Being Self-Made in the Spirits Industry

Monita Tequila tasting in Oakland, CA. Photo by Elijah Flowers.

“How can we get cases for our event in Chicago?” “What about having a celebrity take photos with your brand?” “Why isn’t your online shop open?” “When are you bringing the tequila to Europe?” “What’s next?”

I’ve received my fair share of questions, suggestions, and advice about ways to advance my business which means that those people were just as invested in Monita Tequila being a success as I am. I started this process of creating a tequila brand less than four years ago and each step of the way I started to envision what’s next. The goals and aspirations I developed were shaped by the mission of honoring my late mother as well as the limitations I faced with selling a heavily regulated product. Big dreams can quickly get shrunk down to size once you realize how many licenses, funds, and providers you’d need to achieve just one of those goals. Like having an operating online shop.

E-commerce has given so many small business owners and at-home sellers platforms to increase sales. Selling products online can be as easy as uploading a photo, plugging in the description, setting your price, and hitting publish. That is unless that product is a controlled substance like alcohol. A Gallup report showed that in 2023 62% of Americans took the occasion to have an alcoholic beverage and did so on average 3 times a week. As regular consumption remains consistent year after year the regulations and policies on spirits haven’t had any significant updates since the end of prohibition. When online alcohol sales began to increase due to the COVID pandemic, the longstanding spirits brands that have been in business since before e-commerce, and the internet, were quickly able to set up a shop button and publish it on their website. Brands that have emerged over the last few years have a harder time reaching the digital market due to a lack of access to distribution.

Due to the three-tier system that creates a buffer between the producer of alcohol and the consumers they set out to serve, before an alcoholic beverage brand can reach your cart or even a store shelf they are required to have a distributor. There’s a limited selection of distributors such as Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) or Breakthru Beverage Group that dominate the market when it comes to stocking spirits. Then there are the relative newcomers like Park Street that claim to provide emerging spirits brands the access they need to enter the market.

Why isn’t your online shop open?

There was no roadmap for me when I came up with the idea to create Monita Tequila. Every single step of the way I’ve had to learn as I go. Once production in Mexico was done and the bottles were ready to be imported it was time to navigate how I was going to get it to consumers. Although I consider Monita Tequila a mom-and-pop style shop at heart it wasn’t going to be possible (legal) for me to set up my own online shop and fulfill orders out of my grandparents’ garage. Even mailing samples that weren’t for sale would get the entire package confiscated without the proper licenses. How alcohol can be shipped and who’s allowed to ship it is heavily controlled. Spirits face higher restrictions than beer and wine due to their higher alcohol content.

After getting no response back from the larger distributors and having no luck getting in touch with smaller distributors I signed up with Park Street to move forward with bringing Monita Tequila to the market. I was grateful to be given this access to introduce the brand to new tequila lovers from coast to coast. Having a distributor allowed me to ship cases to the tequila tastings I was hosting, I could send bottles to writers and bloggers to gain reviews and coverage, plus I could sell the tequila online through an e-commerce company.

Though a distributor is required due to the three-tier system their services are separate from and in addition to an e-commerce spirits company that would be responsible for receiving and fulfilling online orders. Just as with distributors, due to the newness of this component of the spirits industry, there were few e-commerce companies in operation when my online shop was launched on 11/11/2022. Though the selection was limited I signed up to be taken care of by a customer service specialist who gave me the confidence this particular e-commerce company would be the right fit for my business. Then, without notice, informed only after I inquired, the company let me know that my customer service specialist was no longer with the company and that I should direct my concerns to support@companyname.com. It could’ve been due to the woes of developing a new service, lack of capital, or poor management but it didn’t take long for the services I received to decline in consistency and quality.

At the same time that I was having multiple negative experiences with online orders, it also felt like my distributor was trying to sabotage my business (a sentiment shared at a panel by another Black brand owner about their distributor). Orders were repeatedly not making it to their destinations on time or I was notified with very little notice that cases weren’t able to be shipped. This once left me standing at a spirits exhibition with only the bottles I brought with me—enough to offer a tasting but not enough to sell bottles as I originally intended. This was in addition to the incremental increases in service fees that happened as the contract term went on. I was paying an unsustainable amount of money to be left high and dry when it came time to showcase my brand.

It was through the generous sharing of knowledge that I received from fellow Black owned spirits brand owners or industry insiders that it was made clear to me the best path forward was to independently distribute Monita Tequila. This wasn’t something I thought possible when I started this journey but it became a new and significant goal that I set out to accomplish for my second year of business. In my home state of Maryland—with the help of 50-year licensing department veteran Lou—I completed the process of obtaining a Wholesaler’s Liquor License. Business licenses, background checks, a mountain of fees, and an at-home visit later I was approved and received the certificate with my name on it in the mail. Although this didn’t take away the need for a distributor or e-commerce provider, it gave me a more cost-effective way to fulfill retail orders.

Through a series of industry ghostings (yes, even companies ghost you after telling you how much they’ll be there for you), slow movement from service providers (you’ve got to make the best of the options you have), and general exhaustion from enduring this process for so many months (your girl is tired) I am elated for Monita Tequila to be back online and working its way into shops in New York and Maryland through Liberation Distribution (LibDib). The only reason I’ve been able to keep the faith in such a difficult-to-navigate industry is because I’m on a higher mission.

Mother’s Day brunch in Washington, DC. Photo by Miguel Lara.

I often steal a sip of Monita Tequila to honor making it through all of these milestones—even when they’re delayed or different than what I expected. I would give anything to share a shot with my mom and hear her unmatched words of encouragement to help me get through the tough times but I see the positive feedback and passionate support that I’ve received over the past year and a half as reminders that I’m on the right path. Making it to the market, maintaining my business for a year and a half, and now marketing Monita Tequila with independent distribution are already the markers of a success story.

Cheers to closing out year two on a strong note! I’m already thinking of ideas to celebrating the two-year anniversary with you in November.