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.

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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.