Market Watch, March 1, 2017

82 MARKET WATCH MARKETWATCHMAG COM MARCH 2017PHOTOS BY ANTHONY TAHLIERexpressions account for 80 percent of sales The remainder is comprised of FEWs single malt whiskey 60 released once a year in limited volumes and its gin lineup all 40 which includes American gin the aged Barrel gin and the Earl Grey tea enhanced Breakfast gin In addition to the core range FEW has released a number of limited edition products in recent years many of them collaborations Last year the company partnered with rock band The Flaming Lips to launch Brainville rye whiskey 125 a 750 ml and teamed up with the Chicago based Bloodshot Records label to introduce Insurgint gin made with blood orange and guajillo peppers The company recently debuted an American whiskey with the Chicago bar Delilahs We wanted to evoke the attitude of Delilahs which is an unconventional place a high end whiskey bar that plays punk rock Hletko says So we thought about doing some thing cross category Its a vatted whiskey made up of Bourbon rye and single malt The whiskey was released for Delilahs 23rd anniversary in 2016 and sold in Chicago and select markets for 50 The partnerships are often driven by Hletkos personal inter ests and passion They show what were all about creativity working with other people friendship he explains Doing collaborations is an expression of who we are as a brand The strategy also gives FEW visibility beyond its core demographic of spirits aficionados Crossing over with The Flaming Lips brings us to the Rolling Stone subscriber Hletko notes Were ambitious scale In April 2016 spirits marketing firm Samson and Surrey founded by former Bacardi executive Juan Rovira and currently headed by another ex Bacardi executive Robert Furniss Roe bought out FEWs initial investors and took a majority stake in the business Hletko is still fully invested retaining a minority share and creative control of the FEW brand Samson and Surrey puts the emphasis on the brands rather than itself as the investor he says of the partnership Its a fantastic opportunity for FEW to grow Strategic DevelopmentThe investment by Samson and Surrey allowed FEW to take big strides quickly over the past year jumping from a sales staff of just one Hletko to 10 and upgrading the companys financial administrative and marketing capac ity We grew by 75 percent to 80 percent in 2016 Hletko says It was a bit slower than in the past which has typi cally been 100 percent growth We deliberately dialed back to focus on building sales staff and marketing It allowed us to take a breath and set the stage to continue that growth again this year Hletko wont disclose case volumes but the Chicago Tribune reported in June 2016 that FEWs annual production is around 70000 gallons equivalent to roughly 29000 nine liter cases In terms of sales Hletko says that FEW Bourbon 45 a 750 ml and rye whiskey 55 lead overwhelmingly Bourbon and rye are our core spirits Hletko explains adding that the two FEWs core offerings are its Bourbon and rye whiskies left which make up about 80 percent of its volume The distillery right is in expansion mode recently ramping up to 24 7 production and planning an additional facility thats set to open in 2018