Jonathan Drew's kinda sorta offshoot of the Drew Estate cigar company sent out a press release announcing their leadership team and kinda sorta hinting at things to come.
While it appears booze is still their main business for the time being, the press release notes that "John Drew Brands is an authentic lifestyle company, initially focused on the alcohol beverage category." The key word there is initially. Which, to us, suggests they'll be expanding into other areas, though what those might be are unclear.
Drew Estate has been highly successful at the "lifestyle" hustle, ingraining their brand into the daily lives of their most ardent fans by offering experience-oriented events and apparel. So it stands to reason that John Drew Brands could evolve into other beverages, foods or even clothing, jewelry...you name it. (We delved into Patagonia's expansion into the food business and reviewed their buffalo jerky here.)
Still. any big moves seem pretty far off since the team announced in the press release appear singularly focused on alcohol.
While it appears booze is still their main business for the time being, the press release notes that "John Drew Brands is an authentic lifestyle company, initially focused on the alcohol beverage category." The key word there is initially. Which, to us, suggests they'll be expanding into other areas, though what those might be are unclear.
Drew Estate has been highly successful at the "lifestyle" hustle, ingraining their brand into the daily lives of their most ardent fans by offering experience-oriented events and apparel. So it stands to reason that John Drew Brands could evolve into other beverages, foods or even clothing, jewelry...you name it. (We delved into Patagonia's expansion into the food business and reviewed their buffalo jerky here.)
Still. any big moves seem pretty far off since the team announced in the press release appear singularly focused on alcohol.
President Nancy Berkowitz "has more than 35+ years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry" while National Sales Manager Steve Chernoff "began his career at Continental Distributing in Chicago in 1981 and has over 35 years of experience in all facets of the industry." National Director of Brand Development Frank Moreno "is a ten year marketing veteran in the Beverage Alcohol and Hospitality industries." The group is rounded out by the marketing and creative team apparently shared with Drew Estate. You can read the full press release here.
While they're clearly concentrating on their core business for the moment, industry observers will note that there's plenty of room to innovate within the beverage category, and more than enough creative firepower present to generate out of the box ideas. It will be interesting to see where this leads.