The Spirits Business Podcast

There are a handful of genuinely useful operational nuggets - the malt/wine tax-and-distribution angle, acidified creams that survive low-pH mixers, and the retort-free low-ABV pathway - but these are buried under extended stretches of generic trend commentary (Gen Z likes flavours, RTDs are big, low ABV is growing) that a B2B operator would already know.

“there's a tax advantage there in the US but additionally the outlets that you're able to get your products into in the U.S. uh, is substantially expanded by using either malt or wine”

“there are low ph products that we make, so acidified creams basically that can withstand being mixed with, let's say a pineapple juice”

The episode has a few mildly fresh angles - using the whiskey surplus as a cream-liqueur entry point, the bartender polarisation around curdling and film residue - but the macro trend commentary is entirely recycled, and the strategic framing never challenges any conventional wisdom in the category.

“you have a big, uh, inventory level of whiskey and bourbon in the market where people just overproduce. And again, this is a creative outlet for that product”

“creams are always this strange, um, in a strange position with bartenders, I feel like it's very polarizing”

Matthew Benny is a genuine 14-year practitioner at the global B2B leader in a highly specialised manufacturing niche, which gives him credible operational authority; however, he is a commercial executive at a mid-sized ingredient supplier rather than a brand-side operator who has scaled a consumer product, limiting the breadth of transferable insight.

“I've been here for 14 years”

“we are the global leaders in this space”

The episode offers a handful of concrete timelines and rough figures (9-month NPD cycle, 12-18 months for oat product, ~7% ABV threshold, 5-7 year tequila trend window) but is entirely absent of market-size data, revenue or volume figures, named customer brands, or third-party evidence - the numbers that do appear are all approximate and self-reported.

“we've taken that idea, um, to market within nine months”

“came out with a product within about 12 to 18 months. Um, and that one is been in our repertoire for I think about five years now”

The host surfaces reasonable topic areas (seasonal demand, bartender education, plant-based trends) but consistently affirms rather than probes, never challenges a claim, and frequently uses questions that are little more than invitations to continue talking; there is no productive tension or follow-up that extracts depth beyond what the guest volunteers.

“That's an impressive innings of 14 years”

“That sounds so good. Especially because we're currently in a heat wave here in the UK”