Erin and I are in Chicago to attend the James Beard Award festivities compliments of the James Beard Foundation. If you are not aware, the James Beard Awards are known in the restaurant industry as the culinary equivalent of the Oscars. If you watch Top Chef or the Food Network, many of the chefs are James Beard Award winners. (In fact, one of the photos is Erin with Top Chef contestant CJ Jacobson.

The James Beard Foundation is hosting us with the goal to have Erin’s reformulated creations at future Foundation “Chefs Night Out” events in Chicago and New York City. We attended last night and this would be a great statement to the high-quality of the brand, as you can’t imagine offering world-renowned Chefs a Mike’s Hard Lemonade or Zima. Erin has been referred to as a “flavor whisperer” and her interest from the James Beard Foundation is a reflection of her commitment to producing innovative flavor profiles and great-tasting beverages.

We had over $22k in completed deals last week, so this week is the perfect time to take the next step and complete the investment paperwork. With your help, we can complete the reformulation and begin making plans to participate in the James Beard Awards and not just attend.

Remember, When you complete your investment prior to May 15th, you will receive a 1.5x payback multiple instead of 1.4x! After May 15th until the round closes on May 31st, even if you had initial interest, the multiple offered will go back down to 1.4x.

If you have any questions, please let us know at Stephen@drinkgp.com and Erin@drinkgp.com.

Cheers!

Stephen and Erin Edds

When we said "The Wine Cooler Grows Up" we weren't kidding!
We are thrilled to announce that we have begun the process of creating the next two flavors of Garden Party Potent Potables! The ever changing landscape of Flavored Adult Beverages continues to wow us, and there are fantastic advances that we are taking advantage of with regard to flavor development, alcohol bases and nutritional/calorie content.
We are excited for a relaunch of the complete line of FOUR Garden Party Potent Potables this Spring, and would love your help!
Please email erin@drinkgp.com or reach out through Localstake if you want to get together over a Garden Party to chat about this exciting time in Indiana's own Crafted Canned Cocktail!

Garden Party is thrilled to announce that we have signed an agreement with Cascadia Managing Brands to help scale the brand outside of Indiana starting in 2018. This is a HUGE deal, as Cascadia had, to this point, chosen not to work with alcohol brands, but loved what Garden Party represented and its potential in the market nationwide. Their experience with grocery chains, especially Kroger, Whole Foods, Fresh Market and others, will be an invaluable process in growing Garden Party in 2018.

Well known and well respected in the beverage industry for helping to launch brands including Evian and Snapple, Bob and Bill Sipper are incredibly well known and respected in the beverage industry, with contacts that reach nationwide. Their calls get answered, and appointments made.

Cascadia Managing Brands will help Garden Party reach our strategic goals faster, cheaper, better, and smarter through business plan development and execution of the plan and managing sales teams, along with consulting and strategic advice from their over 75 plus years of food and beverage experience including:
• Evian
• Snapple
• PepsiCo
• Nabisco
• Fresh Samantha (Odwalla)
• Naked Juice
• Clearly Canadian
• Zico
and many more.

For more information about Cascadia Managing Brands, check out their website at http://www.cascadiamanagingbrands.com.

Your commitment to this raise will help pay their initial retainer and help them hit the ground running! Thank you!

Garden Party is proud to announce that we have been named "Best New Adult Beverage" in the Year-end issue of Indianapolis Monthly Magazine. With the increasing national reputation of Indianapolis and Indiana for their craft beer and spirits offerings, being awarded as Best New Adult Beverage takes on extra meaning and significance. Garden Party has now won national, state and local awards for our brand after only one year, and our plans for 2018 and beyond are to take the brand outside of Indiana with your help.

Hi all,

We were very proud to be the first Indiana beverage brand to win the Centric Indiana Innovation Award as well as the first Indiana beverage brand and first woman-owned brand in the US to win the Beverage Industry Magazine Innovation of the Year honor in 2016. This has drawn the attention of angel groups in Boston, Chicago and NYC who are interested in helping us grow into a regional, national and maybe international brand in the next 3-5 years with the anticipation of an exit at that time.

Our current Revenue Share raise is crucial in bridging the gap between now and angel group investments which will not likely occur until the end of the year. Log in to our Localstake profile to complete investment. Let us know of any questions you might have as you consider an investment in the RSA. This raise will help us to continue to grow operations as we move into next year.

Thank you,
Erin and Stephen Edds

Hello all -

We wanted to pass along the news of Garden Party winning the 2017 Centric Indiana Innovation Award. We are the first women-owned, beverage brand to win the award. See below for the press release and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions about our current revenue share offering. Log in to our Localstake profile to review the details and complete investment if you remain interested.

Stephen and Erin

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[Indianapolis, IN]—DrinkGP, LLC, which created and produces Mother NightTM presents: Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda, an award-winning crafted flavored malt beverage, is proud to announce that it has been named a winner of a 2017 Centric Indiana Innovation Award. Garden Party becomes the first beverage brand in the state of Indiana to receive this prestigious honor.

An executive panel of judges sorted and analyzed 48 finalists from this year’s applicants to select just nine of Indiana’s best new innovations. Already a recipient of Beverage Industry magazine’s 2016 Innovation of the Year award, Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda is revolutionizing the Flavored Malt Beverage (FMB) category in the adult beverage industry. It is achieving this by taking the same craft approach to FMBs that has already been applied to every other category in adult beverages. Garden Party’s 100% all-natural ingredients, culinary inspired flavor profiles, and generous 8% alcohol content, along with its unique packaging and branding design, sets the company apart.

Now in its seventh year, the Indiana Innovation Awards recognize key individuals and organizations who are successfully leading the innovation charge in the state. Winning innovations were judged on how well they fulfilled an unmet need in the market, the uniqueness of the product, the new value created for the end user and the financial evidence or market acceptance information the innovation has to support it.

Winners represent a cross-sector of Indiana industries including education, manufacturing, technology and consumer products. Garden Party will receive the award at Centric’s Day of Innovation conference on October 12 at Butler University. To learn more about the Indiana Innovation Awards, please visit centricindy.org/awards.

“Garden Party is honored to join the elite cross-section of Indiana companies to be recognized by Centric for innovation and we are proud to bring recognition to Indiana’s beverage industry,” said Erin Edds, CEO of DrinkGP, LLC. “This award affirms our commitment to bring crafted high-quality beverage brands to consumers not only in Indiana, but as we begin to scale nationwide.”

To learn more about Garden Party’s award-winning products, please visit www.drinkgp.com.

About DrinkGP, LLC:

Founded in 2016, DrinkGP, LLC is a WBE-Certified, WOSB-Certified award-winning beverage brand based in Indianapolis, IN. The company created and produces the “Mother NightTM presents: Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda” line, which currently has distribution throughout the state of Indiana. The 100% all natural hard soda is the first offering from the company, with line extensions featuring the Mother NightTM brand beginning in 2018. For more information, go to www.drinkgp.com.

About Centric:
Centric, Inc. is an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that Connects, Educates and Celebrates innovation-minded thinkers in an effort to improve the success rate of innovation in Indiana. Centric’s mission is to increase recognition of Indiana as a global center of innovation by equipping individuals and organizations with the critical thinking skills and cultural frameworks needed to drive innovation forward. Centric fosters a community of individuals who are passionate about helping each other, their companies and their communities succeed. Learn more at CentricIndy.org.

We were asked by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce to be featured as an emerging business which has benefited from the Central Indiana Small Business Development Association. This article was sent out Monday morning to the over 10,000 business subscribers in Central Indiana and is another example of the support that Garden Party has in the Indianapolis community. With your investment, we can continue to be a model for entrepreneurs in Indianapolis.

http://indychamber.com/news/indy-chamber-news/g...

Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda Finds Bubbling Relationship with CISBDC
POSTED BY CHAMBERADMIN ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Garden Party Botanical Hard Sodas proudly flaunt all-natural ingredients and are bubbling with artisanal flair. They also proudly flaunt their relationship with Central Indiana Small Business Development Center (CISBDC).

An all-natural 8% alcohol carbonated cocktail in a can, Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda is Erin and Stephen Edds’ first project together as co-owners, and was the result of their observations of the adult beverage market. After noticing that no one was applying the same artisanal approach to the flavored malt beverage (FMB) category that had already taken over the beer wine and spirits industry, the duo decided to flip the FMB category on its head by launching Garden Party.

Upon launching their business, the couple reached out to CISBDC to help address challenges they were facing. CISBDC, an organization housed at the Indy Chamber’s Entrepreneur Services Division, provides business coaching and ancillary resources to small business and entrepreneurs.

Like most start-ups, Garden Party needed help with raising capital, finding the right suppliers, securing distribution, initial marketing, and brand awareness. CISBDC was vital in providing guidance in creating Garden Party’s initial business plan, connected them to many resources that could help with financing and distribution, and helped provide connections to groups and people that have became mentors to the Edds’.
“CISBDC made us a part of the conversation when speaking with local business influencers, and most definitely opened some doors for us,” says Erin Edds, cofounder of Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda. “The CISBDC is a wealth of resources and advice and we are grateful that they are available to new businesses or those wanting to scale.”

Garden Party finds Indianapolis to be a great city with many resources that foster entrepreneurship.

“I would definitely recommend CISBDC to small business owners in the Indianapolis region,” says Edds. “Don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know. Help is out there!”

To learn more about CISBDC, visit their website. To schedule an appointment with a business coach, call 317.464.2228.

Evolution and innovation are driving US alcohol market

Source: The IWSR
September 20, 2017

Evolution and innovation are changing the dynamics of the US alcohol market and helping to create new areas of growth, according to the just-released IWSR Global Trends Report 2017.

The evolution of online shopping through phone apps and websites is changing how consumers purchase alcohol. The ability to browse products at home and then have them delivered to the door, sometimes in only a few hours' time, offers new levels of convenience. In addition, online shopping allows consumers to make real-time price comparisons, ensuring that they are getting a good deal for their money.

Innovation within the wine, beer and mixed drinks industries is one of the most important drivers of growth in North America. The development of new red wine blends is currently capturing the attention of consumers in the US, for example, as are wines aged in Bourbon barrels. Similarly, growth in mixed drinks has been related to the launch of innovative new hard sodas and spiked seltzers. YTD in 2017 the IWSR US BAR has tracked more than 160 brand line launches across wine, beer, cider and mixed drinks and a further 140+ spirit launches.

As the lines between different types of alcohol become less clear, packaging formats and techniques are increasingly being borrowed across drinks categories. Wine and premixed cocktails are now being offered in cans, for example, in order to give consumers a convenient way to drink while on the move or at events. Similarly, beer and cider are increasingly being offered in 750ml bottles that are meant to be shared like a wine. Some beer brands have also started to display the hop used on the label, as if it were a grape varietal. Meanwhile, spirits are now increasingly available in Bag-in-Box formats similar to boxed wine. The purpose of these packaging formats is to provide a functional benefit, but also to keep consumers interested by offering something new.

However, the report also suggests it's not all about new ideas. There continues to be a boom across North America in products that offer cues of heritage, authenticity and high quality. Consumers want a connection to the brands they drink and therefore look for products that they believe resonate with or reflect their own values. This is raising the bar for brands across all drinks categories and is a major factor in current trends such as the US whiskey boom, the craft revival and the growth of classic cocktails. Furthermore, consumers' search for a 'holy grail' product, and increasing willingness to try lesser-known categories, is fueling an ongoing proliferation of brands in order to try and meet this demand. The number of small, local and craft brands in particular continues to rise rapidly.

DrinkGP, LLC has secured a PO line of credit for $300,000 from Gateway Trade Funding in Deerfield, IL (http://www.gatewaytradefunding.com/) for future production runs for Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda. This is a crucial development as we have had discussions with Aldi and Costco for Midwest placement for Garden Party. While this helps further secure our foundation for growth, we are still in need of additional operating capital to support these placements with programs, marketing and on-the-ground efforts. Please make the commitment today to help us reach our fundraising goal so we can begin putting these plans in place asap.

DrinkGP, LLC has earned a Women's Business Enterprise Certification from the Great Lakes Division of the WBENC. This designation allows DrinkGP, LLC access to opportunities through supplier diversity programs with national grocery chains, chain restaurants, hotels and casinos, Universities and stadium concessions. Since there are relatively few women-owned beverage brands across the US, this will give Garden Party a distinct advantage as we begin to scale outside of Indiana.

Garden Party was featured in this week's issue of NUVO Newsweekly, which has 86,000 weekly readers in the Central Indiana area.

http://www.nuvo.net/food_and_drink/food_news/ga...