What actually happens when the alcohol industry gets a seat at the global health table? In this episode, Julian Braithwait, the former UK ambassador to the UN and now Director General of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, lays out how international alcohol policy is made and contested.

From WHO mandates to temperance NGOs and the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, this wide-ranging discussion explores why “no safe level” is a political slogan, not a scientific consensus and what’s at stake if the global policy framework shifts away from managing harmful drinking.

Topics Covered:

What IARD is and how it works with global institutions

The difference between WHO Geneva and its regional offices

What ECOSOC status actually allows industry to do

How the alcohol sector is reforming digital marketing

The science behind “no safe level” and why it's controversial

Influence of Bloomberg and Gates Foundation in WHO policy

The risk of a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control

Illicit alcohol and emerging market risks

How temperance groups gained formal recognition

Why upcoming UN resolutions could change everything

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Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

Allison Luvera, co-founder of Juliet, joins Drinks Insider to talk about how she  built a premium boxed wine brand in the US. She reveals how pandemic insights led to launching Eco-Magnum, how her background in fashion and at Pernod Ricard shaped strategy, and the reality of creating a new wine packaging format. Allison explains fundraising challenges, distribution hurdles, and why direct-to-consumer is vital for proof of concept. She shares lessons on hiring, influencer marketing, customer insights, and what it takes to premiumise boxed wine in a sceptical market.

00:20 Allison realised during the pandemic that boxed wine offered convenience but lacked premium quality and branding.

01:30 Seeing boxed wine as eco-friendly drove Juliet’s mission to premiumise the format for aspirational consumers.

05:12 Despite a wine marketing background, Allison had to build supply chain knowledge from scratch through her network.

06:57 Juliet created its own cylindrical Eco-Magnum packaging to stand out in retail and convey luxury.

10:52 Allison did an MBA before launching Juliet to gain operations, finance, and fundraising skills.

15:30 Their first fundraising round started with family and friends before expanding to angels and family offices.

23:16 Distributors initially resisted because they wanted proof of retail success before onboarding Juliet.

29:33 For their first hire, Juliet prioritised marketing support while founders did direct sales themselves.

33:30 DTC data revealed their customer is predominantly women under 44, including strong suburban demand.

45:53 Allison warns founders not to enter alcohol without understanding compliance, distribution, and category nuance.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

What happens when two friends in their twenties get fed up with syrupy energy drinks and decide to invent a caffeinated water that actually tastes like water? Orka founders Michael Moriarty and Nash Hale join Drinks Insider to talk about their journey from college roommates to beverage entrepreneurs. They reveal how they raised $355K in friends-and-family money, endured a year of catastrophic production failures, and finally cracked the code for manufacturing a clear pressurised can — just in time to ride a viral wave on Amazon.

We cover:

If you’re dreaming of launching a drink brand, this is a must-listen.

And don’t forget to sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter!

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

What kind of founder quits a high-paying tech job to launch a single-SKU wine brand in an unfamiliar package — and manages to raise $1.4 million to do it?

In this episode, Felicity talks to Daniel Rodriguez, founder of Currently Wine Co., a Sauvignon Blanc from California’s Central Coast packaged in an aluminium bottle. The packaging isn’t just a gimmick: it’s core to the bigger mission of lowering the carbon footprint of wine while supporting nearshore environmental projects, from oyster bed regeneration to coral reef restoration.

Daniel explains how he:

Raised nearly $1 million from friends and former colleagues in a friends-and-family round

Opened up a second round via crowdfunding to let everyday consumers invest

Acquired the assets of ProudPour and turned them into a more focused brand

Solved the technical nightmare of bottling wine in aluminium with a closure nobody had standardised

Chose to launch with just one wine, in one region, despite distributor pressure to go wide

We also cover:

Why distribution is the biggest bottleneck for new wine brands

The branding lessons he brought over from tech (and why wine needs to catch up)

The rigorous taste-testing process behind the wine itself—and why he scrapped several early blends

Whether you're a founder, investor, distributor, or just curious about how wine brands actually get built, this is a rare, nuts-and-bolts conversation about what it really takes to launch something new in a saturated market.

Mentioned in this episode:

Currently Wine

Republic (crowdfunding platform)

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

Christian Miller, Research Director at the Wine Market Council and founder of Full Glass Research, joins Felicity Carter to explore changes in wine consumption. With decades of market research behind him, Christian outlines how economic, cultural, and demographic shifts are shaping the way Americans approach wine.

From the decline of traditional wine drinkers to the rise of hybrid and alternative alcohol products, the conversation covers a range of factors that are altering the market. Christian also examines the role of gender, income, and ethnicity in changing wine preferences, and discusses why some long-standing assumptions no longer hold true.

Whether you're in the wine trade or just curious about consumer behavior, this episode offers a grounded and data-driven perspective on the future of wine.

This episode covers:

Key reasons behind the recent decline in US wine consumption

Differences between generational attitudes toward wine

The effect of economic pressure and wellness trends on alcohol buying

How wine's unique position has been diluted by market competition

Results from category shifting and consumer behavior research

Emerging demographic and ethnic shifts in wine consumption

Gender-specific perceptions of wine among younger drinkers

Consumer response to packaging formats like cans and boxes

Prospects for wine labeling, transparency, and simplified consumer guidance

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

How can wine businesses innovate while remaining true to tradition?

Jonathan Steyn, convener of the Wine Business Management and Hospitality Leadership program at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, offers a way forward, grounded in both practical experience and academic rigour. An expert in market creation and innovation, he addresses everything from overcoming traditional mindsets to navigating global market shifts and connecting with new generations.

He gave lots of practical advice on:

and

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

It gets you drunk, hungover and sick. And yet we go back for more. What’s the attraction of alcohol?

According to Professor Edward Slingerland, author of Drunk: How We Sipped, Stumbled, and Danced Our Way to Civilization, alcohol is the key to civilisation. In this insightful episode of Drinks Insider, he tells host Felicity Carter that much of what we think about alcohol is false.

We did not, for example, develop a taste for it because over-ripe, fermenting fruit has more calories. Nor did we value it primarily as a way of rendering dirty water safe to drink.

Instead, it’s a cultural technology that helped early humans forge larger cooperative societies, overcoming the limitations of small-group living. Without it, we’d never have learned to trust strangers.

In this episode of Drinks Insider, Prof. Slingerland discusses:

Professor Slingerland argues that alcohol's benefits in fostering social cohesion and creativity have been fundamental to the development of human civilisation, even if modern high-strength options present new challenges.

#DrinksInsider #Podcast #AlcoholHistory #Civilization #EdwardSlingerland #ScienceOfDrinking #SocialDrinking #Creativity #MythsBusted #FelicityCarter #DrinksPodcast

Who created the Finnish long drink? When did Finns start drinking wine? And how does wine get into their glasses?

At a time of market turbulence, when wineries are looking for new export markets, why not consider Finland? And for anybody interested, the person to talk to is Heidi Mäkinen MW, Portfolio Manager and Partner at Viinitie importing company. She’s the former Best Sommelier of Finland and a well-known WSET educator.

She talks sommeliers and Finland’s restaurant scene, why the Finns love acidity in their drinks so much, and how the wine market works. Plus, Heidi has great insights into the on-trade market generally.

The first time Natalie Wang drank wine she found it ‘rancid’.

Today, Natalie is Southeast Asia’s leading voice for the wine trade. She began as a hard news journalist for outlets like the International Herald Tribune and Reuters, before moving to work with James Suckling, which opened her eyes to the world of fine wine.

In 2019 she founded Vino-Joy, a wine trade magazine based in Hong Kong, which offers business-focused coverage of the Asian wine market, addressing a major gap in the English language media. After attracting significant attention, Don St Pierre invested in the fledgling company, which is now a research house as well as a media outlet.

In this episode, Natalie explains the unique challenges and opportunities of the Chinese wine market, highlighting its significant contraction since 2020 and the shift from a gifting and banquet-driven market to one with a growing base of younger consumers interested in categories like off-dry Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. She discusses the decline in Bordeaux sales and a rise in interest in Chinese domestic wines.

The episode further explores emerging wine markets in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand. Altogether the conversation is a comprehensive overview of the Asian wine market from an insider’s perspective.

Morten Sørensen is the man behind ISH Spirits, a revolutionary line of non-alcoholic drinks that have taken the beverage world by storm — including listings on the Michelin-starred menus at 11 Park Madison and Alchemy. And he’s done the unthinkable, like partnering with car companies.

In this entertaining episode, Morten shares his journey from running a creative agency in Copenhagen to travelling the world as a digital nomad, to identifying a gap in the market for mindful drinking. Despite knowing absolutely nothing about beverages, he set out to create drinks that would make it easy to participate in every social occasion, with or without alcohol.

He discusses how he developed non-alc spirits that mimic the taste and experience of their alcoholic counterparts, and what it takes to get that first export order, including the need to get to the airport fast. He reveals what he’s got in his warehouse, and why knowing someone who is handy with carpentry is a must for start-ups. He also reveals how he secured those initial supermarket deals to pioneering marketing activations with car companies and music festivals.

And, finally, he reveals what it is that makes Denmark such a creative powerhouse for beverages.

Drinks Insider comes out every two weeks. If you can't wait that long between episodes, check out my other bi-weekly podcast, A Question of Drinks. My co-host Lulie Halstead and I explore a drinks question each week. Think of us as the Freakonomics of drinks.