Building a Non-Alcoholic Aperitif Brand from a 155-Year-Old Recipe | Elodie Swanberg & Graham Tucker, Finote

This episode is sponsored by Dolia, the platform where beverage brands grow.What does it take to revive a 19th century family recipe and turn it into a modern non-alcoholic aperitif brand? Elodie Swanberg and Graham Tucker break down how they did it — from rebuilding the original recipe without alcohol, to navigating distribution in France and expanding into the US market. We get into the challenges of selling a new category to skeptical wine stores and distributors, why the "non-alcoholic" label might actually be holding the category back, and what wine producers need to learn from brands like Finote before it's too late.AGENDA02:04 The story behind Finote and the original recipe04:37 Branding a heritage brand for a modern audience09:20 Who is the Finote consumer?15:07 How people actually drink Finote (surprising use cases)19:59 Product development process — how long it really takes24:06 Early distribution: starting local, going global31:22 Entering the US market in 202634:45 Is the non-alcoholic category too crowded?36:48 The problem with calling it "non-alcoholic"41:27 Quickfire round