Disruption is one of the characteristics of entrepreneurship in the age of knowledge
The brothers Franco (43) and Bruno Moretti (47) They do not come from a gastronomic tradition, but rather they followed different paths. The youngest has a doctorate in Biology, with a research career at CONICET and the oldest studied computer science. But in 2016 they began to experiment with an idea, that of creating distilled beverages by their own hand. As they both had a music band, they started with distillation tests in a rehearsal room in a neighborhood PH, which witnessed the first gins that emerged from the hand and palate of the Morettis. “We were doing tests and things were going well so we decided to buy the machinery to process it, but there was no local production or direct import, so we bought a special still in the United States from the eBay platform”Franco remembers. Thus, Bruno, for example, went from Chemistry classes to the manufacture of what for them would be a great step: artisanal gin.
turning point. Paradoxically, the pandemic gave them the final push. “People stayed at home, there was plenty of time and experimentation with home-made drinks was all the rage, from beer and wine to spirits”remembers Bruno. People consumed more entertainment through audiovisual media and social networks, in which one of the favorite topics was gastronomic adventures and the preparation of food and drinks, in a context of total absence of physical meeting places.
At that time, bourbon consumption grew a lot in the United States and gin consumption in Spain. “We took that model and in the region, Argentina was the first to break the beer monopoly in the bars’ offering. Then other countries followed in something that is now more than a passing fad”he points out.
So, in a few months They went from 50 to 1,000 brands of gin available. They knew that there was a nascent market there, something that was difficult to project when, one after another, the beer bars, which had exploded a decade earlier, were closing due to the mandatory isolation. Precisely, one of those establishments that had to lower the blinds was the one that the brothers bought to house the growing productive force that took advantage of the demand for craft drinks. By 2020 they already had their own distillery, a drink that was proven and a brand (their own last name) known by bartenders and the growing trend of the public that added this type of drinks to their own menu.
The next step was to adapt their product to the idle capacity that existed in the breweries. “In addition to producing bottling, as was traditional, we adapted the procedures so that they could be bottled in the same barrels that the bars used to pour beer, which would give them an additional alternative on their menu”adds Franco. With the logistics typical of craft beer factories that supply bar chains, the demand soon confirmed the Moretti brothers’ suspicions. “We multiplied production tenfold and had as allies the same consumers who had tried different things during the confinement,” he recalls.
Although they had some initial resistance to inserting the concept, the trend was strongly consolidated in the post-pandemic, to the point that today most bars and breweries have draft gin and tonic taps and there are already dozens of brands that they offer it. “Every year new drinks are consolidated as a trend and naturally consumption is shared among the competition, but our brand started earlier,” he continues. In addition to competing among gins, it also requires effort to maintain the trend of gin and tonic against other drinks such as spritz, vermouth and fernet.
The figures. The maximum production capacity of the distillery is 5,000 liters per day and the average production per month is 1,000 50-liter barrels. These barrels are made of stainless steel, similar to those used by the beer industry and are imported from China or Germany at a rate of US$150 each with a useful life of 10 years. The calculation made by the gastronomic is that he gets 200 glasses out of each one, so he can expect a gross margin of up to 800% on the price of each barrel (around $40,000). Production is currently divided into the traditional bottled market (40%) and the bar channel (60%), but the market is very changing and demand impulses must be closely followed.
To anticipate and approach these unforeseen changes, the entrepreneurs have their own establishment, the Moretti Gin Bar, on Paseo Vía Viva, in the Chinatown of Belgrano and from that place they take the opportunity to monitor the market, better understand consumer perception and anticipate a very sensitive demand.
In short, it is a very diverse market, both from the point of view of supply and demand, and as it is a rapidly growing market, there are niches for all tastes. In turn, this characteristic makes it extremely competitive, with many actors competing for positions that, although they are growing, are still limited. “It is a market that demands innovation, ideas and attractive proposals, both commercially and productively, but which at the same time has a strong personal component”Franco concludes and Bruno attests that the creation of long-term relationships with the client and the demonstration of seriousness in commercial terms are highly valued. Perhaps that is why his company proudly bears his last name.
You may also be interested
by Marcelo Alfano
