When we first asked the two leaders to talk about some of the important milestones over the past year, we were immediately struck by the sheer amount of effort put into integrating the portfolio into the larger business.  Juan characterized “Year One” as a time for bringing together and leveraging the best of the two organizations.  “It’s been an intense year. We have really focused on bringing the best of S&S and HHB together, leveraging the strengths of each organization,” he said.  “At the same time,” added Robert “We have continued to build consumer appetite for our brands, and as we come toward the end of the year, we are experiencing strong double-digit growth.”

Perhaps equally as significant is the transition aligning the S&S portfolio with our Southern Glazer Wine & Spirits distribution partner on a national level.  This involved moving the brands in 37 markets.  “Our team has made an incredible effort to move the S&S brands in those 37 markets on top of the day-to-day business.  This was nothing short of amazing,” continued Juan.  They also talked about changes made to the sales team to make the most of this partnership through leveraging the HHB footprint.  “If we didn’t have a physical presence in market, we’re selling our portfolio along with the rest of the larger portfolio with the support of the HHB team,” added Robert.  “The opportunity is even larger when we look at leveraging it as a whole.”               

Along with the changes on the commercial side, they went on to say that the ability to leverage the expertise of Heaven Hill was also felt on the shared services side.  Key areas of excellence in HR, legal, finance and accounting areas were also critical to the success going forward.  “We are getting our operations aligned with HHB and leveraging the larger organization’s expertise in many critical areas,” Juan continued.

Robert then talked about another critical move that is happening. “We are also in the process of moving the logistics piece for the S&S portfolio, and shipping everything from Bardstown.”  He went on to say that “This will better streamline our shipping process, leverage efficiencies and in the end, will better support our distribution efforts.” As we move into year two, they said we have much to look forward to in the coming months. “Year two is all about accelerating growth and looking toward expansion.”

There are also some big opportunities on the production front to support the extraordinary momentum of the S&S portfolio.  Specifically, both Tequila OCHO and Widow Jane will have new facilities to help expand the business.  “By the end of this February we are planning to open an expanded, state-of-the-art distillery in Mexico for Tequila OCHO” said Juan.  He went on to talk about the beautiful layout of the distillery that reflects the care and concern they invest in creating each bottle of OCHO. 2023 will also see us breaking ground on a fantastic new distillery location for our Widow Jane brand, situated on a beautiful site in Brooklyn just three blocks from the current site.

There are so many ways that S&S will continue to grow and expand the business in 2023 and beyond. It’s obvious that over the past year we have worked together to integrate the businesses and put in place a roadmap for success for the future.