TRIP REPORT
“ I urge my colleagues to get out of the office and spend time with the consumer.”
– MELANIE BATCHELOR, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CAMPARI AMERICA
doom and gloom. But there is a consumer shift, but that happens all the time in this industry.”
Batchelor recalled talking with industry legend Jimmy Russell, Master Distiller of Campari’ s Wild Turkey Distillery, about how he couldn’ t give bourbon away in the‘ 80s and‘ 90s. Now, Russell is a celebrity, and Wild Turkey brands are coveted premium products.
“ Trends come and go,” Batchelor said,“ and it’ s all about how you adapt.” Accordingly, Campari recently launched in the American market Crodino, a nonalcoholic spritz that has enjoyed success in Europe since the 1960s.
Batchelor further recalled a recent trip to Texas, where she attended a college football game. Surrounded by a stadium full of Gen Z, she observed how they were hardly avoiding alcohol.
“ I urge my colleagues to get out of the office and spend time with the consumer,” she said.
Along those lines, Batchelor brought up that another trend among Gen Z is higher-ABV beverages.“ We’ re not putting all of that generation into one bucket, but recognizing microtrends within them,” she said.
Echoing her sentiments was fellow panelist Matt Deegan, SVP and COO for Proximo.“ It’ s not the dark days,” he said.“ There’ s still a lot of runway in front of distilled spirits,” as long as companies meet consumers where they are.
“ There’ s regional opportunities in every state,” he continued.“ Gone are the days of peanut butter marketing,” spreading out the same strategy across the entire country.“ If you don’ t treat every state like its own country, then I feel that you’ re missing out on consumers,” he added.
THC beverages came up as a topic.“ We believe that mood modulation, in whatever form, is here to stay,” Deegan said.“ We think the THC beverage space is going to change the landscape.”
“ We believe it is going to challenge for a share of wallet and a share of throat,” he added.“ We need to get into it [ as a company ], and it’ s something that we surely will get into.”
Deegan expressed concerns about this emerging market that are shared by many industry members. One, these products exist within a loophole in the
2018 federal Farm Bill, a grey area that Congress could close at any time. And two, the milligram doses of THC are all over the map, ranging from a manageable 2.5 mg to an eye-popping potent 50 mg.( During a work road trip across the Midwest this past fall, this writer learned that 50−mg THC drinks are difficult to keep in stock, because they sell well to a small but loyal consumer base.)
“ We believe that 2.5 to 5 milligrams makes more sense for these beverages, because then it makes them sessionable,”
Deegan said.
Trendy GLP−1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic are another common topic at industry conferences these days, as their users typically drink much less. Are alcohol producers concerned?
“ The data is there: this is definitely a headwind for the industry,” Batchelor said.“ But it’ s still a little unknown. It’ s a question mark, but a concern.”
Deegan also expressed concern with caution.“ I think our relationship can still exist with GLP−1 users,” he said,“ but it represents a change of beverage preference for them. It’ s something we’ re closely monitoring.” •
8 StateWays • Fall 2025 www. stateways. com