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Flaviar snaps up Speakeasy Co
E-commerce spirits platform Flaviar has acquired US fulfilment service Speakeasy Co as it seeks to become a multi-billion-dollar global alcohol player.
Speakeasy Co will continue to run its agency and fulfilment service, which will be merged into Flaviar’s Checkout business. Terms of the cash and stock deal were not disclosed.
The agreement will also further complement Flaviar’s business-to-business offerings, including its advertising function and insights platform.
Founded in 2012, Flaviar operates a spirits subscription club, as well as trade-facing divisions. It also owns Caskers, a spirits retailer founded in New York City in 2012.
The company has ramped up its e-commerce offering in recent years, purchasing Bar Cart (now known as Flaviar Checkout) and Wine-Searcher. Flaviar has also partnered with Shopify to expand its global reach.
Flaviar co-founder and CEO Jugoslav Petkovic said: “By combining our offerings under the Flaviar Checkout umbrella, brand partners will no longer be forced to choose between the different routes to market that each company offered in the US until now.
“While our offerings are global, we have been particularly focused on offering innovative services to beverage alcohol brands in the US, while championing compliance with the three-tier system through our partnerships with distributors and hundreds of retailers in our fulfilment network.”
Speakeasy was established in 2015 to provide e-commerce fulfilment experiences for alcohol brands. It supports more than 250 partners on its platform and has provided consulting and agency services to companies such as Tesla Tequila, WhistlePig and Constellation Brands.
A report by Speakeasy highlighted a rise of 85% in whisky sales on its platform last year as drinkers spent more per order.
Josh Jacobs, co-founder and CEO of Speakeasy Co, added: “E-commerce has room for exponential growth in the beverage alcohol industry, and we have established ourselves as leaders in this field.
“Combined with Flaviar’s business solutions, we will be able to equip our partners with the necessary tools for growth, perfectly complementing our long-term initiatives in scaling direct-to-consumer e-commerce for beverage alcohol brands.
“We are eager to see the impact of our combined toolsets for the stakeholders of our organisations.”
Petkovic believes the deal would help Flaviar reach its goal of becoming a multi-billion-dollar global beverage alcohol player.
He continued: “As the definitive market leader in beverage alcohol e-commerce in the US, with nine-figure annual sales, we look forward to expanding our e-commerce enablement, advertising and data offerings to address hundreds of millions of consumers from more than 120 countries who currently visit our properties, yet aren’t able to place an order.”
In the US, e-commerce sales are rising at a slower rate than expected, but could grow by 7% in value between 2023 and 2027 – according to data from IWSR.
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