Hike comes under which category

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Kevin Burke and Paul Earle set out to create their own alcohol brand, but they knew that for an unknown brand to work, it had to disrupt a category. “My background is beverage innovation, and I worked for Coca-Cola and Beam Suntory, and Paul is a professor at Northwestern, and the two of us asked where can we disrupt a category or what opportunities are out there?” Burke says. “Two things jumped out at us: the rise of dairy-free milks and cream liqueurs, and we realized that no one’s really tried to re-invent that category.” Thus, Dottie May’s Oatmilk Cream Liqueur was born in fall of 2021. Today, they’ve expanded from a handful of bars and liquor stores in the Chicago area to distribution in the entire state of Illinois, as well as Wisconsin and Colorado, as well as shipping through e-commerce to more than 30 different states, with plans for distribution expansion to more states this year. “Illinois, Wisconsin and … [Read more...] about Oatmilk Cream Liqueur Challenges The Category

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Four American whiskeys won Gold Outstanding medals, and twenty-five won Gold medals at the 2023 International Wines and Spirits Competition (IWSC). The medals ranged across the panoply of American whiskey from Bourbon to American Single Malt, Rye, Tennessee, and Blended Whiskey. The IWSC is an annual wine and spirits competition. Founded in 1969 by Anton Massel, it has grown to become one of the largest such competitions in the world. Spirits are evaluated on a 100-point scale, and awards are given out for Gold Outstanding (98-100 points), Gold (95-97 points), Silver (90-94 points), and Bronze (85-89 points). The 2023 competition featured approximately 4,000 entries. Ninety-nine entries took home Gold Outstanding medals. In addition to the 24 Gold Outstanding medals awarded to Scotch whisky, four Gold Outstanding medals were awarded to American whiskeys, and two Gold Outstanding medals were awarded to Irish whiskeys. No … [Read more...] about The World’s Best Bourbon 2023 International Wines And Spirits Competition

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin With Earth Day fast approaching, many of us are trying to find ways to use more earth-friendly items to help us, help the planet. Many companies are now doing their part and are offering products that use sustainable manufacturing processes, organic ingredients and recycled packaging. You can now find these green products in unexpected categories, ranging from furniture to socks to gummies. Below are some of my favorites. Thuma Beds Thuma has created furniture that is beautifully designed and incredibly easy to assemble. The Thuma bed can be put together in minutes and looks incredibly stylish once assembled. Even better, the Thuma bed is officially GREENGUARD Gold certified, meaning that all of the materials used meet some of the world’s most rigorous third party emissions standards, making the bed both good for the environment and the consumer. These sleek beds are made from upcycled rubberwood with a lifetime … [Read more...] about Earth Day Is Almost Here–Go Green With These Cool Products

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The doomsayers who predicted the literal demise of the U.S. restaurant industry after Covid—especially at the fine dining level—proved myopic in the extreme. A new study called the “Agency Forward Restaurant Survey” compiled by Nationwide Insurance, which both insures and advises restaurants on coping with inflation to supply chain issues shows that every segment of the industry has not just survived but in many cases is thriving well past pre-pandemic levels of business. To explain the findings I spoke with Peter McMurtrie, President of Commercial Lines at Nationwide: You say reservations have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Does this apply as much to fast food and chain restaurants (which are mainly walk-in) as with higher end and fine dining? While this research study only focused on fine dining, fast casual and family-style restaurants, recent research as well as our interactions with customers have shown fast food … [Read more...] about The US Restaurant Industry Has Bounded Back from Covid At Every Level From Fast Food To Fine Dining

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Business leaders across the globe are regularly asking themselves some form of the following four questions: How do I navigate today’s environment of extraordinary uncertainty? How likely are inflation and recession in major markets? What scenarios should I therefore be planning for? Amid all this uncertainty, what are long-term themes and opportunities I should invest in? As the prepandemic world fades, executives are left to navigate what some are calling a “polycrisis”—a set of smaller crises, both geopolitical and macroeconomic, that together add up to more than the sum of their parts. Covid. Supply chain insecurity. War in Europe. Energy transition. Low consumer and business confidence. Trying to isolate the impact of any one of them is like attempting to pull ingredients out of a baked cake. Karen Harris, managing director of Bain & Company’s Macro Trends Group, argues that in an era of such … [Read more...] about Leaders Navigating An Uncertain World

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In healthcare, as in life, people devote a lot of time and attention to the way things should be. They’d be better off focusing on what actually could be. As an example, 57% to 70% of American voters believe our nation “should” adopt a single-payer healthcare system like Medicare For All. Likewise, public health advocates insist that more of the nation’s $4 trillion healthcare budget “should” be spent on combating the social determinants of health: things like housing insecurity, low-wage jobs and other socioeconomic stresses. Neither of these ideas will happen, nor will dozens of positive healthcare solutions that “should” happen. When the things that should happen don’t, there’s always a reason. In healthcare, the biggest roadblock to change is what I call the conglomerate of monopolies , which includes hospitals , drug companies , private-equity-staked physicians and commercial health insurers . These … [Read more...] about In Healthcare’s Game Of Monopoly, One Player Will Control The Board

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Travis Forman, Portfolio Manager at Strategic Private Wealth Counsel - Harbourfront Wealth Management . Not to alarm you, but there may be a red flag in your portfolio. You might have a sound investment plan and be adequately diversified, but how are you protecting your purchasing power? Do you have inflation-fighting assets in your portfolio? Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are in an era of higher inflation. Just a couple of years ago, inflation was low, and interest rates were at rock bottom. As we know, this has changed significantly since then. While peak inflation of 9.1% in the United States and 8.1% in Canada may no longer be a reality, a swift return to the days of 2% inflation is also unlikely. If you need to hear it from someone other than me, the multinational investment corporation BlackRock agrees. In its 2023 outlook, the firm stated, “we think we are going to be living with inflation … we see … [Read more...] about Know The Red Flag In Your Portfolio