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In 2008, Dan Gasper quit his time working for other beverage alcohol brand owners to go it alone. Five years later, he co-founded Distill Ventures, an accelerator agency for new brands that has an exclusive investment arrangement with Diageo. Fast forward to September last year and Gasper unveiled his latest venture, The Ardent Co. Global Drinks Intel caught up with him to learn more about his latest move.
Global Drinks Intel: You’re back again with your own company that has a similar proposition to Distill Ventures. What’s the deal?
Dan Gasper: The Ardent Co is an independent accelerator that fuels founder-led drinks businesses to build the boldest version of their vision. We’re long term with independent capital, coupled with industry experience that I and the team have developed over the last decade or so. We want to help founders make better decisions and fewer mistakes.
We built the company because we think it offers a better way for founders to build scale while remaining in control of their business and its direction. This allows them to realise the full value of their business by being independent for longer and selling up later.
GDI: Where does the capital come from?
DG: When I left Distill Ventures, I decided to raise independent capital from the likes of family-owned offices and institutions. Over the course of two years – we quietly launched in July 2021 – we’ve secured some brilliant investors.
GDI: Isn’t that what Distill Ventures does?
DG: This is strategic growth capital that isn’t your exit partner. That’s the crucial bit. When the founder would like to sell their business – rather than when the corporate would like to buy their business – we can then think about who their best partner might be.
I’ve seen many businesses get bought very early but they don’t survive the integration process. Corporations think they’re buying a brand but at that stage, they’re buying a founder and a team. I’ve seen so many brands lose their shine or just disappear in that process.
With Ardent, we’re trying to make sure those businesses that founders are putting their lives into are built to last, not just get to exit.
GDI: Has your career been fuelled by rebelling against the entrenched, traditional approach of the spirits industry?
DG: One of the most wonderful things about being part of DV was mapping the world of founders. Over the last 14 years, I’ve mapped about 10,000 founder-led drinks companies in about 62 different countries and I’ve personally spoken with over 2,500 of them. Some of them were very wrong, but some – such as Tom Baker with [coffee liqueur] Mr Black [acquired by Diageo last year] or Ben Branson with [0% ABV spirit brand] Seedlip [entering Diageo’s portfolio in 2019] – genuinely had a game-changing idea, but it was difficult to explain why it was a good one.
The drinks industry often says ‘what do we need in our portfolio?’ and not ‘what does the consumer want?’. There are a lot of legacy brands that I don’t think serve a particularly brilliant purpose today. The future of drinks is changing faster than ever and I want to see what those drinks look like and taste like.
GDI: Aren’t you fighting against the exit strategy that every founder has?
DG: I’ve been part of journeys that have gone very well as well as part of journeys that haven’t. A lot of the successful ones have passed the difficult bit of zero to 20,000 cases. If you’ve figured out the levers that create a connection between your brand and a consumer, all you’re then doing is rolling out those levers to more markets. You’re just scaling. Founders love that bit.
If you’re at 100,000 cases and around US$20m in revenue, you’re still not an enormous brand, but you’re solid enough to survive the integration. It’s more about letting the founder go on the best part of their journey.
GDI: Which of your current projects are heading in that direction?
DG: We don’t talk about the brands we’ve invested in. We don’t even let our brands talk about the fact that they’ve raised money. We don’t think that’s relevant. In our portfolio today, we have four investments totalling just under $20m. Those investments are in zero-alc, low-alc and full-strength spirits.
GDI: What is the future of the industry in your view?
DG: There are a lot of different ways to answer that. I think you’re going to see increased fragmentation. Consumers today know so much more about drinks. I’m seeing soju and sake become increasingly popular in a way that I never expected. Then, the aperitif category has got way longer legs than most people give it. The ‘what’s next’ in whisky/whiskey has been a huge part of my journey. I’m fascinated to see what is next in single malts from different countries.
Then, there’s zero-alc, which is still incredibly early.
This article has been available to Global Drinks Intel subscribers since May. For details on how to join them, please click here.
