126 | The US Market Obsession: Distribution Complexity, Craft Beer Lessons and Heritage Versus Exit with Eric Franco

This episode examines the gravitational pull of the US market for non-American drinks brands, and what gets broken when a brand chases the flag without understanding the terrain. Eric Franco has worked across the full US drinks spectrum: SAB-Miller, Carlsberg territory, Leinenkugel, Michigan craft breweries, multi-state distribution, and on-premise operation from 1994 onwards.

The conversation covers the three-tier system, the capital myth of “launching in the US,” the patience premium of heritage brands, the retailer as customer, what spirits missed that craft beer learned the hard way, and why regional taste profiles make the same IPA unsellable across state lines.

It’s a working-session view of the US as a market that looks like one territory on a pitch deck and behaves like fifty.

The US is the most profitable beverage market in the world. Every brand wants to be there. The announcement goes up on LinkedIn. The product arrives at the dock.

Then the real work starts. Most brands have not planned for it.

Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section.

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