Geijer Spirits

We started this company to share my Swedish great grandmothers recipe of a glogg. This is the reason that the original business name is Geijer Glogg Inc. We never realized that we would fall in love with the craft spirit space so wholeheartedly and that we would release further niche products for the cocktailing and mixology scene.  We originally released our glogg in 2013. In 2017, Geijer Spirits started in earnest with the release of another Swedish spirit - an Aquavit. This was quickly followed by a Fernet, Orange Liqueur and our Spiced Liqueur. In late 2019, we released our Falernum with great reception. We ended up winning best of class at the ADI tasting competition. This is a national tasting competition that is focused on craft sprits - so this is a big deal!.

We have our seventh product ready to be released in the next few months and will turn our attention fully to market penetration and growth (while still tinkering in the kitchen of course). 

A few of the hurdles

The single largest challenge that a craft spirit company faces is getting the attention of a distributor. There are so many spirit companies and very few distributors in key markets. This means that the majority of smaller companies are not getting the distribution that their products would deserve. Another challenge is the bars' ordering preferences. They prefer to work with a smaller number of distributors to simplify their ordering and manage their account payables etc. Often the bar manager wants craft products but the back office will not allow a new vendor to be set up in the system.

Putting the pieces together

In 2017, we were self-distributing in California and I was the only sales rep, delivery guy, accounts receivable, warehouse guy and the whole executive team. It was hard finding time for things other than production, sales, delivery and following up on outstanding invoices. This is a tough way of running your business - but you do learn every aspect from the ground up. At the end of 2017, we found a smaller distributor (JVS Imports) that liked our products - and we liked them - and they brought our lineup into their portfolio. 

Then in 2018, we won Gold medal in the San Francisco International Spirits Competition. This opened the door for a conversation with Vision Wine and Spirits to bring in the Fernet to be distributed nationally. This is the first large cornerstone that Geijer Spirits has put in place. The national distribution agreement was announced on Sep 17, 2019. We have since opened 16 new states with Vision.

This was quickly followed by the release of the Falernum that went straight to national distribution. The immediate success at the ADI competition also had a great prize. The winners of the best of class category would get a meeting with a national retail chain to discuss placement. We are fortunate to have just signed the agreement with Vision for national distribution, allowing us to take advantage of the opportunity that winning best of class afforded us. On May 15, 2020 we received the go ahead to place both the Falernum and Fernet at large number of stores in multiple states. This is the second large cornerstone that Geijer Spirits has put in place.

We are also releasing our upcoming Amaro straight to national distribution. This time, we have the existing relationships in place and can quickly get the product through the channels and into the market. This is the third cornerstone that will allow for the growth needed to bring Geijer Spirits to the next level - and the reason we are looking for funds. We are looking to get feet on the ground in the key markets to drive the sales and educate the on premise accounts about our products. Essentially, we need to get a salesforce out there in order to capitalize on the building blocks we already have in place. In short, we are looking for investments to help with the final cornerstone (brand ambassadors), the forth and critical stabilizer of the building.

Performance since 2017

While we have not had time to take full advantage of the foundation described above, we started  with a 144% growth in FY18 and and 79% in FY19. We were on track for setting new records in Q1 of FY20 as well, but unfortunately the momentum fell off with the COVID pandemic. We are looking past the short term and want to make sure we have a team in place as soon as possible to ensure that we don't lose out on all the opportunities that we have currently teed up for ourselves.  We know that the medium- to long-term holds great growth for us, and we are excited to see all our work come to fruition.