In my job before the GSB, I focused on finding and investing in consumer startups across the technology and physical product landscape. We often encountered beverage and alcohol related startups such as Winc, GoPuff, Saucey, etc. Unfortunately, none of the economics or growth rates were compelling enough for my team to move forward, but it was a space that I tracked and kept an eye on.
Therefore, last week's TechCrunch headline about Haus definitely caught my attention - "Haus raises $4.5M to replace your wine club membership." Whoa, professional and academic worlds collide!
Haus, self-proclaimed as a "better way to drink," liberally dishes up content marketing bemoaning the mounting pressure of modern drinking culture.
According to what I could find online, Haus is a new consumer alcohol beverage brand that offers alcohol-lite aperitifs through a direct-to-consumer model with all the fun millennial packaging that's now table stakes for launching a VC-backed consumer brand. Interestingly, the husband/wife co-founding team includes a third generation winemaker, and the beverages are made in Sonoma on the family's winery. The question that comes to my mind - is this a diversifying or cannibalizing play?
I think there is a bigger wellness and lifestyle movement that is lasting and not limited to certain coastal yuppie communities. Health - physical, mental and emotional - is more important than ever in this digital, high-stress age, and I would be highly skeptical of anyone who claimed that drinking alcohol does not have a huge impact on all of these three realms. While it seems Haus is trying to capitalize on this trend, it doesn't make sense to me to claim that Haus can replace the wine club, as it's average alcohol content (15%) is still higher than that of wine (~11%). Is it fair to pitch a lighter liquor cocktail as a better alternative to wine?
Where I become more skeptical is when I see the Silicon Valley marketing of "Glossier for alcohol" and "transparency!" This becomes less interesting once you layer on the references to other successful consumer VC-backed companies. Make-up meets supply chain meets elderflower syrup!?
I'm attempting to get in touch with the founding team as I am really curious about the business strategy, as well as just think it's an interesting beverage startup that's not in the cannabis space. Will be interesting to see if I can get in touch with the founders! (update he replied!)
I saw the cofounders of Haus speak at a Wine Circle event a couple of weeks ago and went in extremely skeptical of how Haus could differentiate itself, similar to your thoughts. From the discussion, two things jumped out to me:
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2) They made the case that Haus could be an alternative to cocktails (lower alcohol/sugar than the alternative) or in drinks like spritzes (much lower sugar content, though similar alcohol content), rather than solely a competitor to wine.
As someone who did a lot of wining/dining folks in my previous role, I can definitely see the value of being able to order a low alcohol/low sugar cocktail or spritz as a healthier lifestyle alternative, without ruffling feathers as someone who is "holier/healthier than thou." The past couple of years I've also seen a lot more adoption (anecdotally) of spritzes like Aperol in the summer and it feels like Haus is well positioned to take advantage of that trend.
Reading in between the lines, I suspect that their pitching of Haus as a wine alternative has something to do with D2C shipping laws for wine vs. spirits, but that wasn't covered in our conversation.