This show is sponsored by Dolia, the growth platform for beverage brands.
Amanda Thomson founded Noughty in 2019, years before non-alcoholic wine became a category investors chase. She trained in fine wine and champagne in Paris, ran her own sparkling and champagne label, and only then built a non-alcoholic wine brand out of a genuine gap in the market.
She and Giovanni talk through how Noughty built its UK distribution model before the country's biggest distributor came calling, how she decides between fine wine distributors, trend-led importers, and food service partners depending on the market, and why she still says no to distribution deals she doesn't believe in.
Essential listening for anyone building or distributing a beverage brand in a category still working out its own rules.
AGENDA:
1:09 Origins: "good wine before good non-alc wine"
2:16 Launching Noughty in 2019 & the market opportunity
3:17 Developing the product & finding winemaking partners
6:00 What makes a good non-alcoholic wine
7:19 Launching just before COVID & the pandemic pivot
9:51 Zebra striping / flexi-drinking trend
13:57 Noughty's customer profile
15:13 B2C vs. B2B: the omni-channel launch strategy
21:52 Importers, distributors & portfolio fit
24:31 How Amanda selects (and rejects) distributors
26:55 UK vs. US market differences
31:04 Paid brand partnerships
33:21 Social media's role in building the brand
34:17 Community & the "wine club"/DTC approach
41:45 Lessons fine wine taught Naughty
43:06 Amanda's quick-fire round