I’ ve seen this with not only early-stage brands, but also billion-dollar companies, where they don’ t have a solid understanding of the ebbs and flows and when products are in high demand vs. low demand.
protect themselves through disciplined inventory structures.
“ I have witnessed how minor discrepancies such as missing ten-case data can become disputes that can lead to costly litigation; therefore, I weigh heavily the controls that will record what was done by whom, when it was transferred and where it is being held,” he continues.“ So that is why I advocate for the use of a defined process to document all transfers by using a timestamp feature that will prevent finger-pointing if some items go missing and provide a paper trail that stands up to audit.”
Relying on the expertise from key members in the beverage alcohol industry, we will explore the essential strategies for mastering inventory control. From implementing proper demand forecasting to protecting your liquid assets to tracking specific key performance indicators, these data-driven tactics are sure to help boost company flow.
DEMAND FORECASTING – BEYOND THE SPREADSHEET
In the beverage alcohol industry, a missed forecast doesn ' t just result in a lost sale; it often leads to perishable inventory write-offs( especially in craft beer) or capital lock-up in slow-moving " dust collectors." Traditional historical averaging is no longer sufficient in a market defined by rapid " micro-trends " and volatile supply chains.
“ Inventory management is the best measurement for determining the total duration lead time from the time the order is placed until the order arrives and is ready for the customer to purchase,” says Shanna Bynes Bradford, CEO of a clinical aromatherapy product company.
“ It’ s a good idea to monitor how much stock is on-hand and create a forecast to determine how much additional stock will be needed to avoid running out of inventory on a popular item,” she adds.“ Reviewing previous sales( year-to-date and daily average sales) would be beneficial for determining an accurate prediction for the proper inventory counts.”
For Eran Mizrahi, CEO and cofounder of private-label solutions company Source86, planning and forecasting can be difficult since their lead times can range anywhere between eight to 14 weeks.
“ We import ingredients from all over the world, and so our lead time is actually relatively long,” he says.“ What we do is use a lot of data to form a baseline for our high-volume SKUs.”
Mizrahi describes that the important part of this process is collecting data on an ongoing basis, both from customers and suppliers, to better inform Source86’ s plan. Due to the company’ s longer lead times, they need to be able to react as quickly as possible to any changes.
“ We don’ t want to end up in a situation where we have a lot of stock, so we try to use as much data as possible to form a good baseline so that we can have a constructive conversation with different stakeholders to better plan,” he notes.
Amrita Bhasin, a retail and supply chain expert who serves wholesalers on inventory planning and reverse logistics, advises companies to have a strong understanding of when your peak season is to better forecast product demand.
“ I’ ve seen this with not only early-stage brands, but also billion-dollar companies, where they don’ t have a solid understanding of the ebbs and flows and when products are in high demand vs. low demand,” she says.
It’ s critical for beverage alcohol wholesalers to have access to data and analytics so you can better forecast for product demand.
I’ ve seen this with not only early-stage brands, but also billion-dollar companies, where they don’ t have a solid understanding of the ebbs and flows and when products are in high demand vs. low demand.
– AMRITA BHASIN, A RETAIL AND SUPPLY CHAIN EXPERT
PROTECTING YOUR LIQUID ASSETS
In the alcohol industry, " shrinkage " isn ' t just about theft; it’ s about the silent clock ticking on every pallet of hoppy IPA or delicate cream liqueur. While a bottle of vodka might sit indefinitely, your craft beer and " alt-beverage "( kombucha, low-ABV) portfolios have strict freshness windows.
Erase the Case’ s Weisselberger suggests that wholesalers use a“ slow mover” threshold of 60 days, where all items sitting longer than 60 days are reviewed to help reduce shrinkage as well as claims associated with spoiled product.
“ I have observed additional protection measures taken by wholesalers in the form of a‘ rotation step’ requiring employees to first address and utilize older inventory prior to utilizing new shipments to reduce waste and the potential for disputes with retailers re- www. beveragewholesaler. com Spring 2026 • Bevearge Wholesaler 7