003 | The Target Occasion: how to sell to bars focusing on occasions rather than categories | Part 1/3 of the Interview with Ilias Mastrogiannis from the Distillery Nation Podcast (Seattle, WA, USA)
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003 | The Target Occasion: how to sell to bars focusing on occasions rather than categories | Part 1/3 of the Interview with Ilias Mastrogiannis from the Distillery Nation Podcast (Seattle, WA, USA)

Summary

In this episode, Chris Maffeo spoke to Ilias Mastrogiannis, host of Distillery Nation and founder of the Mastrogiannis Distillery and Winery. They discussed how the On-trade scene has changed by blending occasions and categories in recent years. They dived into why focusing on target occasions is important rather than categories. They discussed the importance of building demand for a brand before attempting to capture it and how On-trade sales have changed in the last few years. They discussed sales, building demand, targeting and filtering on-premise accounts, and the importance of focusing on the essentials, focusing on bottle-by-bottle sales. I hope you enjoy the conversation. Share it with friends, click follow and rate it if you liked it. About the Host: ⁠Ilias Mastrogiannis About the Interviewee: ⁠Chris Maffeo⁠ All rights reserved: Distillery Nation
Happy 2026. This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS. A Deep-Dive Analysis of This Episode is Available at maffeodrinks.com 

In this episode, Chris Maffeo spoke to Ilias Mastrogiannis, host of Distillery Nation and founder of the Mastrogiannis Distillery and Winery.

They discussed how the On-trade scene has changed by blending occasions and categories in recent years. They dived into why focusing on target occasions is important rather than categories. They discussed the importance of building demand for a brand before attempting to capture it and how On-trade sales have changed in the last few years. They discussed sales, building demand, targeting and filtering on-premise accounts, and the importance of focusing on the essentials, focusing on bottle-by-bottle sales.



I hope you enjoy the conversation. Share it with friends, click follow and rate it if you liked it.


About the Host: ⁠Ilias Mastrogiannis

About the Interviewee: ⁠Chris Maffeo⁠


All rights reserved: Distillery Nation


This episode is brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS, an Advisory helping drinks leaders execute bottom-up growth while managing stakeholder expectations. You can get in touch at bottomup@maffeodrinks.com 

Creators and Guests

Chris Maffeo
Host
Chris Maffeo
Building Bottom-Up Strategies WITH Drinks Leaders Managing Top-Down Expectations | MAFFEO DRINKS Founder & Podcast Host
Ilias Mastrogiannis
Guest
Ilias Mastrogiannis
Host | Distillery Nation Podcast