March is Women’s History Month, and March 8 is International Women’s 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 and power and aren’t afraid to spend it. But they’re 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.
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
Casa del Sol Tequila was co-founded by Eva Longoria and is led by two accomplished tequileras, Mariana Padilla and Alejandra Pelayo. To produce this tequila, the company uses Cognac barrels handcrafted using French Limousin oak, resulting in flavors that bring together old and new traditions. "It is always my mission to uplift the voices of women and celebrate my Mexican heritage, so that others may be inspired by the limitless genius and artistry that is rich in our communities,” said Longoria in a press release.
Model and media personality Kendall Jenner is the brainchild behind 818, a tequila brand that launched amid much fanfare in May 2021. But far from just a celebrity pet project, 818 has the chops to back up its claim of being “the smoothest, most natural, and best tasting tequila possible.” In fact, in the last few years, it won 47 tasting awards across 14 spirits competitions.
“This is all we’ve been drinking for the last year and I can’t wait for everyone else to get their hands on this to enjoy it as much as we do!” Jenner wrote on her Instagram in 2021.
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.
Wines
Christine Hanna is now at the helm of the family winery founded by her father, Dr. Elias S. Hanna, in the late 1970s. Based in Healdsburg and Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California, Hanna Winery has grown under the younger Hanna’s leadership from 1,000 cases to more than 50,000. The winery’s Russian River Sauvignon Blanc has won many awards and now represents more than half of the winery’s production.
La Crema has a long legacy of female leadership, from chairman and proprietor Barbara Banke’s dedicated work spanning decades to a new vision forward from her daughters (Katie Jackson and Julia Jackson) and granddaughter (Hailey Jackson Hartford Murray). Carrying on long-held traditions, these savvy women aim for craftsmanship and sustainability in their quest to share wines from cool-climate regions in California and Oregon.
