Gas Monkey Garage, Hatfields & McCoys, Kurt Thomas, Dwight Eubanks – What do all these brands have in common? They are all world famous brands. Brands that chose to work with Local Choice Spirits to launch their own custom distilled spirits brand.
‘Local Choice Spirits’ is looking for investors to keep building local.
Created in 2010 by “Pixie” Paula Dezzutti Hewlette, Local Choice Spirits helps celebrities and entrepreneurs build brands by creating custom boutique spirits. Paula has an extensive background in the spirits industry and leverages her connections and experience in creating, promoting, and managing spirit brands. The company emphasizes partnerships with celebrities in order to create private-label brands; some notable partnerships include The Legendary Hatfield & McCoy™ Family Brand Whiskey, Dwight Eubanks and his Eubanks Gin Collection, and Boosie Badazz’s Boosie Juice Vodka.
Why work with Local Choice Spirits?
- Revenue up over 200% from 2014 through 2017
- Existing private label deals with several celebrities and artists
- CEO has more than a decade’s worth of experience in the spirits industry
- Local Choice Spirits have collectively won more than 40 awards in the past five years
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Local Choice Spirits manages its own brands of spirits and enables clients to build their own private brand or private label (a.k.a. partnership brands) by coordinating distilling, bottling, distribution, and storage services on their behalf. Partners can develop their own exclusive formula for their brand, and Local Choice Spirits will custom design the bottle and packaging. Local Choice Spirits manages the entire production process and will work with the partners to promote the products and move them through distribution process and ideally into retail.
Local Choice Spirits Brands
Some of the Local Choice Spirits boutique bourbon, vodka, rum and tequila spirits include:
Local Choice Black Cherry Bourbon Whiskey – A deep black cherry aroma with an all-natural black cherry flavor. At 90 proof, it is stronger than most flavored whiskeys.
Local Choice Doppio Espresso Vodka – A bold roasted coffee aroma with natural espresso, vanilla, butterscotch, and chocolate flavors, complimented by light hints of cinnamon and hazelnut.
Local Choice Pixie Spiced Rum – A warm, autumnal rum with a dry, fruity medium body and light vanilla, caramel, and spice blend flavor.
Local Choice Lime Tequila – Bright, smooth, and slightly sweet tequila with a natural lime flavor.
Local Choice Mango Vodka Rum – A vodka/rum blend with an all-natural mango flavor infused with sweet rum and dry vodka.
Local Choice Spirits Partnership Brands
Local Choice Spirits Partner Brands
Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkey Garage decks out 1976 Chevy G10 with Cinnamon Tequila brand.
The Legendary Hatfield & McCoy Family Brand Whiskey – A whiskey created by the descendants of the Hatfield and McCoy families. A medium-body whiskey with a smoky, light black pepper, dried apricot, and black walnut taste. It has a complex aroma with a clean, balanced caramel and butter finish.
Gold Star Vodka – Gold Star Vodka is a veteran-brand spirit that was founded to give back to the families who’ve lost family members during the War on Terror and to veterans who have come back with physical and emotional scars.
Gas Monkey Cinnamon Tequila – A 69-proof tequila made from blue agave, infused with natural cinnamon, and made in America. It was created by reality TV star Richard Rawlings from the “Fast N’ Loud” TV show on the Discovery Channel.
Eubanks Gin Collection – Collection of gin flavors created with Dwight Eubanks, a reality TV star from “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and a fashion and lifestyle expert.
- Classic: A gin with a fresh, floral aroma and a complex taste consisting of juniper, coriander, and angelica root with a fresh finish.
- Pretty in Pink: A gin with juicy citrus aromas with bold, bright flavors of fresh pink grapefruit and botanicals with a crisp and clean finish.
- Limelife: A gin made with Juicy limes carrying notes of a puckering citrus flavor at the start that evens out with a subtle sweet finish.
- Jazzin’: A gin with smooth jasmine green tea and juniper flavor that ends with a floral aroma.
Kurt Thomas Moonshine – A blended moonshine with a pecan pie flavor. Created by country music singer Kurt Thomas.
Tiny’s Lime Light Tequila – A lime infused tequila with a sweet and bold flavor. Created by Tameka “Tiny” Harris, a member of the American R&B vocal group Xscape.
Gentry Bourbon Whiskey – A smooth and fruity bourbon, with underlying vanilla, stone fruit, and oak flavors. It has a soft aroma with caramel notes, hints of chocolate, and American Oak. Gentry Bourbon was featured on the Bravo TV show “Southern Charm.”
Prevé Vodka – A 100-proof vodka created by Atlanta music producers targeting young professionals.
Boosie Juice – An all-natural strawberry kiwi flavored vodka created by hip-hop artist Boosie Badazz. A new all-natural watermelon flavor has just been released in time for summer.
Kas’Tell Vodka – A 100% gluten-free and kosher-certified vodka in a red-frosted bottle.
Did we mention the awards? Take a look here to see the multiple awards these brands have won over the years.
Use of Proceeds and Product Roadmap
Local Choice Spirits intends to use the proceeds from this raise to increase production, expand its product line, and further solidify its balance sheet. If the minimum amount of $50,000 is raised, Local Choice Spirits will allocate 93% of the funds to campaign marketing and related reimbursements. If the maximum amount of $1,070,000 is raised, 37% will be allocated to increasing its inventory, 16% for campaign marketing and related reimbursements, 9% for working capital, 9% for future wages, and 5% for new brand production. The company has discretion to alter the use of proceeds mentioned based upon prevailing market conditions and board approval.
Proceeds from this offering would not go into one particular brand but would be utilized across multiple products through various stages of development, including:
- Have alcoholic beverage formulas developed
- Create alcoholic beverage brands either in-house or through celebrity partnerships
- Have alcoholic beverage products distilled, bottled, and stored
- Sell and ship alcoholic beverage brands to wholesalers
- Market alcoholic beverage brands to retail and end customers
- Manage regulatory compliance, accounting, and internal business operations
Local Choice Spirits Business Model
Builders of Boutique Brands – Local Choice Spirits sells its spirits through its online store and distribution network. The company has established wholesale distribution relationships in more than 30 states via several national distributors. The majority of retail stores that offer Local Choice Spirits products are located in South Carolina. Prices for Local Choice Spirits spirits on its website range from $19.95 to $32.95, with a median price of $29.95.
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Local Choice Spirits Partnership Brands – For partnership brands, Local Choice Spirits offers a variety of services that include, at a minimum, managing the development process and regulatory compliance. Optional additional services include introductions to wholesale distributors, warehousing, and product promotion through the Local Choice Spirits e-commerce store and at events. These options are all offered through four tiered packages that determine entry pricing and equity positions held by Local Choice Spirits depending on the capital collected up front.
The four packages include:
Prices of the partnership brand bottles on the Local Choice Spirits website range from $24.95 to $53.99, with a median price of $29.95. Local Choice Spirits also retains an average of 51% equity ownership in the resulting brands and spirits.
Learn More About Local Choice Spirits
- Historical Financials
- Distilled Spirits Industry
- Competitors
- The Local Choice Spirits Leadership Team
- Ask a Question
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Local Choice Spirits Leadership – Founder and CEO Paula Dezzutti Hewlette
Paula founded Local Choice Spirits at the end of 2010 after more than a decade of experience in the spirits industry. In addition to her role at Local Choice Spirits, Paula also serves on the Board of Directors for Terressentia Corporation, a company that creates customized spirits for large retail customers, individual brand owners, and other distilleries and brokers. Over the last several years, Paula has been featured in The Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, Dow Jones Market Watch, Proof 66, Wine and Country Magazine, Whiskey Passion Magazine, and Entrepreneur Mind World. Paula has a background in business management and financial planning and graduated from The University of Connecticut.
Learn About the Rest of the Leadership Team here
Sources:
i American Craft Spirits Association
ii DISCUS
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