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McBride Sisters Collection Founder on behavior & thinking the wine industry has never seen before

Andréa McBride John, McBride Sisters Collection Founder, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss trends in the wine industry, supply chain challenges and the McBride Sisters Collection’s partnership with Facebook.

Video transcript

- All right, time now for our small business segment this week. And this week, we are shining the light on the country's largest Black-owned wine company, the McBride Sisters. And joining me now is one of the founders of that company, Andrea McBride John. Andrea, good to have you here. I know your sister Robin couldn't be with us today, but we're so glad you are.

First off, just tell us what you've been seeing in your industry and in your business in particular during the pandemic.

ANDREA MCBRIDE JOHN: During the pandemic, we've been seeing a lot of really interesting trends. I would say these trends have been really driven by the rapidly-changing US demographics. We're currently witnessing an era of behavior and thinking that the wine industry has really, really never seen before, and really being driven by multicultural consumers.

And one of these major trends that we're seeing is really around this casually cool premium wine and wine experiences. All the traditional rules and codes that continue to kind of challenge the old-school wine industry, multicultural consumers are kind of over it. And we're starting to see this hybridization of wine occasions and wine category-- and within the wine category and wine experiences.

And with people being at home, they just kind of want to be able to escape and feel good. And that's something that's a really strong theme that we're seeing.

- And I think the alcohol industry in general has been seeing that and also has been seeing that behavioral shift to buying more online. What was it like for you pre-pandemic? Were you mostly in stores? Did you have to pivot to online? And what kind of an increase in sales have you experienced over this past 12 to 18 months?

ANDREA MCBRIDE JOHN: You know, we really have a strong national retail presence. We decided in Q4 of 2019 to double down and really invest in our online DTC platform. So when the pandemic really hit, everybody started to shelter in place. We were positioned very well to be able to capitalize on direct-to-consumer and also saw the benefits of folks rushing into their grocery retail to stock up on wine.

Current year-to-date for our portfolio, we're 350% year-over-year growth. All of our national retail SKUs are ranked in the top 10 for growth and revenue, four holding number one spots, three holding top three spots in the last 52 weeks, according to Nielsen. And our portfolio only has 17% ACB national coverage.

And I can say the combination of digital, direct-to-consumer, plus traditional grocery retail and some of these major trends that we're seeing are really being driven-- this growth of revenue is really being driven by multicultural consumers.

- I want to talk more about that in a moment. But I'm curious what the supply chain situation is like for you right now. In so many industries we see how they've been suffering. And I know that your wine comes from many different places, even outside the US. I know one of your collections comes from New Zealand. So what has it been like in terms of wine production and supply chain for you right now?

ANDREA MCBRIDE JOHN: It's been challenging, but we are a group of really optimistic, skilled wine lovers. And we've been able to really sort of handle the challenges that have been thrown at the company. Has not been easy. You know, we've been able to pivot a few different ways. But we're seeing a lot of challenges that other wine companies are seeing.

There's a container shortage in the southern hemisphere, you know, just on dry goods materials. There are shortages on glass. It's all a challenge. But we have managed so far to be able to get through it and still meet our revenue expectations.

- Have you had to raise prices in the interim, Andrea?

ANDREA MCBRIDE JOHN: We actually haven't. We actually haven't had to raise prices in the interim. But there will be a slight price rise come 2022.

- OK. Everything's going up, right. I think that's just the theme of 2022. All prices are going up. I know you have-- I want to get back to that idea of diversity, because you truly do have a diverse organization. First of all, it's-- your company-- it was founded and it is run by two Black women. You also have 44% of colored people within the organization and a large number of women, I think 85% of women.

What do you think other businesses can learn from the way you're doing it right now and how you're incorporating a diverse workforce?

ANDREA MCBRIDE JOHN: I think for our company and our organization one of the things that has been really important is we showed up where we didn't belong, because we knew one day that we would. And you know, we started to go where we didn't fit in. And we were really able to find our purpose in that. And we found that we've been able to change and influence and lead the wine industry for the better.

We're big believers that growth and innovation come from diversity of thought. And so we really, really embodied that at McBride Sisters. And the results speak for themselves.

- And I know to that end you've partnered with Facebook and received a $2 million donation from them for a nonprofit part of your organization called She Can, the She Can Fund. Tell us what that's about and how that money is being put to good use.

ANDREA MCBRIDE JOHN: Yeah, we established the McBride Sisters She Can Fund in 2019 to promote the professional development of women in wine and spirits to close the gender and race gap. And as I mentioned, big believers that innovation of thought drives growth. And McBride Sisters are proof of that.

Since 2019, we've built on our efforts. We've added a focus on historically Black colleges and universities in the wine industry, Black women entrepreneurs, and the additional fields of hospitality and finance. And we have incredible partners like Facebook that we announced today with a $2 million grant. But also Morgan Stanley, Silicon Valley Bank, and a creative agency brand now.

And one of the great things about the Facebook program is they have a section called Facebook Elevate. And it's a community and learning program that specifically supports and accelerates the growth of Black and Latinx businesses. And we're excited to watch these entrepreneurs and all of our 3,000-plus She Can sisters making a positive impact on their industries and communities.

- All right. Andrea McBride John, McBride Sisters Collection, the co-founder and CEO. Best of luck to you. Thanks for being with us.