Denne specialepisode er på engelsk: Rune taler med ADF-eksperten Craig “Lewie” Lewis om, hvad der skal til for at få et drikkevarebrand til at sælge i USA.
Most European brands assume a great product and a strong brand will carry them in the US.
It won’t. Not even close.
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In this episode, Rune speaks with Craig “Lewie” Lewis, one of A Dream Factory's experts and advisors, specialising in CPG and beverage, about what it actually takes to build and scale a successful beverage brand in the US. From distributor structures and margin stacking to sales velocity benchmarks, incentive programs, and why spreading too fast is the most expensive mistake you can make.
This is an episode about beverages, but the lesson goes for any business entering the US: be nerdy about every detail, from margins and distributors to pricing and which street you launch on. Have big ambitions, but approach the market with respect. Prove your thesis and your product's worth. Then scale.
We discuss:
Why a strong brand and product are only table stakes in the US
Why velocity – the number of cases sold per store per week – is a critical KPI for beverage brands.
What a realistic first year costs: $200–300K for a good test in one market
How your margin disappears in the three-tier system, from distributor to retailer
Why you should build the US like a puzzle and start in one corner
What distributors actually want to see before they take on your brand
And perhaps most importantly:
Why your brand risks ending up as “rainbow vomit” on the shelf
How you pay the distributor's sales reps to prioritise your product
The billback trap: the monthly report with 25 codes and a $220,000 bill nobody understands
How Jameson won Manhattan one street at a time
Why you need to show up in the store every single week for three years
This episode is for you if you :
Are building a beverage, food, or CPG brand and considering entering the US market.
Have already secured US distribution or retail placement but are struggling to generate sales.
Need to build a realistic budget for your first 12 months in the US.
Want to understand how American distribution, retail, and sales execution work in practice.
Need to choose your first market, your first channel, or your first distributor
Concrete lessons:
Treat brand and product as the ticket to entry
→ In the US, everyone has a good product – execution in the store is what drives growth.Velocity is the new valuation - measure it every week
→ Cases per store per week is your north star from day oneYour distributor is a logistics partner, not your sales team
→ Everything that moves product off the shelf is your responsibilityBudget $200–300K for year one
→ That's Lewie's estimate for a good one-year test in one market, all in.Price yourself as premium
→ Distributor and retailer each take 20–30%, and in New York the store doubles the price – a can sold at $3 ends up at $6–7.Build the US like a puzzle
→ Start in one corner, win one region and one channel, then add the next piece – not the frame first.Bring case studies to the distributor
→ 20, 50 or 100 stores with documented volume and velocity open doors with the next distributor..Drip-feed the distributor's sales reps
→ Give them something new every day – POS, content, a story, Baseball tickets and Amazon gift cards work – so your brand stays top of mind. That’s the game.Watch billbacks from day one
→ Large distributors like UNFI and KeHE send billbacks under codes – one report can say you owe $220,000 – so get a specialist to review them.Go deep, not wide
→ 50 accounts with strong velocity beat 200 weak ones – that's how Jameson won Manhattan one street at a time.
Timestamps
01:37 A great product is only the starting point
02:30 Speed is the new currency
04:01 Velocity: How much should you sell per store per week?
05:00 Why brand awareness and retail activation matter
06:26 What does it cost to test a beverage brand in the US?
08:06 Margins, distributors, and the US three-tier system
09:53 The US is not one market – think state by state
11:46 Why European experience doesn't automatically translate to the US
13:50 How to win over a distributor
16:57 Ride-alongs: Getting to know distributor sales reps
19:27 How many stores can one sales rep realistically cover?
20:58 How to model sales and velocity
23:09 PODs and financial incentives for distributor reps
25:35 Pay-to-play: Exclusivity in bars and restaurants
29:15 The US beverage market is extremely competitive
31:05 Large distributors, chargebacks, and hidden costs
32:42 How to handle complex distributor invoicing
33:32 Beachhead market: Win one market before expanding
34:00 Jameson: Winning one street at a time in New York
36:20 Why velocity should be your main focus when scaling
37:46 Closing: Velocity is the new currency
Vært: Rune F. Knudsen
Intromusik: Veronica D’Souza – Canary Song
