and I
brought back a case, andcompetition and I brought back a
(33:20):
case, and it's almost gone.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
You work hard, amanda and Toby.
You both deserve that.
You guys are, all over theworld, always something new in
fruition, so if there's any workperk that needs to be enjoyed,
it's that.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Well, by the time listeners hear this, it will
already be well into the newyear, so we hope that you have
enjoyed your Manhattans andspaghetti and that our listeners
have all enjoyed their holidaysas well.
So I want to thank Toby andAmanda Blue for stopping by and
sharing their expertise.
The website is simplythetastingalliancecom.
(33:58):
We'll have links to that andother things in the show notes
that our listeners can check out.
So again, toby and Amanda Blue,thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
Thank you so much for having us Really really a
pleasure.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
And thank you listeners for joining us on the
MHW Mark podcast and thanksagain to Bridget McCabe for
joining me in hosting.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Thank you so much, Jimmy.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
This podcast is produced by me, Jimmy Moreland,
with booking and planningsupport by Cassidy Poe and
Bridget McCabe.
It's presented by MHW.
Find out more at mhwltdcom orconnect with MHW on LinkedIn.
Lend us a hand by subscribing,rating and reviewing this
podcast wherever you listen.
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 Morland.
Mhw is a US and EU beveragealcohol importer, distributor
and service provider.
Co-hosting with me today is forthe new year MHW's Bridget
McCabe.
Welcome and Happy New Year.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Happy New Year.
Glad to kick this off.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Good to have you back .
Resolutions Bridget, New onesfor this year.
Reflections on last year.
Are you a resolutions person?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I like to take a look .
I'm very introspective, so Ilike to take a look at the year
past and try and level set andcreate new goals for the new
year.
Resolutions for this year.
I would say certainly be morehealthy.
I think that's one thateverybody tries to adapt in the
new year.
But I'm going back, afterhaving birth, to Pilates three
(00:59):
times a week and spinning atleast two to three times a week.
So that is something that Ireally want to anchor for just
some time to myself, as well assome time working out.
So that's one.
And then, of course, you know,mhw is growing at a fast clip.
So, helming the marketingdepartment here, I'm looking to
(01:20):
explore more partnerships andbuild relationships with people.
I think that's what thisindustry is all about and what
this podcast is all about.
So I think we're going to havesome really, really great guests
in your head.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
That's great Good personal and professional
resolutions there.
Mine are pretty similar tryingto take better care of myself
personally and thenprofessionally I'm actually
trying to tap the brakes alittle bit on some of my
professional growth.
That kind of like got a littlebit out of control to where I
was kind of pulling my hair out,trying to keep on top of
everything.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You're very much in demand.
I'm happy that we have you.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I've got a 200-year-old house that
desperately needs a whole lot ofattention this winter, and so I
want to make some space to getsome of that work done.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That's great, and you know what?
That could also be a creativeoutlet as well.
You could do a little bit ofboth.
It's very technical, but youand Freya could make it fun.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Creative.
Creative is an interesting word.
It's creating some new baldspots, for sure.
All right, well, let's, let'sget to it.
We've got a really coolconversation today.
Can you tell us, like, what arewe diving into with this chat
today?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yes, so we've talked about competitions in previous
podcast episodes.
This one, I'm really excited.
We have the Tasting Allianceteam and Tasting Alliance I
think 98% of people in thebeverage alcohol industry know
of this, but if you don't it'scomprised of world-class
competitions including, butcertainly not limited to, san
(02:50):
Francisco, new York, singaporeand recently, latin American
World Wine and Spiritscompetitions.
It has an incredible legacy.
They've been around for many,many years, since the 80s, and
what many people may be pleasedto learn is that Tasting
Alliance has also launched anadvisory group called the TAA
the Tasting Alliance Advisorsand they're brand agnostic, no
(03:13):
fee.
They're a consultancy thatbasically matchmakes the world's
most trusted spiritsprofessionals with brands that
are looking for different areasof support.
You only get access to that ifyou are an entrant to one of the
competitions.
So we'll hear more about thisdevelopment, along with many
others, in speaking with Amandaand Toby Blue.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
It's a very good chat , and so we'll quit delaying
here and jump right into it.
Let's go ahead and introduceour guests.
They are the president andchief operating officer of the
Tasting Alliance and chairmanand board Officer of the Tasting
Alliance and Chairman and BoardMember of the Tasting Alliance,
respectively.
Welcome to the show, amanda andToby Blue Welcome.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Thank you for having us Thank you so much for having
us.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
It's nice to be here.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Now I'd love to have Bridgettake the lead here, since you're
the expert, bridget.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Absolutely so.
If you know anything about finewine, beer or spirits, you know
the name, amanda.
She's been at this for a betterpart of a decade.
She previously was in the filmbusiness before she took the
helm at Tasting Alliancecompetitions, and everyone who's
been following Tasting Alliancehas seen the growth and the new
opportunities that have arisenfrom this amazing company.
(04:26):
Toby Blue I've had theopportunity to get to know
through the Laura Badish firm asshe's on their Tasting Alliance
consulting board, and so I'veheard a little bit about all of
the great technology marketingadvertising that he's brought to
the Tasting Alliance consultingspace and excited to get a
chance to really dive into theTasting Alliance advisors, which
(04:47):
is their strategic brandagnostic consultancy and
advocacy network, which isreally built of the world's most
trusted and respected spiritsprofessionals.
So I just want to kick it offand say, amanda and Toby, thank
you so much for joining.
We're really excited to haveyou here.
And first I want to acknowledgethe incredible spirit of your
late father, anthony Diaz-Blue,who was one of the earliest
(05:09):
names that I heard when I joinedthe industry and it was very
important when I was at PurityVodka to make sure that we, you
know, had the respect and theattention of him and that we
were a part of all thecompetition.
So this is something I've beenfollowing for a very long time.
I want to hear from you aboutthe origin story of the business
and how it all began.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well, our father was the wine and spirit editor for
Bon Appetit for many years andwas the editor for the Zagat
Guide in San Francisco winecompetition, which was a state
fair, city state fair in about1983 and started running it and
the fair itself closed and so hedecided to take it over and
create a competition separatefrom the fair.
So that happened around 1986.
And that grew into one of thelargest North American wine
competitions in the world.
And then he started the spiritscompetition, when spirits were
(06:11):
not really that hot on themarket but cocktails were
beginning to.
There was a renaissance forcocktails and he began the
spirits competition in 2000,.
And it has grown into thelargest spirits competition in
the world and we thank him forhis amazing pioneership in our
(06:31):
industry.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I'd like to know sort of from both of you how did you
?
How and perhaps why?
Why did you decide to join thebusiness?
Why not go somewhere else?
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, for me it was sort of not something that I was
planning to do.
I was in the film business,started having children so took
some time off and then startedbeing interested in my dad's
business, but wasn't somethingthat I was planning to get
involved in, but saw the needfor the leadership that was
(07:07):
involved at that point to bereplaced and sort of revive the
competition and create a newleadership team that was more
invested and more part of ourfamily.
Because this is our family'slegacy, it's really important
that everything is done withextreme integrity and it's our
(07:31):
responsibility to keep up thename for our dad.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, and my route is a little bit more circuitous
and I came in a little bit later.
I come from a background inmarketing and had my own agency
for many years, also worked inthe entertainment industry and
own agency for many years, alsoworked in the entertainment
industry and came in a coupleyears ago and really have kind
of applied my entrepreneurshipand background within the
(07:56):
marketing world and we're goingto talk a little bit about
advisors later.
But that's really the skill setthat I brought into it and it's
been really interesting tolearn more about this business
and the industry and Amanda'sdone an incredible job of really
growing the Tasting Alliance tobe what it is today.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And so that actually flows really nicely, toby.
Into my next question, which isfor Amanda how have you been
able to keep San FranciscoSpirits and Wine Competition the
top vanguard?
Over the years, I've seen anumber of initiatives come out.
Is there something you canshare with our listeners about
what is cooking and what aresome of the latest things that
(08:38):
you have introduced over thelast two to three years?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Sure, well, I felt like it was important when I
first stepped in to sort ofshake up the judging panel.
There was a lot of industryicons on that panel, but there
was not a lot of diversity, sothat was one of the things that
I wanted to concentrate on wasadding different not only
(09:01):
different backgrounds, butdifferent genders, different
races, just you know in order tomake sure that we had the full
breadth of people that couldjudge and give an accurate
description of, you know, thebest of the best.
So we have writers, we havecritics, we have experts.
We've got masters of whiskey,masters of wine, so we have
(09:27):
people that are in education,and I think that that's really
important to have that breadthof knowledge represented.
We've standardized the judgingprocedure as well, with judging
education as well as addingtechnology, meaning we do all of
our judging now on iPads, sothere's no bias in the
(09:49):
competition judging sessions,meaning you know you might have
a newer judge that says oh, youknow, I don't know what to give
this, I'm going to wait tilleverybody else says what they're
going to give and then maybe,you know, I'll come up with the
same thing.
We don't allow for that anymore.
Everything is done on iPads.
The panel coordinator who istaking the votes gets the is
(10:11):
populated with the votes thatall the judges have given, so
there is no bias involvedanymore.
And then a media plan.
We've put in a strong mediaplan in place where we we have
made our results come out inspurts, where it's finalists
first, to sort of entice theconsumer and the enthusiast
(10:32):
about what is the best of thebest, and then again it goes to
Top Shelf, which is our bigevent of the year where the
winners are actually announced.
So we have these finalistarticles coming out every two
weeks right after thecompetition that leads up to Top
Shelf where the winners areactually announced.
So I think all of that together, plus a lot of different other
(10:56):
initiatives we have we'vestarted a competition in
Singapore, we've started onejust this year in Latin America,
so I think it's just coveringall territory.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I honestly don't know how you do it.
Your expansion is so fast butit's also so thorough, so it's
not something.
I've never seen, something thatyour company has put out where
it hasn't been just complete 360thought around what the brands
might want, what the judgesmight want, what reflects the
consumer.
(11:28):
I think the diversity aspectyou just brought up is a really
good point too, because a lot ofthe consumers that are shopping
and looking at these metalswant to know that it reflects
their palates as well.
So I think the capability foryou to have built that in is
very smart and excited to sharesome information with our brands
about the Latin Americancompetitions as well.
So we'll make sure to get thatout over our listservs.
(11:49):
But definitely all good thingsand I you know if there's any
brands listening, we'll drop itin the show notes, but please
make sure that you're enteringthese competitions.
They're the number one in theworld and the medal means a lot
and, just like Amanda said,there's a lot that you can do
with it from a marketingperspective.
It doesn't just end after thecompetition.
These medals span years andyears after you secure them, so
(12:12):
definitely make sure to checkthem out.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
And that's something I would love to address, because
some people obviously there area lot of big brands that enter
which are, you know, stalwartsin the industry and you know the
Diageos, the Brown Formans, theSampson, surrey's, the Heaven
Hills that want to keepcementing their legacy as these
very high quality brands.
But there's also a lot of youngbrands that are coming onto the
scene, that enter just sort offor a fluke, and we know that
(12:44):
the entry fee is pricey.
We definitely are aware of that.
But, as a lot of our judgeshave said, and some of these
companies as well, the return oninvestment, if you do well, is
so exponentially more valuablethan the $595 that you have to
(13:05):
pay to enter.
You can't pay a publicist, youcan't create a marketing
campaign or even take a photoshoot for that amount of money
and the amount of publicity thatwe get you afterwards, whether
you're in Forbes or you're onour social media, where our
40,000 followers are looking, oryou're on our website and
(13:26):
you're shoppable, all of thesethings are.
I mean, you know I canunderstand how daunting $595
sounds to the small brand, butagain, it's sort of priceless if
you do well.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
It is so worth it.
I would second that big time.
And I think even the top shelfevent, which MHW sponsored this
past year, that had so many goldand double gold winners that
some of them weren't even in themarket yet, Some of them had
just come to market.
So listen, if you're trying tomake your entry into the US,
which is a collection ofcountries, not states, I say in
(14:01):
terms of your marketing and yoursales plans, this is an
opportunity to really get anational look from distributors,
from importers, from differentretailers.
So definitely get involved.
And I think that actually flowsnicely into the question that
Jimmy had about the Top Shelfevent.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, I guess sort of .
I'm looking at the website.
You know the website forlisteners out there.
We will put it in the shownotes.
You just simply just go tothetastingalliancecom.
You can look at past awardwinners and take a look at the
Top Shelf dot com.
You can look at past awardwinners and take a look at the
top shelf.
There's a.
There's a funny note in herethat some folks out there have
known this as the Oscars ofalcohol.
Now I don't want the Academycoming and suing the MHW Mark
(14:42):
podcast, so some people haveknown this as the Oscars.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
It's been published in lots and lots and lots of
articles that we are the Oscarsof the booze industry.
So, you are not going to getinto any problems, we'll
consider that safe to say then.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
So tell us about the Top Shelf event, like the
background, how did it come tobe?
And, just yeah, give us thelowdown.
What's the event about?
What's the vibe, what does itoffer to people who submit, who
participate, who win and soforth?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
So Top Shelf is geared towards the expert and
the enthusiast, meaning peoplethat want to be more educated
about the spirits that they'redrinking or to learn about the
culture of how their mezcal ismade, where their mezcal is made
.
So that is the person thatwe're trying to reach and we
(15:31):
give this opportunity to allbrands that win double gold in
our competitions to exhibit andthey will get in front of all
the retailers.
We had a speed networking eventwhere MHW sponsored, where we
had five different retailers, wehad PR companies, we had
(15:51):
importers, we had e-comcompanies.
So all those brands that werein attendance, that were
exhibiting and then were justattending, could meet with those
people, get in front of themand explain, you know, their
project, their passion.
I thought it was reallyimportant to have an event like
(16:11):
this because it shouldn't endwith just receiving a medal.
It should be a full, you know,360, holistic approach to your
brand.
So meaning, you know once,there's a lot of people that are
like that they know what theywant to do.
Once they have the medal,they'll put it on their social
media, they'll put it in theirmarketing campaigns.
But there are some, you know,younger companies that are like
(16:33):
what do we do now?
I have no idea.
So they can come to Top Shelf,they can meet all with all these
people and really find out whattheir next steps are.
And then for the consumer, youget to see things that you know
are rare releases or are noteven at market yet and explore
some of the best spirits in theworld.
(16:53):
And then that culminates youknow the masterclasses, the
Grand Expo, the speed networking.
That all culminates in a bigblack tie gala, which is a lot
of fun because you know thesepeople, these brands.
It was like the VIP, all in oneroom and everyone gets to wear
their nice fancy dresses and weget to find out who wins the
(17:14):
best of the best.
I don't think that we havementioned yet, but in San
Francisco alone we get around6,000 entries.
So for you to be, you know,invited to that gala, it's a
very big deal.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Absolutely, and we had MHW and USA Wine West team
members and directors represent,and I got a call the next day
after the gala from ouroperations director out of USA
Wine West, serena, who was likeyou'll never believe it.
I was seated at a table withone of our spirits clients who
I'd been working with for eightyears and had never had an
(17:47):
opportunity to meet in person.
They flew in from across theworld to attend the top shelf
and they had won one of thegolds and it was just such a
nice opportunity for her toreconnect with one of her
clients that she had never metin person.
And so it's a really dazzlingnight and it's a great
opportunity to, you know,connect with different brands
(18:10):
and you know, one of the thingsthat our brands ask us a lot is,
after they enter thesecompetitions, there might be a
request for, you know, maybethey're looking to modify their
formula a little bit or perhaps,as Amanda mentioned, they need
a little bit of help with theirmarketing plan or identifying
different markets, maybe a salesstrategy.
(18:32):
So, toby, this question is foryou.
I would love to hear a littlebit about your thought process
behind starting the partnernetwork Tasting Alliance
Consulting.
I think it's a really brilliantaddition.
And what are the areas ofstrategic alignment that you
provide guidance in?
Speaker 4 (18:47):
It's something I identified pretty early after I
came in and really it's it's theopportunity to create a network
and to give back to theindustry.
It's something that we we donot charge any money for for the
winners of the competition.
And really the basis of it isthat I identify kind of a white
(19:08):
space for a lot of the emergingbrands that come into the
competition.
And so we created this networkand it's everything from product
development to brand strategy,to recruitment and headhunting,
to brand activations andeverything along that value
chain.
And really what happens is alot of the emerging brands that
come to San Francisco and end upwinning, they don't really know
(19:29):
what to do with that sort ofaccreditation, that validation
that they get from thecompetition.
And so I went out and sort ofbuilt this network that includes
about 25 different what I willcall partners and they're
agencies of all differentstripes along that value chain
(19:50):
again of product development,brand strategy, recruitment and
brand activations.
I have the brands that come tous, and brands that come to us
usually reach out to me atadvisors at
thetastingalliancecom and I havethem fill out an intake form of
what they're trying to achieveand it's like a five-page form
(20:12):
where they go through all thedifferent things and I just say
you know, fill out where yourneeds are in terms of
communications, in terms ofwhether or not you're looking
for new branding, new packaging,and then we spend a couple
hours together going through allof that and once I sort of go
through that with them, I triageand look at the partners that
(20:33):
we have within our network and Ido what ostensibly is a
matchmaking service and I takethe partner again usually in
this case will be an agency Iintroduce them to the brand and
then they're off to the races,to the brand, and then they're
(20:55):
off to the races.
And we've had tremendous successin the first year of doing this
, where, again, a lot of thebrands don't really know how to
maximize the exposure that theyget from San Francisco.
And it's such a great platformand, as Amanda pointed out, the
investment can be exponentialand a force multiplier as long
as you're really applying it andusing it to your advantage.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
I think this is something that a lot of our
clients could definitely utilize, so I'm going to be encouraging
them to enter, because do Ihave it correct that they have
to flow through the competitionin order to access the Tasting
Alliance consulting resources?
Speaker 4 (21:29):
That's exactly right.
And again, it comes at no cost,Obviously, once just to be
clear, once we introduce them tothe agency, the agencies do
obviously have their fees and wetry to be as transparent as
possible.
But the offering, the servicefrom San Francisco Spirits
Competition is free, from theTasting Alliance is free.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
And this applies to all of our competitions Latin
America, singapore and New York.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Excellent.
So just another reason,listeners, why you should be
entering.
You get access to this table ofagencies and resources and
matchmaking there.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Can I ask a quick question about the different?
So we've got these differentsort of global sort of
geographies with thesecompetitions.
Should I, as a brand, if I'vegot a very limited budget for my
competition, spend, if you will, should my, if I've got a
mezcal or something like that?
Should the particular type ofspirit that I'm producing,
(22:26):
should that factor into whichcompetition I enter?
Does it matter if my mezcalgoes into Singapore versus LATAM
versus San Francisco, or isthere like a different vibe in
each of these differentcompetitions, or is it pretty
well each one is a globalcompetition?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Each one is a global competition, but we have, let's
say, for Singapore, we havelocal media and we have local,
you know brand reps anddistribution and importers that
are concentrating on thoseresults a little bit more.
Each of these countries hasdifferent distribution and
different even alcohol laws.
(23:05):
So, again, latin America juststarted this year, but it was
about local media.
We had the support from the CRT, which is the governing board
of tequila.
We had a press conference therethat we did all in Spanish,
which was quite fun.
We had the support of thegovernment of Guadalajara, which
(23:25):
is in Jalisco, which is themain producing region for
tequila.
So, yeah, it really justdepends on what you're looking
for.
For a small brand that's justavailable in Mexico, it probably
doesn't make a lot of sense toenter into San Francisco.
The shipping fees are going tobe a lot more and if you have no
plans to be distributed in theUS, it's not as valuable as
(23:50):
getting in front of your localmarket, your local retailers,
your local distributors.
For people that are on a globalscale, it makes sense to.
We have a lot of brands thatenter all of our competitions.
First of all.
You have the chance then to wina triple still award, which
means if you've gotten a doublegold at all of our competitions,
(24:12):
you get that award and thatrecognition at Top Shelf and
you're featured a lot in all ofour marketing materials and
stuff like that as a winner ofall of those different
competitions.
So I would say there's value inentering all of them.
Plus, the palettes in each ofthese different regions are very
(24:32):
different.
You know, the American palatefor agave-based spirits tends to
go sweeter.
Our judges are not tastingbased on their personal
preference.
They're tasting based on whatthey think will do best at
market.
So it also is about regionalpalates and regional preferences
(24:53):
.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
That's a great point.
And the other thing that I hadlittle beaker of double gold or
finalists from the competitionVery cool, very cool.
(25:28):
And then the other area that Iwanted to address, because I've
been wishing and praying andhoping for this for so long, is
an RTD competition.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Praying.
Don't waste your prayers onRTDs.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
It's the area that needs it the most, because
consumers love them.
It's continuing to take off.
Every month at MHW we'resigning new RTD clients, so
there's no sign of stopping.
But it's really hard.
When you're shopping, yourjudgment basically goes down to
the packaging design, which it'sreally hard.
When you're shopping, you know,your judgment basically goes
down to the packaging design,which that's important too.
I'm sure that's a judgingcategory, but you know, if
(26:05):
someone wants an RTD, that'seasy, convenient.
You know, maybe they'retailgating or they have a picnic
or family in town, something'sgoing on where they're not going
to be making elaboratecocktails.
You want to know that thattaste profile is good at least.
So, out of curiosity, how didyou put together the judges for
this sector, since it's a littlebit of a creative, new,
(26:25):
innovative category?
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Well, I will say we started it right, I think in the
first year of pandemic.
I mean, we had already alwaysbeen accepting RTDs, but
obviously during pandemic thatsector sort of exploded.
I think then we were seeingthat a lot of the stuff that was
on the market before pandemicwas sort of low quality, low
quality based liquors and justso we're clear.
(26:51):
I don't know that if we evenspoke about this before, but all
of our judging is blind.
So packaging does really affectthe consumer, but I think that
they do want to know what's thequality of the juice inside the
bottle.
So our judges do not see anypackaging, so they are just
poured, you know, a littleGlencairn of the liquid and have
(27:12):
to go from there.
I think the quality of theproducts has gotten so much more
interesting and the flavorprofiles are really really
interesting and dynamic.
The way we pick judges for thatis people that are passionate
about it, because there are somejudges that will not.
They will not do the RTD.
(27:33):
That's not their wheelhouse,that's not what they want to do.
Maybe they think it's a littlebit not in their scope, but
there are a lot of people thatare really passionate about the
area because it is such agrowing area and it gives a lot
of power to the consumer.
So we ask our spirits judges,because it is a spirits
(27:54):
competition.
We ask all of our spiritsjudges you know, is this an area
that you are excited about?
Because we don't really want toput it in front of them if
they're not.
So we gather from our own poolof judges that we already have
Now for our non-alcoholic sector, which is also a big, exploding
sector.
We get specific judges just forthose panels.
(28:14):
Spirits judges also can tastethe non-alcoholic.
But we also get specificnon-alcoholic experts to judge
those flights, because it is areally important sector that
needs to have its own sort ofspecialized judge.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's really cool that you're
kind of putting together thosetwo different judge types.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat drink and then stop
drinking and go the NA route,and there's some as we're seeing
with this new generation thereare some people that just never
drank but they still want to beinvolved in the culture of it,
and so you do have sort of thosefolks that are looking for
(28:52):
almost like the gin replica.
But then you have some that arelooking for more of you know
that juice forward or you knowmore interesting flavor than
just trying to replicate thealcohol itself.
So that's very interesting toknow.
Any other new teasers for theindustry to look out for in the
(29:15):
future or anything that you wantto share live on the MHW Mark
podcast.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
We will be going to Pro Wine this year, so great,
set up some meetings with usthere.
We will be taking on the wswa,the wine and spirits wholesalers
of america.
We're taking over their tastingcompetition at their access
live event in february in Denver, so we will be leading their
wine and their spiritscompetition.
So that's a big deal.
We'll be there hitting theground, meeting with all the
(29:49):
brands that are out there.
We will be at Tales of theCocktail, doing another couple
activations there as well, andthen hopefully we'll see all of
you as guests or as nominees atTop Shelf in November, hopefully
in San Francisco again.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Excellent, and do you plan to keep it in San
Francisco that?
Speaker 3 (30:10):
would be my goal.
That is our city of origin.
That is where I grew up, is acity that I love to pieces.
It's obviously going through ahard time right now, so we're
trying to bring you know thebeverage community together
there, which is very, verystrong.
So, yes, our ideal would be tokeep it in San Francisco.
(30:30):
We had it in Vegas for one year, but hopefully we keep it in
San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
I just wanted to add.
We started this conversation byspeaking about our father,
anthony Dias Blue, and hislegacy, and that's obviously
really important to our family,and I think what he did over the
course of 40 years is create anenvironment and ecosystem which
is defined by its integrity,and the integrity of the
(30:59):
competitions and the proprietaryprocess whereby the judging
takes place with those judges isthe tip of the sword for us,
and the quality attribution thatthese brands are getting as a
result of that is very valuableby virtue of that integrity and
the fact that the San FranciscoSpirits Competition and the.
(31:20):
Tasting Alliance is synonymouswith quality.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
So we'll move on to our fun question that we like to
ask all of our guests here, andthat is what is your favorite?
We'll say adult beverage whatare we liking right now?
And we'll ask both of you andToby.
We'll say adult beverage whatare we liking right now?
And we'll ask both of you andToby we'll go ahead and let you
answer first.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
You know my go-tos are definitely scotch.
That's something that my dadand I enjoyed together.
We would have Oban quite a bit,but just as a kind of a sipping
adult beverage.
I'm really into tequila rightnow and I usually just get it
neat and I'm really enjoying alot of the brands that are
(32:06):
emerging out there in thetequila category.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Very good Amanda.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Well, I would say I am now really into dirty
martinis With some blue cheesestuffed olives yes, why not?
But for the holidays, since weare talking right now, during
the holidays, I love a bourboncocktail, an old fashioned or a
Manhattan while sitting aroundthe Christmas tree by the fire.
(32:34):
We have a tradition in ourhouse where, the day that we
decorate the tree, we makespaghetti and meatballs from my
husband's Italian family recipeand we drink Manhattan.
So that's what I'll be sippingon this season.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
That sounds incredibly cozy.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
And do you both just have an incredible bar from all
of the spirits and wines aroundthe world?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
I do, I can't lie.
Um, I definitely, you know,cherry pick, which ones come
home with me, um, because thereis so much volume of of what we
get.
But, um, you know, we just hadour wine competition and I
brought back a case, andcompetition and I brought back a
(33:20):
case, and it's almost gone.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
You work hard, amanda and Toby.
You both deserve that.
You guys are, all over theworld, always something new in
fruition, so if there's any workperk that needs to be enjoyed,
it's that.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Well, by the time listeners hear this, it will
already be well into the newyear, so we hope that you have
enjoyed your Manhattans andspaghetti and that our listeners
have all enjoyed their holidaysas well.
So I want to thank Toby andAmanda Blue for stopping by and
sharing their expertise.
The website is simplythetastingalliancecom.
(33:58):
We'll have links to that andother things in the show notes
that our listeners can check out.
So again, toby and Amanda Blue,thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
Thank you so much for having us Really really a
pleasure.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
And thank you listeners for joining us on the
MHW Mark podcast and thanksagain to Bridget McCabe for
joining me in hosting.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Thank you so much, Jimmy.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
This podcast is produced by me, Jimmy Moreland,
with booking and planningsupport by Cassidy Poe and
Bridget McCabe.
It's presented by MHW.
Find out more at mhwltdcom orconnect with MHW on LinkedIn.
Lend us a hand by subscribing,rating and reviewing this
podcast wherever you listen.
We'll be back in your feed intwo weeks.
We'll see you then, Cheers.
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