“Let’s address the elephant in the room.”

That is how I am going to begin my presentations next week in Burlington, Vermont, at the VIP Supplier Summit. (VIP, for those of you who may not know, is the acronym for Vermont Information Processing, the country’s largest aggregator of distributor data.)

What is the elephant in the room?

The apparent conflict between distributors’ interest in alcohol sales within the three-tier system, and suppliers’ desire to sell Direct To Consumer, or DTC.

It’s a conflict around profit margins, and who benefits from them the most.

Enolytics’ technology is grounded in DTC. We are, in a way, advocates and enablers of wineries to sell more wine outside of the three-tier system.

Our DTC-positivity is a stance that should, in theory, position us as antagonists to distributor interests.

Shouldn’t it?

Enter the elephant in the room.

The apparent conflict of interest cannot (and should not) be avoided. Instead, in Vermont next week and all the while afterward, we’ll address it directly.

To be clear, Enolytics sees DTC data and depletion data as synergistic. Combined together, they create a robust and strategic tool to accelerate growth in both channels.

Leverage DTC (end consumer) data to grow three-tier sales. And maximize three-tier sales through careful, data-driven analysis of known consumer trends and behaviors.

Synergy and leverage.

Those are what will transform that elephant in the room into a powerful, friendly ally.

Curious for more information, or to see our presentation at the VIP Summit next week? Just drop me a note.

Thank you, as always, for reading —

Cathy