Zebra-Striping Between Categories To Elevate Occasions with Filiberto Amati
Filiberto Amati, Founder of Amati & Associates and Head of Partnerships at MAFFEO DRINKS returns to dissect the post-COVID reality facing the spirits industry, revealing how the pandemic created a temporary "shock" that inflated off-trade volumes while disrupting traditional brand-building pathways.
Five years later, Filiberto explains how consumption patterns are realigning to pre-pandemic trends, exposing brands that gained artificial traction during lockdowns without building genuine consumer education or loyalty. We explore the ongoing "blurring" of categories as consumers increasingly choose drinks based on occasion rather than traditional spirits classifications, the critical role of route-to-market consolidation across beer, spirits, and soft drinks, and how cultural movements not liquid quality alone drive the most successful brand rituals from Aperol's orange visual cue to Corona's lime mythology.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and COVID Impact Context
03:45 Post-Pandemic Volume Normalization
09:20 On-Trade Education Crisis Analysis
16:15 Off-Trade vs On-Trade Dynamics
23:30 Category Blurrification and Zebra Striping Occasions
28:45 Route-to-Market Consolidation Trends
Episode Analysis
If the above resonates, it's because you've lived it.
Drinks Builders like you know what needs to happen. The struggle is bringing everyone else with you.
I've been there. You know the frustration. You can see what needs to happen, but the ecosystem pulls in different directions. Colleagues, partners, distributors, investors. All with their own pressures and timelines.
I've spent twenty years navigating this complexity. What follows is a methodology for bringing people with you and actually getting there.
Paid content for Drinks Builders serious about their work. 👇🏻
