← We Fixed It, You're Welcome
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome to We Fixed It. You're welcome. The show where we take over companies, you come along for the ride, and we try to put them back better than we found them. Welcome back to our show. We are so excited to be back. Hi, Melissa. Hi. We're here.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Hey, Chino. Hey.
- [00:21]
C
Super excited.
- [00:22]
A
It's been about a minute. So glad you're back with us. As everyone knows, this is season three of We Fixed It. You're welcome. If you've listened to our show before, you know, we typically start with a big company in the midst of some kind of, ugh, challenge where no one knows what's going to happen before the company can make the next move and maybe dig themselves in deeper. We fix it for them. Big billion dollar companies and we just fix them. No big deal. We're still going to do that. But sometimes, like today, we're going to start with a tricky situation and see how it impacts everyone involved. Companies, consumers, culture, you and me, it's all on the table. And what we're talking about today is Dry January. That's right. We've taken our show off ice after a break, but for many, the booze is staying cold. Every January, across the US and the world, millions of people voluntarily press pause on alcohol in an annual ritual called Dry January. It's not a law, not an official holiday, not a religious observance like Lent, but it still has a ripple effect. For one participant in Dry January, it's a personal decision, but multiply that by like 15 or 20% of the adult population, and suddenly we're talking a ton of consumers who are stopping their consumption for a month. And there are a lot of companies out there that can't afford an entire month of slow sales. So here's what we're fixing today. Is Dry January worth it? Yeah. There are health benefits, but does it actually do anything meaningful, or is it just an annual disruption that creates noise, causes an economic slowdown, and makes people rush back to their old behaviors in February? Let's get into it. Chino, Melissa, you ready?
- [01:56]
B
Yeah. Let's do it.
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C
Absolutely.
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A
All right, we're going to talk about this. So let's start with a little crash course in American history. Chino, you're our resident Canadian, but don't tune out. So in the United States, our relationship with alcohol has always been tricky. In the 1800s, the temperance movement preached that booze was the root of society's evils, leading eventually to Prohibition. And in 1920, when alcohol was literally banned by law. You can't have it that era was supposed to solve the problem of alcohol use, but instead it fueled illicit markets and crime and was ultimately repealed in 1933 with the 21st Amendment because it was clear that enforced abstinence could not override social behavior. So in other words, people got what they wanted back to the bar. So we're going to do a big time jump now. Booze is legal. It's everywhere. You, as long as you're of age and responsible, have at it. Spike your December eggnog. But in 2013, a UK charity called Alcohol Change UK proposed an event called Dry January, asking people to go alcohol free for the first month of the year as a way to reset and rethink their habits. Originally, only a few thousand people participated. Now it's kind of a big deal. And participation continues to grow as awareness spreads. And cutting down on drinking is not happening in a Vacuum. Across the US and Europe, overall drinking rates are declining. Gallup's 2025 consumption habits survey found that just 54% of US adults say that they drink alcohol. That's the lowest rate Gallup has recorded in nearly 90 years of tracking. That shift shows Dry January isn't just an isolated resolution. It's part of a broader rethinking of alcohol's role in life, especially among Gen Z, who as a generation is drinking less than their older counterpar. So you've got the entire alcohol industry already on shaky ground and then you throw in an entire month of voluntary abstinence on top of it. If those who do drink go right back to it in February, does Dry January actually accomplish anything? Should it go away? Or if society's drinking less anyway, should Dry January be an enforceable mandate like Prohibition, So at least there's more predictability in the market? Let's talk about it. Melissa, I know you've got some thoughts, so why don't you start us off?
- [04:13]
B
Well, as, you know, Happy New Year, I always have thoughts. I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. And so to me, this Dry January movement is actually, you know, a component of that. And so the way I like to think about it is it's not just a month, it's actually a little bit more. And I think they should really treat it more like a season, not just, you know, a monthly thing. It's, it's become seasonal because it's easy to say Dry January. You know, you've had the indulgences over the holidays. There's a lot of focus on that. But I think from an operational and business Perspective, it's something for people in and businesses to really think about and there's some ancillary services as well. And I know Chino will want to get into this as you know, as part of what she's always looking at from her perspective. But it's not just about liquor, but it's about wellness, fitness, self care. There's a lot of those things that people, you know, have those resolutions and say, you know what, I'm going to take better care of myself this year. And it's a great, you know, when you think about the ancillary businesses and operations around that, it really is something that you know, you need to think about and think about it intentionally and how you plan for it and actually how you deliver on it. So it's not just about non alcoholic but it's better for you beverages. So there's, you know we, we see that that marketplace, Aaron, has grown significantly in the last, you know, three or four years. So you've got the wellness and fitness and self care, you have the non alcoholic and better for you beverages. And actually you know, thinking about it there's you know, I live in Colorado so cannabis and alternative options for could be marketed during dry January as substitutes for Alco. So again there's all these other outside businesses too that need to be looking at it as well as the businesses that utilize alcohol as a primary driver of profits as well as, you know, maybe their hospitality experience. They need to think about how they plan for that and how they incorporate that into what they're already known for, whether it's a bar or restaurant.
- [06:42]
A
Yeah, it's so interesting because this is the opposite of what happens. The seasonal boost around the holidays and retailers benefit and then in, you know, January rolls around and the gym memberships spike way up and whether they, they're maintained or not, that's up people to decide. But this is consumers putting on the brakes annually in, in greater numbers, you know, as time goes on and it's, it's a market anomaly or a disruption and it's, it's hard for companies, you know, yeah, you can promote your, your non alcoholic brand during that time but does it really have the same appeal or lasting appeal? You know, it's like it's a forced market disruption caused by consumers and it's, it's a tough one to get your head around because it doesn't follow predictable market cycles.
- [07:29]
B
I agree with you Aaron, but I also think the data tells the story like what you shared with us about the history, you know, and that One in five people participate in dry January is pretty significant. And it's, it. And it is something that these, you know, restaurants and bars should be planning for. To be honest, I think that one of the things, you know, I was in a business that was, had seasonality, and so we started planning for seasonality that was happening in, in December and January in May. And we talk, you know, from a business perspective, the further you can plan for something, you, you don't get caught up in maybe kind of either the spike where you, where you can't deliver on the experience or, you know, the pitfall of, oh my gosh, we should have ordered more, you know, blood orange soda and, you know, Pellegrini or whatever. And we didn't. And now we're, you know, now we're, you know, every, every night we're, we're running out of, you know, bottled water, whatever it might be. Right. So I do think there is a need to kind of give it more credence than it maybe has been given in the past. And I also think it's significant because it's also kind of a cultural thing. Right. And so it's interesting. I'd love to hear, Chino, your perspective outside of the US as well as just from company culture, you know, and how wellness and all of those kinds of things are really driving businesses today.
- [09:14]
C
Fair. So I'd like to go on record and say dry January. I don't think we should ever get into a point of like, forcing anything on anyone, whether that's prohibition or saying we can't do dry January. Your choice, you know, although I don't really have any big, like, resolutions. What people choose to do with their life is what they choose to do. So there's that. But it is interesting. We talk about dry January and I think, Melissa and Erin, you brought up a really good point on seasonality. Right. It's going to happen. It's one in five people are 100%. That's 20% of people who are drinking. So that number, as we just discussed, is already dwindled. Lowest numbers in 90 years. Right. So of those small number of folks, they're the one, you know, 20% of them are not participating in drinking anymore. So that's a huge margin for if you're a restaurant, a bar, anywhere serving alcohol. I've recently come back from a trip. It's January right now. Folks who are listening, in case you're listening to different, maybe you're listening to this in the summer, but it's January 15th today, as we're recording this. And when I was going through the airport, one of the signs said, hey, we are not participating in Dry January. Come on in if you're going to join us. Right. And so it was interesting because, you know, of the 80% of people who do drink and that are continuing to drink through January, you know, you had that opportunity to. And then on the side of their kind of marquee, they shared and to those drinking or not drinking on drain anyway, we have these cute mocktails you can try. And so I think seasonality is going to be huge with this when it comes to anyone that is serving alcohol, non alcohol folks that are in that game. Because wellness has become a huge part of kind of the conversation where when we look at company cultures, often it was, you know, the watering hole who's, you know, having a beer after work, you know, the after work drinks. It became a point of collaboration and culture. And often companies were defined by that culture. The challenge is people are different, people have different relationships with alcohol. Whether someone is struggling with, you know, an addiction or of some sort, whether someone's pregnant and they don't want to be sharing that yet. There's a thousand reasons as to why people are drinking. And I think it's been really interesting to see kind of that shift, I would say in the last eight years in more of that wellness space. And I think when we talk about Gen Z, it touches a bit on that, right? Whether that is because of COVID and the lack of spaces for people to go out and hang, so they weren't socialized in the same way when it comes to drinking and having that culture of drinking. And so I do think it's important for businesses who do serve alcohol think about, you know, bringing in non alcoholic options, you know, to cater to that 20% because that's a big thing. You want the people who are your regulars who might not be drinking to still be giving you some money. But looking at a whole new set of market of people who don't drink, providing some type of mocktail wellness situation is great, but it's a seasonality thing. You need to plan for this at the end of the day. And I do think we have moved from cultures of where drinking is the main point to wellness. And I think it's going to be interesting from a marketing perspective, Aaron and Melissa, from, you know, customer experience, how we can shape wellness and kind of tie that into Dry January to help both sides of each business.
- [13:33]
A
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B
Yeah, you know, I love what you said, because what you're really talking about is there's this movement of, you know, and a real predictable uptick in mindful consumption, right? Whether that be in alcohol or other things. I think people are really focused on wellness. And so to me, I love what you said. I think that there are stress points for businesses and operations that are focused around, you know, and every restaurant has. You usually has some alcoholic consumption portion of it, and it's a real money maker for those companies or for those restaurants and for those events. So I think that those stress points from, like this kind of mindful uptick, you know, is. Is really something that we have to, as business owners be very well aware of. And I mentioned being intentional, but I really think it's being smart and it's being using, you know, true data and business strategy, right? So you've got to control your inventory. And already, you know, January tends to be kind of a slower month anyway for a lot of businesses. You know, people returning maybe, but, you know, other than that, it usually is. So you have to be careful about carrying too much stock in things that may not be moving. And, you know, especially with something like beverages that have a shelf life, you don't want those forever. You know, staffing that was the biggest challenge for me when we were dealing with seasonality is the staffing aspect. So do you need as much staff if you're not going to have as much business there? And then thinking about the menus and the pricing and what like, you Know, Gino, you mentioned the mocktails, but making it not be kind of like just like a reaction to dry January and just having a couple cocktails on it, but really curating it and having, you know, like dry friendly events, menu pairings. I know here in Denver, I wanted to share this example of something that really is great. So we have a, a restaurant here, Bruno Michelin star. Very, very, you know, and it's a champagne bar is how it started. Bruto.
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C
Right.
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B
But they added a non alcoholic pairing option last year that became a permanent feature because they were able to see that their margins, so this is a business decision, matched their wine pairings. So when you really take the time and effort to curate that, that's actually a great thing. That it's not just like, you know, kind of on the, you know, poster on, on the door that says, oh, it's dry January. So we have these three cocktails, right? That's it. And then February, they go away. Right. Like what you want to do is not have it be just temporary. And it forces, I think business owners, restaurateurs, sommeliers, all of them bartenders to be use creativity and innovation and also really focus on the consumer. Right. So what is it that someone who's not drinking would love and would love to and is going to tell their friends and so like really participating in testing, you know, a whole bunch of different things. Like zero proof pairings. Like I was just saying, maybe it's new cool drinkware, lighting, you know, trivia night without all the things, you know, or it's an new menu. Right. You know, all the kinds of things that feel like they've really thought about this and that they're, you know, they can test it in a way that it focuses on customer experience and profitability. Those are the things that they can do. They don't have to just, you know, be offering the generic mocktails. Right.
- [18:40]
A
Yeah, it could be a smart business play to, to cater to an underserved market or not, not alienate your audience. You know, you could, could draw in the crowd that way. And you know, I, I to what you were saying also about corporate culture and you know, drinking culture, you know, it's that classic. End of the day, it's been a. Whoa, it's been a rough one. Let's go blow off some steam. And then the expectation is, you know, you go down to the bar and you get into it and then if you weren't there, you missed it. Right. That could be facetime with the boss's boss. That could be, hey, do you see what Gerald did? It was insane. You know, and it's bonding and it's interesting that companies are moving away from that as a generational thing, as a post Covid mindfulness or how do we make the best use of our time together? And that's why we talked in the past about holiday parties, shifting to January maybe to get away from some of the chaos and the pandemonium and expectations. So I could see setting those types of, modeling those types of behaviors internally for your employees and saying, you know, we do things a certain way, we have a balance. Maybe we do have that crazy, you know, let's all high five each other sometimes and let's do yoga sometimes. But from a marketing perspective externally, which is we, you know, we talked about this a little bit. But what if you, if you take a stand and say we as a company believe in dry January or we're celebrating dry January and you make that your marketing platform during the month. And you're not a, you know, alcohol, food, bev kind of company. You're just a company. You, you run the risk of alienating the percentage of popularity that, that a population that isn't partaking or isn't participating in that. So I guess, how do you manage that push and pull dynamic? Oh, yes, there's something to the marketing aspect of it where people could align with you and say, good, I'm glad you're doing this with us and I appreciate that you that about your company and we share values. But there could be, that's 20%. There could be, you know, the other 80% of that audience that says, well, you just, you just made me feel bad about myself.
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C
So.
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B
Well, I think it puts a lot on, on the, you know, on the staff. Right. And on the bartender. Right. It, it's really about, like I said, crafting that experience so that neither side feels less than. If I come up to the bar and I want a drink and I want a beer, great. If my friend comes up and says, I want a non alcoholic beer, they should have options. Right. And it shouldn't be something where you're feeling like, oh, it's an afterthought. And that's the thing I think is really what I would be focused on right now is that I feel like, you know, bars and restaurants right now, they pretty much know how to, how to curate that alcoholic experience, but it's the non alcoholic, the dry experience that I think they have to put more thought into to showcase to that 20%. And like you said, that 20% could turn into, like not sticking with it afterwards. Right. So again, it's. How are you treating me today? That's going to help me decide whether I come back tomorrow.
- [21:59]
A
Yeah, well, that I understand, Melissa, but let's say I am into it, or I'm Nike and I want to say something. I. We have some, you know, our pillars or whatever, or we have internal practices and I want to say something about Dry January. What. What do I do for the month of January?
- [22:15]
C
I'm going to jump in because there's two things that we're talking about. We're talking about bars and kind of restaurant industry and kind of. Where do you land in Dry January? That. That part. And then there's also companies. What do you do when it is dry January? So I'm going to talk about companies first. If I was advising you, if you've hired me to be your HR consultant on this, I would say first of all, dry January is helping mitigate risk. Right. So there's that. Right. Because when, obviously when we talked about our holiday special and episode about the risk involved when people are drinking, there's that. So first and foremost, I would tell you we should be making any statement about drinking and not drinking in people's habits there. First and foremost. But if you were and say January just happens to be the month of activities where you're bonding outside of alcohol. So maybe it is your bond this month. Maybe this is the time you book in what we have in Toronto now, moving into the States, other ship, it's this like hot, you know, cold plunge sauna space where it's all about wellness and meditation. Maybe it's booking a team retreat for that. We don't need to call it Dry January. We can just, you know, the back of our head. If you're the culture and social committee, great. If last month we spent a lot of time on drinking where it might have alienated people who don't drink, let's try to balance that out. I don't think we need to call it a name, but I think the seasonality of it is the people that do drink, we know at least 20% of them most likely aren't drinking. So as a business, do I want to spend the dollars on something that's not cheap either? To buy booze for an office isn't cheap. So let's capitalize on that moment knowing that 20% of that team who may have been drinking might not be drinking right now. So let's do something different. I don't think we need to call it a name. So there's that piece. And now when I turn over to the bar side and the restaurateur side, I'm actually going to challenge what we've been saying here. Pick a lane, pick a lane. Because I would someone who isn't participating in dry January, that's a choice. I do dry February sometimes, you know what I mean? I like to do some things a little different. But for those that aren't participating, you know what I would love to see? Walk into a bar, write your favorite bar and know that hey, we're not doing this. We actually have the special on these certain cocktails so that you're upping your margins for the people who are drinking to kind of make up for that 20% and really leaning into the fact that you're not drinking. Because guess what, someone's walking into a bar, nine times out of ten they're looking to get something that's an alcoholic drink. It's very rare that they're ordering something that isn't is, is non alcoholic. Which is again why you see on most menus maybe one or two items at the most non alcoholic. The market is really the people who are drinking. So lean in on that. That said, for the folks that have businesses in the wellness space, the sober space, great opportunity to pitch, maybe have a pop up at a bar and say, hey, have you tried this? Maybe you want one night where you're not drinking, try this wine. There was actually a really cool, again I'm in Toronto, really cool store now that is all non alcoholic wines and ciders and gins, which is really cool to see so that you do have that option. And maybe it's a time to show people here's the opportunity of that because from a staffing perspective, if we know that's not really again, come February, not where the money is going. I don't need to, you know, train people to say, okay, you need to be an expert into this non alcoholic wine or beverage. But you know, let's have that option maybe. Or I would my share would say lean in. Lean in on. Yes, we are drinking. So hopefully it brings more people who aren't drinking into the same space. So the more people are actually you make up that 20% so you know, hot take. But my, my advice would say lean in on whatever side you're going to do. So if you're doing dry January as a restaurateur, you're likely not doing that. So lean in on the fact that you're still drinking. And for Those that are open to it. Or maybe you ha, you found in your numbers that more people are trying non alcoholic things have pop ups partner with these non alcoholic beverages to bring exposure to your communities too. And maybe it's a consumer learning opportunity in January, maybe that's it. So you can start doing your research there.
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A
Yeah, yeah, I really appreciate that. You know, but I would say also like aren't you if you adopt it officially and you say here's our take on Dry January, aren't you know the all the consumers that rush to the gym in January and then drop it in February, there's still some that are going to go back in February and some that are going to go back in August and October, you know, to stick for a percentage. So dry January, the more it becomes institutionalized and officially adopted and played back to consumers, there's going to be, you think over time a growing percentage of consumers that say wait a minute, I kind of like this abstention thing. I'm going to stick with it. So if you take the stance that yes, this is every year on the calendar, we're following this, aren't you training a percentage of your consumer base to stop using your products, putting it out there.
- [28:06]
C
So again it makes the question to those again, alcohol and beverage suppliers, do you have a non alcoholic piece? Is that what you spend your money on or is that maybe 2% of a loss? And the longer term in terms of numbers, does that actually make business sense for you to do? I do think again using Dry Gener as a time to figure out the research and to expose and retrain your consumers with different alcohol non alcoholic brands and testing the waters there, dry drainage is the perfect place to try it. So if you are a restaurant, if you're a business that is looking to like you're curious about it, sober curious is what they're, they're calling it too. Absolutely. Go ahead and use Dry January as that stomping ground. But the numbers still say there's more of a population that who are going to these places that are drinking that. Yeah, maybe they come back in August or maybe they never come back again. But you know, with time I do think it'll be important to just train them and say hey, here's maybe where you can get this drink of ours or this really cool mocktail this one time. But I don't know if you need to change your whole recipe.
- [29:19]
B
Yeah, I love what you're saying. She know I think that there is like especially from a business perspective to kind of keep it very structured is, is always helpful not having it be like completely.
- [29:34]
A
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- [30:37]
B
All over the place. But it is, Aaron, a great opportunity for them to use January, dry January, as kind of their R and D lab to try to test some things out. And so you could have wellness Wednesdays, right? And Wellness Wednesdays that we introduce a partner. So we have, you know, gym memberships available, raffle off, right. You know, those kinds of things. We might have, you know, a mindfulness app person come to share, you know, whatever it might be. And then we also have two cocktails to choose from. And we, we kind of coordinate it with like the super bowl, right? And so it's like you have, you know, people always love to vet and love to vote and want, you know, fomo. And so like, you know, which of these cocktails, non alcoholic cocktails, did you like the best? Right? You know, those kinds of things. And then that, that might be something that then we'll say we're going to have this on our permanent, you know, non alcoholic menu. And this was what was voted for in January. Right. And I also think, Chino, to your point, the longevity of a restaurant and bar is really important. So the patrons that are constantly coming in, that come in every Thursday night to play pool and to have beers or whatever it might be, you know, thinking about diversifying beyond the bottle, but not just non alcoholic drinks. So what are they doing about maybe adding different types of snacks? You know, there's a lot of these seltzers and other things that are ready to drink options that they, they. The bartenders don't even, you know, they can just give you one of these instead of having to make you a drink. So, like, testing all of these out and these margins out to help to kind of keep the business really strong in January when there's a little bit of a lull. Right. So I do feel like that is a great opportunity. You know, Aaron, you mentioned, like, what, what do we say internally at a company, if that's something that's going on in the brand way, is like, you know, do we want it. Focus it just on dry January or should it be, you know, a reset mindset? Right. You know, and totally every quarter we're going to have a reset. So January is our first one. And right now we're kind of focusing on it being dry January. But in April, you know, we're going to do a financial reset because it's tax season or whatever it might be. And as a. You're kind of talking about how you're intentionally know that people are always trying to improve and our employees are trying to improve. So how do we lean into that? And I do think that, you know, people that have been able to kind of find that right balance of like, making it not feel like something so significantly different and then just dropping it in February are the ones that are going to do well. But to your point, you know, God, why alienate 80%, 85% of your customer base? Of course you don't want to do that, but you can make it fun. And you could have them. They could be like, okay, we're going to taste test all these beers. One of them is nonalcoholic and have, you know, the bar, you know, have it be a fun kind of thing, right? And say, okay, let's have the vote and then let's see how people did, Right?
- [34:06]
A
Yeah. Well, in the Melissa, that's what I'm wrestling with is the whiplash of one defined month. You know, so December 31st, game on. February 1st, game on. You know that. What's that little coffee commercial? We switched out Susie's coffee for this one. Let's see if she notices. So, you know, we switched out your, your favorite cocktail for a green juice. Like, people are gonna know if it's. If it's that cut and dry. Like, so how. Yeah, that I like. I like the suggestions. I'm hearing about how to make it more of a seamless or an evergreen, you know, an always available choice where you're, you know, embracing changing consumer habits, embracing generational trends. That's good business and it ultimately probably makes us healthier too. So why, why wouldn't you be open to those things as a, as a company, you know, and be paying attention to what people actually are, you know, the way that people are engaging and consuming and, and at least we call it now we have something to call it Dry January as opposed to the worst month of the year.
- [35:11]
B
You're back to work. You know, it is, it is an interesting thing. I wonder too. I mean, maybe Aaron, you can talk about this a little bit about the brand whiplash too, right? Like from going from one thing to the other. I, you know, I kind of forgot about dry January until we talked about this as a topic. But like I've seen, and I'm sure all of you have seen, like Heineken's been during football games. There's a lot of like, about Heineken, whatever their non alcoholic Heineken is. Heineken zero or whatever.
- [35:43]
A
Zero percent.
- [35:44]
C
Right.
- [35:46]
B
And so I, I sense that the brands know too. And so how are they kind of leaning into this, you know, like how are the, you know, distributors and liquor, you know, brands leaning into this and trying to kind of capture the entire market?
- [36:08]
A
Yeah, well, they're, they're paying attention to the numbers too. And they're seeing the, the consumer drop off and the generational drop off and they're still saying, well, you know, even if you don't partake in alcohol portion, we've got a, we've got a brand for you. You're still going to like our taste, right? We still want to build brand preference. We still have a beverage you'll enjoy and you can hold one at, you know, watch, watching the game and be part of the crowd too. So for those that partake, we've got, we got you covered. For those that don't, we got you covered. But they, you know, they, Melissa, you're very, you know, spot on. Like they've stepped up their ad dollars on their brand portfolio, including what I mean is the non alcoholic side of things because they know they're going to lose people that are alcohol. What did you say, Gino?
- [36:53]
C
Sober curious.
- [36:54]
A
Sober curious. Yeah. So, you know, maybe they, they, they're going to lose people altogether that either are abstainers, but like the taste or sober curious and would, would give tribute to a specific brand. Like they don't want to lose any market share. Why would they? So yeah, they're advertising to a business that's that's slowing and an industry that's slowing down.
- [37:19]
B
It is interesting how the industry, the slowdown is just like you said, generational or whatever it might be, whatever the reasons might be. But the, and the experiences are interesting too, like at bars today, right? So there's a lot of activities, experiences, right? Like, so trivia night is huge, right? Trivia nights are big. And so that's where I would think a company, like, I'm just making this up, like Budweiser, you know, And I've seen this because I see there's a trivia night nearby that they very much push. You can get a pitcher of beer and a pizza for your table for trivia night. And it's, you know, like, much cheaper than the usual, right? So it's like $10 and then you pay your. Your tables $10 to get in on the trivia bowl, you know, activities. And so they're trying to make it more like experience. You see what I'm saying? And so, like being able to partner with restaurants and understanding that like these, this is how you can, you know, continue to get your brand out there is through the types of things that people want to be doing now. It's not just about drinking, you know, going to a bar and getting a drink, Right. It's. It's also about the experience of meeting up with your friends and doing these kinds of things. And Chino, I mean, unfortunately, we're in a culture where women have to be very careful, women and men, I'm assuming, but about having their drinks spiked, things happening. And so, like, even with my adult age kids going that go to bars for the experience, they oftentimes will drink at home, then uber to the bar to meet their friends because it's so expensive. And they don't, you know, like, I've always said, like, don't ever take a drink from somebody. Like, if they say they're going to buy you a drink, like, don't do that, you know, like, unless you go to the bar and you see them open the bottle and they hand you, you know, like. But don't, like, have a guy sent give you a drink, right? So I think that there's a lot of different opportunities for us to think about, like, how do we build out those experiences. And I think dry January is a perfect time to test a lot of those things out. And I think partnerships with brands, I think partnerships with, you know, wellness activities, partnerships with alcohol brands, I think, I mean, there's a lot. I go Tuesdays and Tequila, Thursdays and Fridays Saturday, Sundays. So.
- [40:12]
A
Yeah, well. And it's just, it's tapping into changing again, changing consumer behavior. You know, so it's when you have these, we were talking about bars that have the com. Well comedy nights or trivia nights or other things where that's the focus and there's ancillary revenue or it makes up some of the revenue and they're doing a dry night or just a way to get people into the location, maybe a cover charge. It's again being responsible as a business to say we're, we're in the middle, maybe not forever but we're, we're in the middle of a dwindling industry and we're, we're, we can keep this up. But you see, I mean I, I come from Southern California and there's a brewery culture here and you know, everyone with a spare garage had a microbrew for a minute and some of them got bought for incredible multiples and a lot of them went away because it just, the market wasn't there. It was there to substantiate like a few of them, a small handful that could do it really well. But two brothers and you know, in their operation with, with a local, this not distiller but you know what I mean? Like with a dream and a.
- [41:24]
C
Right, right.
- [41:25]
A
And a storage shed, they hold on, they went up, they went away because the market wasn't there.
- [41:30]
B
Right.
- [41:32]
A
So I think brands just have to be really creative and ambitious about what, what they do to replace these revenue streams that were predictable for almost 90 years and now they're not. You know, you have people saying not for us anymore.
- [41:49]
C
Yeah. I think culturally too, going back to that and like the consumer behavior here is something that I'm sure there'll be a ton of studies on. It's also very interesting if you're watching TikTok right now and all the trends where people are romanticizing the party culture of 2016 and people being Gen Z because they never had that. And so I'm wondering will that ever, will that upswing again based on prohibition and that time obviously that had. So I wonder if this is just a particular moment in time, if this is a lasting trend forever. But I do think dry January is definitely an opportunity to test the waters. Great time for partnerships with sober curious brands, wellness brands and bars. You know, again we have to think about margins. If you're the business owner, you can't invest in a thousand different non alcoholic drinks if you know only one is there. I loved your idea Melissa on and Aaron about like the, the testing it, right? Like there was a gin that I tried that was a non alcoholic gin, which I'd never even heard of before. And we did a little to taste this. We said, okay, what's actually, what's the alcohol? What isn't? And we couldn't tell. And I remember I was like, okay, I don't actually really want to drink tonight. You know, someone's got to drive. If someone is driving the Uber, we uber, no DUIs here. But if someone decided, hey, I want to drive tonight, but you still want to be part of it, you can have a non alcoholic option, right? And so even for that, you know, building that into your business is really important to have kind of that diversity in quote, unquote, your portfolio as being a portfolio of beverages that you serve will be important. I think dry January is the time to try it out.
- [43:39]
B
Well, I also think that there are a lot of options now for people and especially here with, you know, cannabis, cbd, you know, all the, with edibles, you know, everything that you can get that alcohol isn't necessarily, you know, when we think about it, the first option for everybody, especially if they're like, I just don't want that hangover feeling. I don't want those calories. I want, you know, I just, I want to be chill. I want a good buzz, but not that kind of buzz. So I do think that, Aaron, to your point about these companies and especially liquor brands and things like that, they have to look at the data and the trends and the signal that is coming, right? And to be able to ensure that their longevity is still, you know, viable, you know, when you think about it, because I, you know, your example of these breweries is so spot on, right? Like, you know, you think about it, so many of the breweries today are kind of like these two brothers, you know, or a guy in their, in their garage. They started, and then everybody's like, oh, did you try that beer? And it's not a Bud Light, right? It's, you know, it's something a little deeper. It's got a little different flavor. It's this or this or that. And so again, consumer taste have changed to a point where like, yeah, I want, you know, maybe I, you know, on a hot day, I just really want a Corona or Modelo or whatever. Coors Light, that's, that's fine. But those big distributors and companies, right, Like Molson Bush, right? You know, like all of those, like, they own like all these things. And it's interesting because when they start taking over some of these, you know, craft breweries people, I mean, myself included, you kind of snub your nose and be like, ooh, is that gonna. That IPA gonna taste the same? Now that it's being, you know, managed by Coors? Like, you know, I don't think so. So again, I think that looking at the data, looking at the trends and trying to get ahead of it to understand, like, who would have thought, you know, the seltzer craze, right, like, the seltzer craze right now is, you know, is like, beyond me. I'm like, those things just sugar bombs, right, With, I guess, with alcohol in them. But like, my, like college kids, they love those. You know, they don't have to have mixers. They don't have to buy the bottle of vodka. They just get the vodka seltzers, right? So again, convenience, the trends and, you know, and trying to figure that out. That's. There's a lot to. A lot to be had here.
- [46:39]
A
All right, so let's, let's. Let's come to our perfect equation. So let's fix. And so in terms of dry January.
- [46:47]
B
I need a shot is what I need.
- [46:49]
A
Let's pull it together. So what we're saying, what I'm hearing is let's not re. Let's not bring back prohibition. Let's not, you know, according to Chino, let's not tell. Tell me what I can and can't do. If we're a company, maybe we use January or we find our own calendar events, or we build it into our corporate culture throughout the year to have alternatives, if not diversions from drinking culture, you know, and let's not make the watering hole what it used to be, but use. Use our time together outside of the. The office hours or the office structure. Let's use it intentionally and find. Find other things to do that we can all benefit from and maybe are a little. Promote healthier habits. So. But that's not telling employees what they can and can't do, except maybe during. During work hours. If you're a company, like, you're in the hospitality bar, restaurant industry, it's really smart to diversify your portfolio because you're going to miss out on consumers that are not only adopting dry January, but they're also changing their hap. That's maybe forever. And you're. You're fighting a losing battle. If you go all in on all alcohol all the time, you're saying goodbye to a size, potentially sizable percentage of your. Your ongoing patrons that would otherwise come to your Establishment. Let's just think about avoiding that whiplash of that, that January 1st to to 31st of you know, hard edge stop. Now we whoa u turn our behavior hard edge back. It's really hard for the market to bear. It's a hiccup that creates this again, unnatural blip in the market. And and let's figure out how to be, you know, how to weave that in that kind of mentality in it's more of an ebb and flow as opposed to a stop it back on, you know, selling. But if we put those into play. Chino, what do you think? Did we fix it?
- [48:51]
C
I think so. Using dry January to test and to do all the things that you've just outlined, Erin, will be helpful for any business, any company. I think reframing it from dry January to just a reset is also great from a company perspective. Like you shared Melissa, we fix it, I think.
- [49:12]
A
Excellent. Melissa, what do you think?
- [49:14]
B
Yeah, I think it's important to use dry January as not just a month but more like a season. We talked about like that reset, you know, cadence utilizing that and focusing on that. I also think it's important to really redefine with intention those non alcoholic experiences so that they're worth staying for the customers, you know, and not having it be outside of what the normal experience is. But like I said, like having a pairing for a menu like a price fix menu like Bruno does where you're actually got some non alcoholic choices and see if you can also monetize this moderation. I think it's important. Remember, these are all businesses, they're not nonprofits. Right. So they're businesses. So figure out and test how do you monetize that? How does, how do you make it taste as good, feel as good to be able to participate but also can be great for the business so that you're going to have a waiter, a bartender, anyone like that wanting to serve and knowing that they're going to get the same level of, you know, service for a something that is going to definitely benefit the business. So I think we could have solved it if, if customers and businesses think about it really smartly.
- [50:41]
A
I love it. Melissa Chino, thank you so much. Great to have you back here. It's going to do it for this episode. We are back weekly. You're going to be hearing a lot more from us, so be sure to subscribe if you haven't already. In keeping with the theme of this episode and the fact that it's the middle of the day, I'm going to crack a non alcoholic ipa. It's eh. This one's from Ration Ration Ale. They are out of Bend, Oregon. I met these folks at a showcase for Food and Bev. And let's see how it goes. It's. So this one is. I think it's 0.5%, which is like the same as a kombucha. So it's not zero, but it's work day. Appropriate.
- [51:19]
B
Kombucha had alcohol. I didn't know kombucha had alcohol.
- [51:22]
C
We got a live test, everybody. How does it. How does it feel?
- [51:26]
A
That's good. Yeah, that's good stuff.
- [51:29]
B
I said I did a shot. I didn't know we were going to do that. I would have just gone down.
- [51:33]
A
Yeah. So. But cheers. Cheers to everybody and yeah, Happy January. Happy Dry for those who are dry. And we'll see you next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode of We Fixed It. You're welcome. We go into every episode somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. All trademarks, IP and brand elements remain property of their respective owners.