The Monthly Mash: August 2022

Volume 7.8

Dear Friends in the Craft Spirits Community:

Have you ever overheard a conversation that piqued your interest and you couldn’t focus on anything else? Recently that happened to me, and it was relevant for a couple of reasons. The subject matter was unsolicited calls, specifically the volume which was being sent to mobile phone voicemails. The storyteller was adamant that the listener needed to contact the National Do Not Call Registry. If you haven’t used this service, try it. While it doesn’t prevent all robocalls, it helps cut down the volume. My personal favorite is a monthly call to my cellphone: someone believes they can help me reduce my student debt even though my student loans were paid off decades ago. It is equally annoying and disruptive when those calls arrive. It struck me, however, that ACSA plays an important role. It can best assist you by weeding out the clutter to point you to those items which are of utmost importance to your business and our craft spirits industry. So, read on.

To help us deliver services you need, I’m delighted to announce the appointments of key team members. Michael Walker will consult as our State Policy Advisor; Ken Brady begins as Director of Membership and Marketing; and Stephanie Sadri will guide our Meetings and Conventions. Learn more about them.

We’ve made your role in helping our industry easy! Complete the Craft Spirits Data Project survey, register for our annual public policy conference, submit an education proposal for our annual convention, register for the annual packaging awards competition, and consider how you might participate in the STEPUP Foundation program.

Hopefully, you’ll find something of interest in the announcements below. If not, let us know what you’d like to hear about in this monthly communication. We’re here to serve you. Even better, however, if you have a brilliant idea how I might convince the student loan caller that my loans were repaid, let me know! I’ll be forever indebted!

Until next month, be well.

Cheers,

Margie

2023 CONVENTION

Come Jam with Us! 

There’s no need to be intimidated. It’ll be a low-key, largely impromptu affair whose only goal is fun!

Craft Spirits Data Project: Please Take This Important Survey

In order to help us and our hand-picked partner, Park Street, provide the answers, please help us complete the 2022 Craft Spirits Data Project—the annual economic analysis which demonstrates how our craft industry is faring. The economic forecast is only as good as a retrospective look. Please complete the survey NOW to provide the data points necessary to evaluate our economic health.

Deadline Extended: STEPUP Foundation Accepting New Applications Until Oct. 1

STEPUP stands for Spirits Training Entrepreneurship Program for Underrepresented Professionals and its mission is to provide underserved and underrepresented individuals with hands-on training and education, encouragement, and opportunities to enter the spirits community through a comprehensive internship program like no other in the alcohol beverage industry.

STEPUP, working with distilleries and wholesalers throughout the United States, provides a comprehensive, hands-on training program with a living stipend and provides job exposure for those of different races, color, national origins, genders and sexual orientations.

If you or someone you know might be a good fit as an intern, mentor, host DSP or wholesale distributor, please apply here!

ACSA Urges FDA to Cease and Desist Audits of Craft Distillers Who Made Hand Sanitizer

If you are a craft distiller who has been contacted recently by the FDA about hand sanitizer, please send a note to legislation@americancraftspirits.org. Your contact information will be confidential as ACSA is only trying to accurately represent the scope of the problem and its impacts to small businesses.

To help us respond to TTB, please take this survey by Sept. 6.

On Sept. 20, join us for a legislative issues overview and state delegation meetings to prepare for Congressional meetings.

On Sept. 21, we will meet virtually with officials from Capitol Hill and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau before setting off for virtual Congressional meetings. We will close the conference with a virtual closing toast – offering the chance to connect with one another and raise a glass with industry luminaries.

We hope you can join us Sept. 20-21, and make sure to register by Sept. 9!

CRAFT SPIRITS PACKAGING AWARDS

Registration Opens for Third Annual Competition

The deadline for entry is Oct. 14.

The competition is open to all producers of craft spirits. No physical samples are required for entry (some winning entries may be asked to ship samples for photography). International entries are welcome.

Packaging companies and/or designers may enter on behalf of craft spirits producers. Awards will be given to the distillery and credit will be given to the company/designer in CRAFT SPIRITS magazine.

A panel of design experts will judge labels and packaging in the following categories:

• Brandy
• Gin
• Ready-to-Drink
• Rum
• Specialty Spirits
• Vodka & Grain
• Whiskey
• Portfolio (Recognizing outstanding packaging across a range of three or more products. Must be entered separately from individual entries.)
• Best in Show

Cost for ACSA Members: $40 per entry; $100 per portfolio entry

Cost for Non-members: $55 per entry; $140 per portfolio entry

Sponsored by

STAFF CHANGES

ACSA Appoints Seasoned Strategic Hires to Guide 

Organization Into Next Phase of Growth

As ACSA approaches our tenth anniversary, we are proud to announce several strategic new hires. The expanded team will help lead us through our next decade of growth and service to the country’s craft spirits community.

We are pleased to announce the addition of Michael Walker as State Policy Advisor. In his new role, Walker will be identifying state legislative issues and liaising with state distillery guilds to develop legislative strategies. Walker joins ACSA’s legislative team with nearly 25 years of experience at the intersection of the public and private sectors, including more than 11 years serving in the legislative and executive branches of government. Most recently, he served for well over a decade with Constellation Brands as VP of its external affairs/public affairs department.

“I look forward to assisting the ACSA team and their passionate members navigate the dynamic state policy landscape the craft spirits industry operates in, as well as helping the organization accomplish their goals and objective,” Walker said.

Additionally, Kenneth Brady has been named our full-time Director of Membership and Marketing, responsible for nurturing and growing ACSA’s community of members and sponsors. He’ll also be developing and executing a marketing vision for ACSA. Brady previously served in a part-time capacity as ACSA’s Non-Dues Revenue and Marketing Strategist. He draws upon many years of experience in marketing, branding, communication/engagement, business development and membership in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, with past roles at associations, technology companies and a chamber of commerce.

“I am gratified to be part of the craft spirits community and will strive to elevate and promote the profession with great passion,” Brady said.

Also joining the team is Stephanie Sadri as Director of Meetings and Events. She is a familiar face within the craft spirits community, as Sadri has managed the logistics of ACSA’s events—including the annual Distillers’ Convention and Vendor Trade Show and Public Policy Conference—for several years as an employee of global meeting planning company Helms Briscoe. Sadri now joins the ACSA staff full time and she will be in charge of all things events, from planning to exhibitor development. This seasoned hospitality and events industry veteran has built her career at venues like Invesco Field—where she worked not only on Denver Broncos events, but on the Democratic National Convention—as well as Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Oxford Hotel and The Curtis Hotel. Sadri is Immediate Past President of Meeting Professionals Internationals (MPI), on whose board of directors she’s served for nine years. She’s also in the Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame and has been awarded Smart Meetings Planner of the Year, and the MPI Rising Star Award.

“I am beyond excited to join the team full time and continue to champion the amazing work that ACSA does for the incredibly vibrant craft spirits community,” Sadri said.

Walker, Brady and Sadri all officially assume their new roles starting Sept. 1.

“ACSA works day-in and day-out to enable craft spirits producers to operate in a business-friendly environment, from manufacturing through sales and distribution,” said ACSA CEO Margie A.S. Lehrmann. “Equally important is engaging all stakeholders, with the goal of bringing together our vibrant community to learn and celebrate our innovation. Adding Michael, Ken, and Stephanie to the team will help fulfill those goals and move us to that next level.”

Finally, it is with mixed emotions that ACSA announces the departure of Carason Lehmann, who served for more than six years with the organization—most recently as Membership & Events Director—and has been instrumental in building ACSA to what it is today. Lehmann is embarking on the next chapter of her distinguished career as a wedding event planner at Soeur Events in Charleston, S.C. Her contributions to the association have been innumerable and Lehmann will be greatly missed by her ACSA colleagues.

“I am so thankful to Margie and ACSA for taking a chance on me six years ago,” Lehmann said. “It is extremely bittersweet to be leaving such an incredible organization, especially the members, who I’ve been able to build connections with throughout the years. I’ve learned a tremendous amount and it has fueled my lifetime love and passion for good hospitality.”

SPONSORED

GETTING TO KNOW OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Q&As with Lucy Farber, Mark A. Vierthaler and Kelly Woodcock

CRAFT SPIRITS: As a newly elected member, what are your top priorities for the coming year or two?

Farber: I would like to see the group use the power of our growing membership to address issues which affect us all—both large ones such as DtC, and small practical ones such as the cost of shipping those packages. As well as the challenges with label and formula approvals, and outdated federal regulations which are mostly ignored, yet can suddenly be randomly enforced or called out during an audit.

Vierthaler: I believe one of the key functions of a new board member is to get up to speed as quickly as possible. We (ACSA) are going to be celebrating a decade of advocacy and support for the craft spirits industry next year. That means catching up on a decade’s worth of impact-work, plus learning our current goals, tactics and implementation plans. The overarching issues to focus on will be furthering DtC legislation and work towards parity with the wine industry, as well as concerted efforts to open our doors to underrepresented groups. As a bearded white guy, I recognize the majority of our industry looks like me. We can utilize our positions of privilege to elevate others’ voices and work towards eliminating the hurdles of entry for others.

Woodcock: I’m really excited to continue working on DtC issues across all states helping to provide more distilleries access to this critical business-building tool. At Westward, since the pandemic, we’ve really learned how critical DtC can be in building our business and I want everyone to have parity access.

CRAFT SPIRITS: Any advice or words of wisdom for your peers in the distilling community?

Farber: Be flexible. Pay a ton of attention to details. Strive for something special. Just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t make it right, or legal. Don’t be in it just for the money. Enjoy the ride.

Vierthaler: Be willing to fail. The head of operations at the first distillery where I cut my teeth would often say, “Distilling is 75% science and 25% magic.” What he meant was, taking risks and making mistakes is how you build an amazing product and an amazing brand. But only if you’re taking the time to track how and why things failed, and then pivot from there.

Keep your ego in check. There’s always someone out there more talented than you. More driven than you. More successful than you. I’ve been in the spirits industry for more than a decade—distilling for almost half of that. Every time I feel I have an expert’s grasp on something, I either meet someone with exponentially more knowledge than me. Or I spectacularly screw something up. Be confident in your abilities and know when to stand your ground. But don’t ever think you know everything. That’s how you stagnate as a distiller and never grow past where you are now. The day you wake up and say, “I think everything is absolutely perfect,” is the day to retire.

ACSA extends a warm welcome to our new and returning members and sponsors:

• Blue Ridge Mountain ‘Shine
• Devil’s Cask
• Happy Raptor Distilling
• Muscle Craft Distillery
• Newmapak
• Roulaison Distilling Co.
• Sagaponack Farm Distillery
• Silver Brothers
• Texas Tied House
• Tobacco Barn Distillery

Find out more about becoming a member here.

The TTB has issued 4,272 DSPs! Find the full list by clicking on Spirit Producers and Bottlers here.

Don’t miss these upcoming drink holidays:

• Sept. 1: National Bourbon Heritage Month
• Sept. 10: International Canned Cocktail Day
• Sept. 13: National Cachaça Day
• Sept. 15: National Crème de Menthe Day
• Sept. 20: National Rum Punch Day