MAHALO SPIRITS GROUP WELCOMES TREATY OAK DISTILLING TO ITS FAST-GROWING CRAFT SPIRITS PORTFOLIO
Full-Service Brand Innovation Company Adds An Award-Winning Suite of Whiskies & Gin as it Looks for its Next Great Partner; Hires Key Industry Players
DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mahalo Spirits Group (MSG) – the full-service creative, sales, marketing and entrepreneurial powerhouse behind the success of Angel’s Envy bourbon, Papa’s Pilar rum and Suerte tequila over the past decade – today announced a new addition to its portfolio in Treaty Oak Distilling. Based in Dripping Springs, TX, the vanguard distillery has been at the leading-edge of the craft spirits movement for more than a decade. The partnership promises to further the explosive growth of the craft distilling industry and MSG’s mission of forging partnerships with world-class managers and founders to incubate and accelerate premium authentic brands globally.
Founded in 2006 by Daniel Barnes, Treaty Oak Distilling is an eclectic and brilliant team of rebels committed to making the best spirits that purposefully break from convention to create something new, or even curious. Until now, the company’s portfolio of spirits has been one of the best kept secrets in Texas. With MSG’s help, the upstart brand will expand its U.S. footprint into seven new markets, starting with the award-winning trio of Waterloo gin expressions (Waterloo No. 9, Waterloo Antique and Waterloo Old Yaupon), and quickly rollout nationally. The whiskey portfolio, which includes Red-Handed bourbon, Red-Handed rye and Ghost Hill bourbon, will follow shortly thereafter.
Concurrently, MSG has made big investments in its business and team, to supplement its expertise in branding, marketing, strategy, finance, supply chain, compliance, and fundraising. This includes the Drinkubator technology group, led by Kyle Groth and Bryan Monteleone, which will focus on building spirits focused apps, tools and platforms designed to influence consumers at, or near, the point of purchase. The Mahalo Capital Group is in the middle of raising another fund in the range of approximately $50mm, as it actively searches for its next great partners.
Under the leadership of Chief Sales Officer Bill McGough, MSG has also added four experienced industry veterans to its national sales and marketing group, all of whom are extensively trained to sell premium craft spirits and interface with an ever-consolidating distribution industry.
- Nick Doyle, Executive Vice President & National Sales Manager
- R.B. Wilber, Vice President – Southwest U.S. Region
- Brendan O’Mahoney, Vice President – West U.S. Region
- Johnny Lazenby, Vice President – Southeast U.S. Region
Alex Bogusky, an expert who leads brand strategy and consumer insights for MSG, along with creative powerhouse Crispin Porter+Bogusky (CP+B), worked with Treaty Oak to refresh the look and feel of the company’s primary brand elements, including its logo, point-of-sale, website and packaging. The whiskey portfolio now features paint-dipped background colors and texture with a classic design, while the trio of gins include disruptive paint strokes in blue (Waterloo No. 9), black (Waterloo Antique) and green (Waterloo Old Yaupon) over a delicate juniper stem wrapped in oak leaves.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Daniel Barnes and his team at Treaty Oak Distilling to build this portfolio of innovative and authentic whiskies and gin,” said Stephen Groth, President & CEO, Mahalo Spirits Group. “After evaluating hundreds of brands, Daniel and his team were clear standouts and a no-brainer to pursue a partnership with. We have a talented team with a proven track record of creating and building premium brands, along with the resources to take these handcrafted spirits to the next level.”
“Mahalo was the best strategic and cultural fit for both our team and brands,” said Daniel Barnes, Founder of Treaty Oak Distilling. “Beyond their industry expertise and first-rate resources, we instantly felt a genuine connection and a shared purpose.”
Previously, MSG was a founder of Angel’s Envy bourbon, taking the super-premium brand from concept to creation to eventual acquisition by Bacardi in 2015. Using its Launchpad proprietary 360 brand development process as a disciplined approach to rapidly growing emerging brands, the company has also built Papa’s Pilar rum from an idea into a key player, which has achieved the largest percentage growth of the Top 10 ultra-premium rum category over the past 52-week reporting period (Nielsen, April 2018). Now sold in 27 states, Papa’s Pilar opened a distillery and experience center last year in Key West, FL. Most recently, MSG partnered with Suerte, a premium 100% tahona-crushed agave tequila made in Jalisco, Mexico, to expand the brand’s presence into 22 states, which helped to triple its sales volume over the past few years.
MSG is always looking for the next great partner to add to its portfolio. For more information, please contact Kyle Groth at (607) 351.9784 or kgroth@mahalospirits.com
About Mahalo Spirits Group
Mahalo Spirits Group is a full-service brand innovation company headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida. Mahalo specializes in incubating and/or accelerating handcrafted brands with deep and authentic stories. Mahalo has a broad array of targeted resources and expertise, ranging from a national route-to-market force to world-class creative and creation talent to a fully dedicated technology team, supported by a finance, supply chain and compliance team. Existing partnerships include Papa’s Pilar Rum, Suerte Tequila and Treaty Oak Distilling.
Original article published on Business Wire by Aaron Brost and Joseph Stark