We have just completed three years of producing Liquid Assets, and it is high time for some joyful navel-gazing. In this episode, we look back at three years of the show and discuss what we got right and what we got wrong, and we send some love to the industry leaders who inform and inspire us and fill us with jealous rage.

This week, we are joined by Wine Industry Person of the Year, Heidi Scheid, and leading industry analyst Dale Stratton to discuss how quickly the wine industry will recover from Covid-19 and the opportunity for the wine industry to tap into health and wellness trends.

When a beverage company wants to create a new product – anything from a new line extension to a non-alcoholic drink – they turn to companies like Kerry Group. John Kelly and Paul Villis take a break from their work at Kerry Group to discuss product, ingredient, and flavor innovation trends.

In this episode, we're joined by Rabobank analysts Francois Sonneville and Maria Afonso as well as Brent Atthill, CEO of RMI Analytics and former global procurement director at SAB Miller and AB InBev, to take a look upstream at the malting barley supply chain, how it is evolving, and how it is linked to the overall health of the beer industry around the globe.

To learn more:

Rabobank's Malting Industry Outlook

Podcast: What Will Australia Do With All of Its Barley?

Our guest Wayne Blum is currently Director of US E-Commerce Strategy and Partnerships at Diageo, but before that he led digital for Nestlé Waters and their direct-to-consumer (DTC) business, ReadyRefresh. Wayne joins us to discuss why the world's biggest brands are interested in going DTC, the challenges they face in the channel, and what's behind the success of the world's largest and most profitable DTC programs in the food and beverage world.

For more reading, check out our latest reports on DtC Strategy:

Are You Doing DtC All Wrong? Community Commerce: A New Model for Beverages

For Matt Dukes and Rachel Vodofsky, it wasn't enough to build one successful digitally native brand. They built two! Leveraging learnings and consumer insights from their wine-tasting subscription service, Vinebox, they were able to successfully build a stand-alone sister brand, Usual. On this episode, Rachel and Matt explain what it takes to build a sustainable direct-to-consumer business, create value for consumers, and perhaps even revolutionize your brand development pipeline. For more, check out our latest reports on direct-to-consumer strategy: Are You Doing Direct-to-Consumer All Wrong? Community Commerce: A New Model for Beverages (for Rabobank clients only)

On March 11, 2020, the WHO officially designated the Covid-19 crisis a pandemic. One year later, we've asked NBWA chief economist Lester Jones to help us reflect on how beer – or should we say hard seltzer – consumption has changed and ask for an update on the recovery of bars and restaurants. Lastly, we have a lively debate about the most important trends facing America's beer distributors: hard seltzer, RTDs, and digital transformation.

Our guest this week is Pat Roney, CEO and Founding Partner of Vintage Wine Estates. Pat's company is going to merge with Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The USD 690m deal may not be the biggest we see in 2021, but it is super important and could set off a new trend in M&A, with massive repercussions for the wider beverage industry. For more on the latest trends in the wine and spirits industry, check out Rabobank's latest Wine Quarterly report: Click here!

Following a tough year, 2021 hasn't had the most auspicious beginning. Will things improve? To better understand the economic outlook for the year ahead, we invited Rabobank's Senior Markets Analyst, Christian Lawrence, and Rabobank's Head of FX Strategy, Jane Foley, to discuss markets, the economy, and what a new US administration could mean for beverage companies.

Luckily for you, our last episode of 2020 is totally Covid-free. No mention of 'unprecedented times,' 'uncertainty,' or 'trying times,' and definitely no use of the phrase 'the new normal.' Steve, Jim, and Bourcard break down three stories that caught their attention and are (mostly) not Covid-19 related: Bang! and PepsiCo's tumultuous first year of marriage, the growing investments in alcohol e-commerce, and what beverage M&A trends tell us about how companies are thinking about innovation.