First report from the meeting. You do realize this WAS the first formal shareholder's meeting?
It was phenomenal. I could not have imagined assembling a better class of individuals in one place. Our board is first class. I can tell you right now, there is absolutely NO indication this stock should be on the OTC other than for the shareholder equity and price. It really had the air of sitting in on a Fortune 100 meeting but with an air of familiarity you only get with good friends becoming great friends.
I won't go into a lot of details now about individual nuances and questions.
First, there is no way Kenny or anybody is going to give anything on Labatt. We know that. We'll know when we know. In fact, we all decided we weren't even going to ask. But somebody did anyways and that's fine. Once again, no denial and once again the deferral to the fact they are in acquisition mode and whether it is Labatt or some other popular brands like that will only add to the value of Drinks in the near and long term. Just sit tight. It is what it is. None of us know anything, I can assure you.
Second, Kenny seemed to indicate a Shareholder Letter "Progress Update" is coming on where they stand. I really wish all of you could have been there. Seriously. Kenny was right. When you have face time to listen to him and the board talk, you gain this incredible new found respect for what it is that the company is pulling off in this sector.
Take the glass for instance. He has spoken to the "delays" in China on getting glass to fill orders. There is the rub. It is not delays in China but a complete retooling and ramping up process to IMMEDIATELY fill 75000 cases of product immediately shipped to Israel, and then the shipments to Germany. It is a massive undertaking but it is happening.
Third, you already know Olifant is closed. We met Jack. Super, super guy. He will be a strong addition to the Drinks team. And I tried the flavors of Olifant, and for me the Vanilla was out of here awesome. Such a rich vanilla taste. I can tell you right now, in this economy at $11.99, it blows away the competition for taste in comparison to those at twice the price. This brand will do well.
Fourth, OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Topless is stunning. I'm telling you gang. This stuff rocks the world IMO. What an awesome taste and a refreshing change in what we're used to. The finished Topless bottles were on display but for trademark purposes and to protect Dre's interest, no pictures were allowed. It will definitely be a striking presence on the shelves.
Fifth, I did not get to sample the cognac as EVERYTHING of Drinks' offering was out for sampling. One of our iHubbers won a bottle of Leyrat for coming the furthest, over 3000 miles. I'll let him report back here on how great it tastes. The first 200 cases of Leyrat went to their big distributor in Lexington. The rest to their distributors around NYC. So, I'm expecting two of you here to report back ASAP on the taste and make sure you call the local stores to get it in there!
Sixth, so much going on in my head trying to put all this together. I will add that every one of the items before the board did pass by overwhelming majority. I won't single out one individual for any ridicule but I do have to draw back to the question from the Q&A session. It was something to the effect of, "Don't you think raising the outstanding shares from 100 million to 500 million is a massive amount of dilution for the company?" Kenny just stared at him in disbelief and said he really didn't know how to answer that. So, he backed up and once again talked about the fact it is just putting checks in the checkbook so they can buy what they need to when they want to. The whole situation though still makes me wonder just how many people truly understand these companies and how all this works. In other words, some people just don't get it.
Seventh, I'll have to come back and give you some other things that are going on behind the scenes with promotions, sales, new distributors, and products. One thing Kenny did say is we are solidifying a presence with something for the Super Bowl. Everyone else will have their own conversations to report back on. Remember everybody, and this is crucial. We're not going to find out any inside info or something that is not in thepublic domain or some secret that is going to take the world by storm overnight. The key though is that in talking to folks, many times they say something they would not normally even think was something outside the normal day to day grind of "doing business" but it actually could be so much more than that. Just listening to Kenny talk about what it takes to deal with some of these distributors, and just how much goes into actually putting a product on the shelves, you will have a new found respect for what they are doing to this point.
I'll be back. So much to do here.
It's a buy. OMG is it a buy. These guys are so far beyond in their heads what they are showing us and the markets today, I can see why they do get irritated at "the tick watchers". Short term is September guys. Long term is 2011. Remember that, I'll be back with more and so will some others.
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