March is Women’s History Month, and March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to celebrating women's achievements, raising awareness about discrimination, and taking action to drive gender parity. Representing 50.5% of the national population and controlling $10 trillion in financial assets, women have money, power, and aren’t afraid to spend it. But they are growing increasingly discerning about how they spend those dollars—the people, the values, and the story behind a brand are just as important as the products themselves.
Recent years have shown modest improvements as more women-owned brands and women executives find creative ways to break barriers and blaze their own paths. And on/off-premise businesses can play a big part in helping move the industry toward greater parity (plus it’s just smart business).
Here are just a few ways you can support women in the beverage alcohol industry during Women’s History Month and throughout the year:
Take the time to research women-led brands, producers, and entrepreneurs.
Look beyond big brands and develop relationships with local or regional producers.
Add more women-owned products to your shelves or menu and feature them prominently.
Educate and train your staff on these products and the stories behind the brands.
Highlight women-owned brands on your social media, and engage with their brands’ social media communities, too.
Host dedicated tasting or promotional events that include a strong educational component.
Reach out to your SG sales rep and get their help in finding local/regional producers to highlight and promote or invite to tasting events.
SGProof.com has a wide range of women-owned brands to choose from. A few options are listed below to get you started.
Spirits
This craft brand of tequila is co-founded and led by CEO Bertha González Nieves, the first female Maestra Tequilera certified by the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila (Mexican Academy of Tequila Tasters). With a commitment to innovation, Mexican craftsmanship and modern, sustainable production, the brand prides itself on producing small batch, smooth sipping tequilas of the highest quality.
Headed by spirits industry icon Dia Sanders (as well as basketball legend LeBron James and founder Diego Osorio), Lobos 1707 is a brand that embodies the union of individual strength with collective spirit. Their tequila and mezcal formulations date back almost five centuries when the Osorio family began distilling tequila and transporting it to their native Spain in sherry wine barrels.
CEO and founder Lisa Marlow, a geologist by profession, launched Mule 2.0 in 2015 after becoming frustrated with the lack of consistency in her favorite cocktail, the Moscow Mule. So she decided to develop her own formula crafted in the spirit of the original 1941 Moscow Mule, with the goal of creating a product that was ready to enjoy at home or on the go. Mule 2.0’s entry into the market set the stage for the RTD explosion we see dominating the industry today.
BuzzBallz is on a mission to “reinvent Happy Hour.” This colorful line of pre-mixed cocktails (which includes BuzBallz, BuzzTallz, BuzzBallz Biggies and BuzzBallz Chillers) is the brainchild of former schoolteacher Merilee Kick, who saw a need for delicious drinks in fun, shatterproof containers that can easily be enjoyed by the pool, at the beach, tubing down a river, etc. The line’s unique, ball-shaped plastic packaging contains an array of cocktail options that, according to Merilee, are “strong enough and tasty enough to be like I would have made it [at home].”
Delola prides itself on offering a line of mixology-level craft cocktails with all the elegance and opulence of its founder, Hollywood superstar Jennifer Lopez. These premium spirit-based, full-flavored, crafted cocktails are made with natural botanicals, gluten free and lower calorie than traditional cocktails, and served in beautifully crafted glass bottles designed for easy sharing when entertaining friends and family.
Wines
Banshee winemaker Alicia Sylvester grew up pulling her red wagon behind the picking crew that harvested her family’s 20-acre Zinfandel vineyard in California’s Central Valley. After working in wineries across the globe—including Australia, Italy, South Africa, and Argentina—Sylvester joined the Banshee brand, using her broad experience to create wines that “taste like the best California has to offer, priced so that everyone (can) enjoy them.”
Founders and sisters Robin and Andrea McBride grew up on opposite sides of the Pacific, amongst the vines of two world-renowned wine-producing regions: Monterey, California, and Marlborough, New Zealand. Combining their shared passion for wine (and breaking barriers), they founded the McBride Sisters Wine Company in 2005. Today, in addition to offering an incredibly popular suite of California and New Zealand-grown wines, the McBride Sisters Wine Company is renowned as of one the most inclusive, sustainable, and socially responsible companies in the industry.
Established in the 1940s by Italian immigrants Rosa and Cesare Mondavi, CK Mondavi and Family remains a family-owned business, with Janice and Mark Mondavi serving as the 4th generation around which the brand revolves. Built on a foundation of family values, hard work and European winemaking traditions, the winery offers a portfolio of wines for special occasions and everyday gatherings, at a wide range of price points to suit a variety of consumers.
Mary J. Blige, one of the most popular R&B artists of the past three decades, released her Sun Goddess wine collection in partnership with Italian vintner, Marco Fantinel, in 2020. According to Blige, she was inspired to use her own childhood nickname, Sun Goddess, as the guiding spirit and name of the collection, which includes Pinot Grigio Ramato, Sauvigon Blanc, and Prosecco. “Wine tasting is one of my passions. Wine is culture. Wine is community. Wine is lifestyle. Wine is emotion.” --Mary J. Blige.
