Chris Jones, CEO of Paragon Brands, delivers the spirits distributor playbook on navigating UK alcohol distribution and avoiding the costly pitfalls that destroy international expansion plans. Chris breaks down the massive, often overlooked drivers of the UK drinks industry and outlines 5 mandatory steps every brand must execute before approaching a UK distributor.
Park Street Imports is the back-office and importing solution for alcoholic beverage brands launching and scaling in the U.S. market.
Chris Jones’ Presentation Transcript
My name’s Chris Jones, and I run a business called Paragon Brands. I started my career in beer, moved into spirits, and ended up as the Director of Sales at Bacardi during the time they acquired Grey Goose. I set up my own business coming up on 15 years ago now, so I’ve spent half of my time in the drinks industry working directly in distribution.
My previous business was called Catalyst Brands. At Catalyst, I brought Aperol Spritz to the UK market, as well as Bottega Prosecco and Voss Water. Those were three of the brands where I had great success—I’m choosing to ignore the ones that failed spectacularly because they don’t make for a good story! That’s a quick background to me and what we do.
I was asked to talk on the subject of entering the UK market with a distributor. As a distributor in the UK, I get approached probably four to five times a week by brands looking to enter the market.
There are multiple reasons why you would want to come to the UK. Looking at the statistics, the UK remains one of the leading spirits markets in the world. In terms of the 50 Best Bars Awards held every year, the UK heavily overrepresents in its share of winning venues. Looking at London, it boasts the second-highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants of any European city.
And as touched on earlier, there is a very unusual stat that most people don’t know: Amazon UK is singularly the largest alcohol platform for Amazon globally, surpassed only by Japan. The reason Japan sits ahead is because 60% of their online alcohol sales are beer. If you take beer out of the mix, the UK Amazon platform is twice as big as the next largest global market for spirits sales. Anyone approaching the UK market needs to realize the sheer importance of Amazon and how massive they actually are.
Another unique proposition is our pub group culture, which doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. We have pub companies that literally run five, six, or seven thousand venues. The top three largest pub companies in the world are right here in the UK—which is quite remarkable considering the geographic size of the UK. For example, Stonegate operates around 6,000 pubs and bars.
Once you’ve established that you want to enter the UK market, there are five crucial things every brand should consider before even approaching a distributor to discuss bringing your product to market:
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Build your brand in your home market first.
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Research the market thoroughly.
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Do your commercial homework.
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Research prospective distributors.
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Be open, flexible, and listen to feedback.
1. Build Your Brand in Your Home Market First
Any brand that already enjoys success in another market should maximize that success before expanding to the UK or anywhere else. Doing this provides an immense amount of data on how your brand performs, how it should be priced, and who its competitive set is. That data becomes hugely valuable to a distributor when you pitch them.
If you need to modify your brand packaging, do it before expanding. I frequently see two major packaging flaws from international brands attempting to enter the UK:
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Bottle Volume: In the US, brands default to 750ml bottles. You cannot sell 750ml bottles in the UK off-trade/on-trade retail due to the Prescribed Weights and Measures Act. You must conform to the European standard of 700ml. I’ve lost count of how many US brands pitch me with 750ml bottles without thinking ahead.
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Non-Refillable Caps (“Goala” Caps): Brands from Central and Eastern Europe often utilize non-refillable internal ball-bearing caps (often called “Goalas”). You cannot sell these in the UK on-trade. UK bartenders universally use speed pourers and hate non-refillable tops. Unless it’s a tiny niche item, you must remove those caps before entering the UK.
Building home-market success also allows you to refine your brand’s core story and raison d’être. Bring that narrative with you; without it, you’ll struggle to make a distributor believe in your brand. Additionally, build your social media presence and digital marketing platform. Having an established base of thousands of engaged followers gives a distributor proof of how consumers interact with your product.
2. Research the Market
Do as much research as possible, and if you can, physically visit the market. During introductory calls, one of the first questions I ask is: “Have you been to the UK market?” If the answer is no, I typically start to disengage because it tells me they aren’t serious and haven’t gathered real insights.
Know your competitive set inside out. If you can tell a distributor, “My product sits alongside Brands B, C, and D,” it becomes easy for them to visualize where your brand is positioned, how it should be priced, and where it fits in the trade.
3. Do Your Commercial Homework
Brands often approach me saying, “I think my product should sell for £39 on the shelf.” My response is: “That’s great, but what does the value chain look like working backwards?”
The commercial value chain is built from the bottom up, not top down.
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What are you selling the liquid to the distributor for?
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What is the UK excise duty based on its ABV percentage? (The UK has variable alcohol duty rates).
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What are the freight and shipping costs? (Shipping from distant markets like Mexico can be notoriously difficult and expensive).
Furthermore, understand your standard versus promotional pricing. Brands often suffer a shocked look when I inform them that if they secure a major supermarket listing—which many view as the ultimate goal—85% of their volume will sell on promotion. If you plan to list at £39 and promote at £33, your blended average selling price is £34.10. Stop fixating on the £39 shelf price, because that only accounts for 10% to 15% of your total sales volume.
Finally, know your marketing budget. As a distributor, the minimum investment I expect a brand to put back into A&P (Advertising and Promotion) is around 15% of Net Sales Value (NSV).
4. Research the Distributor
Don’t take a shotgun approach and pitch every distributor on the market. Look into their size, scale, portfolio, and market access points.
Ask yourself: Does my brand fit their portfolio? Are there conflicting brands? If your brand threatens to steal market share from an existing brand in their portfolio, they will almost certainly say no.
Utilize tools like LinkedIn to identify key decision-makers, sales directors, and category buyers. Polish your presentation before you reach out. You may only get one opportunity to pitch face-to-face, so make sure your deck clearly articulates what your brand will deliver for their business. While every founder believes their liquid is unique, the reality is that very few products are truly unique, and distributors are inundated with options.
5. Be Open and Listen to Feedback
Even after extensive research, you might still need to adapt. Just because a trend works in your home market doesn’t mean it translates to the UK.
For example, I’ve had countless conversations with US hard seltzer producers highlighting that hard seltzers are a $23 billion category in the States. However, hard seltzers have completely failed in the UK. Despite over £12 million in marketing spend behind major hard seltzer brands backed by global brewers, the category in the UK has essentially died.
Be mindful of shipping logistics for small volumes. If you are a craft producer, shipping a single pallet from Mexico might cost three times the value of the goods, completely destroying your margin chain. Think creatively: consider hubbing your product in a bonded warehouse in Holland or Germany, pooling inventory there, and pulling smaller orders into the UK and Europe to split freight costs.
If a distributor passes on your brand, don’t take it personally—there are dozens of commercial factors at play. Instead, use it as an opportunity to ask two key questions:
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“Can you give me constructive feedback on the brand?”
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“Can you recommend another distributor who might be a better fit?”
The UK drinks industry is quite small—like a goldfish pond—and most distributor leads know each other. If a brand delivers a great pitch that I can’t take on due to a portfolio conflict, I am always happy to give feedback and facilitate an introduction to another distributor.
When you do partner with a distributor, trust them to make the right decisions on your behalf. They know the local market dynamics. Micromanaging a distributor rarely ends well and usually leads to friction. Always remember: once a distributor takes your brand on, they want it to succeed just as much as you do. Their entire business model relies on selling your product and generating a profit for both of you.
Thank you for listening.