Insights & Trends

Using our knowledge of the industry and experience working with entrepreneurs, we periodically create tools, case studies and short films discussing what we see as emerging trends within the world of drinks. Have a look.

hOur latest trend report

Case Study

The New World of New World Whisky

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hSee our library of resources

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Starting From Zero - On-Premise Training With Derek Brown

Watch back this insights-packed webinar with Derek Brown and an extraordinary panel of No & Low experts.

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How to Build a Powerful Brand in the No and Low Alcohol Category

In the following blog, we’ll give you some tips and important data to get you started on building a powerful brand in the no- and low-alcohol industry.

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People & Culture - The Path to Sustainability

The final instalment in our latest webinar series explores the opportunities and challenges in building a sustainable company culture.

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How do I market my drinks business?

The success of your drinks business requires a well-balanced blend of great taste, colour and provenance of the liquid - and how well you set up and deliver your marketing.

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How to start a distillery

If you’ve got the determination, the energy and the commitment to bottle and share your own spirits, you can start a distillery. Here’s our guide on how to do it.

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Packaging: The Path To Sustainability

The second instalment in our latest webinar series focuses on the latest innovations and challenges around packaging solutions in the spirits industry.

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Raw Materials: The Path To Sustainability

The first instalment in our latest webinar series focusing on sustainable solutions for sourcing and using raw materials in spirits-making.

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No/Low Consumers: Understanding the Opportunity

In the UK and US, no and low-alcohol drinks are replacing regular-strength beverages, particularly in social settings.

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The Business Accelerator to Grow Your Drinks Brand

Our mission is to find the best and brightest entrepreneurs looking to shake up the drinks industry with a clear vision and a commitment to growing strong identities for their brands.

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What is a business incubator and how is it different from an accelerator?

Distill Ventures is a business accelerator, not a business incubator. That’s an important distinction - here’s the difference.

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Types of Funding for New Drinks Brands

The diversity of options reflects differing circumstances and expectations, of both founders and funders.

Seminar

Creative Content: The Fundamentals of Brand Storytelling

Watch the second 60-minute instalment of our New World Whiskey 2023 summit series - hosted by Becky Paskin.

Seminar

PR Best Practice: The Fundamentals of Brand Storytelling

Watch the second 60-minute instalment of our New World Whiskey 2023 summit series - hosted by Becky Paskin.

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Identifying Your Story: The Fundamentals of Brand Storytelling

Watch the first 60-minute instalment of our New World Whiskey 2023 summit series - hosted by Becky Paskin.

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What's attracting consumers to low and non-alcoholic drinks [Non-Alc statistics]

Global data and insights on the reasons why consumers are increasingly attracted to no and low drinks.

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To January & Beyond: Seasonality and the Evolution of the Non-Alc Drinker

Watch this 60-minute panel of Non-Alc experts from the UK & US as they discuss the future role of Dry January and the evolution of consumer drinking trends.

Seminar

The Power of Design - Creative Storytelling for Modern Whisky

Watch this digital seminar where we explore how to bring your whisky brand to life so it captures the attention of modern whisky consumers. Topics include brand identity, story and values through every consumer interaction.

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The Future is Functional

Watch our first digital summit featuring a panel of Non-Alc experts as they explore how shifting consumer behaviour is driving interest as well as what challenges exist in this fast-changing segment.

Data Drop

One For Every Occasion

Data & insight focussing on the growth of functional non alc drinks, category segmentation and how consumers are moderating consumption instead of abstaining

Seminar

The New Age of Whisky Influencers

Watch this 60-minute online seminar featuring a panel of whisky influencers – or content creators – as they discuss topics including influencer marketing, the definition of a modern influencer, navigating platform guidelines and algorithms, paid partnerships, and much more.

Panel Discussion

TOTC2022 : Approaching DEI with Authenticity

This 60 minute panel discussion offers out of the box ideas on how to advocate for Diversity Equity and Inclusion across your business from sourcing to employee training. A robust discussion with tips on how to approach DEI with authenticity.

Seminar

How to Build a Community Around Your Brand

Watch this 90-minute digital summit featuring a panel of whisky experts in a frank discussion about the importance of community building in the industry.

Seminar

A Green Future: Keeping Whisky Sustainable

This 90-minute virtual roundtable, hosted by Becky Paskin, journalist and founder of OurWhisky, features a panel of sustainability experts in a solution focused discussion about the innovative ways we can create a greener whisky industry.

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How Ritual Zero Proof Changed the Game For Good

Ritual Zero Proof transformed the non-alcoholic drinks market when they launched in 2019. Now one of the largest non-alc players in the world, they’ve gone from strength to strength over the last twelve months.

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Doing Drinks Differently: Say Hello to Siegfried

Siegfried is one of the most exciting brands within our portfolio. Not ones to shy away from radical marketing ideas, they’ve had a pretty interesting 2021.

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How to Build a Whisky Brand

The 90-minute digital session, moderated by whisky expert and journalist Becky Paskin, features a panel of entrepreneurs in a bare-all discussion about what it takes to launch a new brand in today’s whisky landscape.

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Our Tips for Starting a Spirits Business

Take a look at our top tips for starting up a drinks business and how you can secure funding for alcohol projects. Build your brand with Distill Ventures.

Short Film

Digital Tastings - Best Practice

Through virtual tastings and online masterclasses, our living rooms have become our default space for whisky discovery, but as the pandemic recedes and the world returns to some semblance of normal, how will at-home consumption evolve?

Seminar

Is The Living Room The New Tasting Room?

The 60-minute digital session, moderated by whisky expert and journalist Becky Paskin, features a diverse, compelling roster of perspectives from whisky founders, brand experts and marketters.

Infographic

Non Alcoholic Spirits in 2020 and Beyond

The non-alcoholic drinks industry has exploded over the last few years and even the global coronavirus pandemic has failed to halt its rise. At Distill Ventures we’ve been closely monitoring and actively investing in companies that can bring new and exciting products to the table. With the help of the latest infographic in our series we’re on a mission to get the word out..

Seminar

Women of Whisky - Perspectives on Inclusion & The Future

The 90-minute session, moderated by whisky expert and journalist Becky Paskin, features a diverse, compelling roster of perspectives from whisky founders, brand marketers, and wholesalers.

Case Study

Seedlip & Distill Ventures - A Case Study

Starting at the first meeting and following through to its exit into Diageo, read about Seedlip & DV's journey together as we worked to create a new drinks category.

White Paper

The New World of New World Whisky

Some of the most exciting areas of whisky innovation are coming from New World distilleries. Through interviews with world whisky makers, retailers, bartenders and craft spirits analysts, the latest category insights and data, as well as our own US and UK consumer survey on the whisky market growth, it's clear the whiskey market is on the cusp of real change, with New World whisky playing an important role in helping develop the whisky industry.

Short Film

Drinks of the Future

Showing the continuing rise of the no & low alcoholic category, this film produced in 2018 goes further in examining how the landscape in drinks has shifted towards more acceptance of no & low options.

Short Film

Better Drinks When You're Not Drinking

Filmed in 2017 when the no & low sector was just starting to gain momentum, listen as influential voices from around the globe comment on the trends they were already spotting in their bars and restaurants and setting up brands to meet the growing consumer demand.

Presentation Deck

Dry January 2020: A wrap up

Dry January gets more popular every year, going from a UK-based tradition to a global phenomenon in a relatively short space of time. We took a look at headlines, social media trends and Google trends to compile a short wrap-up of this year's best activations.

Short Film

BCB Berlin 2019: What's fuelling global growth in No & Low?

The non-alcoholic category is full of new entrepreneurs, new products and ever-expanding with trade and consumer interest growing monthly. This seminar features a panel of experts from all corners of the industry. Learn from their first-hand insights on retail, on-trade and liquid production looking at what it takes to be successful in this nascent and fast evolving category.

Case Study

Belsazar Case Study

Belsazar German Vermouth was acquired by Diageo in March 2018, read our case study of acceleration in action and how we supported Max & Sebastian grow this amazing brand.

Short Film

BCB Brooklyn: The Lowdown on the Non-Alcoholic Category

As the health and wellness trend continues, consumers look for ways to enjoy non-alcoholic products in similar ways and settings to alcoholic ones. In this video taken at BCB Brooklyn 2019, Portfolio Director, Heidi Dillon Otto, shares the results of a recent white paper that captures consumer and bartender sentiments surrounding the category.

White paper

The Rise of the Non Alcoholic Drinks Industry

We’ve been watching the popularity of non-alcoholic drinks grow over the last 3 years, and according to new research commissioned over the last 8 months, their time has finally come.

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How to start a spirits business

Advice, guidance and tips about starting a spirits business.

Short Film

Winning at Home

In October 2017, we put on a series of three talks at Bar Convent Berlin - one of which was focused on helping entrepreneurs succeed in their home markets. We talked to four of Europe's most successful founders about how they've created pull and grown the local love in their cities and countries.

White Paper

The Growth of the Non Alcoholic Drinks Category

We continue to explore how the emergence of sophisticated non alcoholic beverages are changing the landscape of the drinks industry.

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The 5 Bricks

The drinks industry is challenging. Whoever is investing will want to be sure that you have built a strong business and a brilliant brand. In this presentation we outline "The Five Bricks" - a framework that we believe captures the areas of a business that are important to focus on when building a sustainable drinks brand.

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Brilliant Founder Storytelling

This simple and easy-to-use manual has been carefully designed to spark creative thoughts and encourage entrepreneurs to write, create, think and hone their stories by capturing the key elements of what makes a good narrative and by providing useful provocations and inspiration.

Trend Spotlight

New World Whisky Summit

The 90-minute inaugural New World Whisky Summit took place is September 2020 and brought together experts from around the globe to discuss the exciting, dynamic New World whisky category. Moderated by whisky expert and journalist Becky Paskin, the panel explored this rapidly developing category, how it's defined and what the future looks like.

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