March 5, 2024 – How often do you sit down next to a presidential candidate, the night before a national convention—and Super Tuesday 2024—without recognizing her?
In my defense, Cher A. Spirit was not in full campaign mode just yet.
That campaign launched today, as the double-conference gathering co-hosted by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (aka DISCUS) and the Women of the Vine and Spirits (WOTVS) leapt to life.
It’s all going down in San Diego, where she was formalling introduced as an alternative to the two parties many Americans find hard to swallow.
Chris Swonger, president and CEO of DISCUS and its mindful-drinking nonprofit arm Responsibility.org, helped debut the surprise candidate.
“Whether you’re part of the Republican Party, Democratic Party or an Independent, everyone’s welcome at the Cocktail Party, and we hope you’ll join us,” he says. “The Cocktail Party is a great way for adult consumers to get involved in the legislative process while having a little spirited fun along the way.
“Together we can raise our glass and lift our voice in support of the spirits industry.”
While the candidacy is fictional, the platform is real, at least for anyone hoping to vote with their wallets to support what the two organizers do, namely:
• Expanding responsible consumer access to distilled spirits.
• Increasing consumer convenience.
• Advocating for fairer taxes.
• Supporting hospitality businesses.
Back at last night’s dinner, Cher A. Spirit—real name Coleen Terry—talked about some of the unexpected progress to emerge from COVID-era obstacles (legalized to-go drinks), varying state rules (hefty and uneven taxes go down and access goes up), and the power of distillery trails (see DISCUS’s Destination Distillery for helpful routes).
Terry directs the advocacy arm of DISCUS in a grassroots manner, which empowers her Cher-appropriate love for building bridges.
That work involves talking to retailers and wholesalers to rally their communities to vote on good leadership, in general, and fairer industry rules, in particular.
The holistic work DISCUS and WOTVS do—fomenting diversity and inclusion and stopping unhealthy consumption and drunk driving—led to the biggest revelation for my first encounter with either group: These organizations aspire for more than favorable policy and consumer opportunities.
One initiative feels the most promising. As of this conference, Women of the Vine & Spirits is taking its brand-new 86 Harassment resource hub public.
86’s simple and uneasy goal: reducing incidents of harassment and violence.
“We aim to create a model that can be duplicated by other industries worldwide, emphasizing a collective commitment to fostering safer environments for employees and customers alike,” a WOTVS statement reads. “Statistics show that harassment is very prevalent in the beverage, alcohol and hospitality industries, with higher incidents of workplace harassment compared to other industries.
Numbers researched by Restaurant Opportunities Center United add urgency. Nine in 10 women in hospitality have been sexually harassed on the job, compared to 3 in 10 in the general workforce.
The 86 Harassment tools are free. They include training customized to the beverage community—to help set boundaries and ways to intervene if needed—by RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.
Other vital elements include a confidential crisis intervention hotline staffed all hours by RAINN pros, in both English and Spanish, and a centralized resource hub for everything from basics like key terms and phrases to newsletters and educational resources for anyone in the beverage alcohol and hospitality industries, with handouts, toolkits, postcards, flyers, stickers, posters, all available to download, print and post on walls where they can make a powerful difference.
The 86 effort also represents the first industry-wide plan to address an issue that doesn’t discriminate, from school hallways to Hollywood, small-town PTAs to corporate corner offices.
The greater DISCUS-WOTVS policy plan feels like a self-awareness meditation.
My unauthorized translation, condensed version: Alcohol is both a sexy sell at the club but a tough one when it comes to health; the industry is fun, but also exhausting and potentially threatening as hell; there are ways we can be thoughtful about preserving positives while mitigating negatives.
I’m biased because I’m a passionate consumer of good drink and smart policy, but I observe a movement to endorse, and one that hopefully finds support among reasonable minds.
Some additional innovations in the industry are also getting their due, in more technological than human ways, even as the boundary blurs.
(In other words: True industry nerds take note!)
Devil’s Cask was named the grand winner of the Distilled Spirits Council’s Innovation Showcase competition during the annual awards presentation.
SpiritLock Technology earned the honor by way of a fluid vapor barrier that can be applied to the exterior surface of wooden casks used in the maturation process of barrel-aged spirits.
As it works to reduce the evaporation of ethanol and water vapors from the cask, “angels share” and barrel leaks go down and flavor profiles stay steady.
Tapi USA took second for its bottle closures—you were warned this is geek-grade intel!—made from reused sawdust.
That allows for a reduction of virgin plastic in plastic heads by collecting in-house waste, and to date 10 million+ pieces of sawdust closures have been produced, taking more than 37 tons of plastic out of the process. Added incentive: The texture, color and design come customizable.
Third place: Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits—not always the most popular actor given its powerhouse influence in stocking shelves—got a gold star for deliveries.
Electric vehicles outfitted with electric refrigeration systems and reusable insulated boxes offer another cause to consider supporting.
“Every year we are amazed and inspired by the groundbreaking innovations presented by companies across the spirits industry,” Swonger says.
More at jointhecocktailparty.com.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
