Big Thirst of Austin, Texas, is expanding its services to offer an online marketplace and additional distillation production consulting services. Shop Big Thirst is a new online marketplace for people to discover hundreds of the most sought-after spirits. It is another avenue for Big Thirst clients to make it easy for people to buy their alcohol products online. In addition, the company has bolstered its distilling consulting services with the addition of industry experts to the team.
Introducing Shop Big Thirst
Shop Big Thirst is a new destination for rare, hard-to-find, and small-batch spirits as well as some of the most in-demand whiskey, tequila, gin, rum, and vodka brands. It features hundreds of alcohol brands, making it easy to find a perfect gift, a noteworthy bottle for a special occasion, or everyday drinkers for cocktails at home. The store is another avenue for Big Thirst e-commerce clients to sell alcohol online and have it conveniently shipped right to consumers’ homes.
“We are committed to helping our clients thrive and grow in this complex industry with access to the right insights, people, strategies, and tools,” says Matt McGinnis, CEO of Big Thirst. “In addition to facilitating sales as an e-commerce platform and full-service marketing agency, Big Thirst provides complete, integrated business services for distilleries including regulatory compliance, distillation production management, and distributor management — everything from recipe development to final sale. Adding more distillation expertise by hiring an industry veteran is a great way to give our clients a leg up. Offering them one more place to connect with consumers helps us fulfill our mission to accelerate sales for spirits brands.”
Industry Experts Join the Staff
Big Thirst is expanding its talented team of beverage industry experts, and it has added two specialists to provide the right solutions for craft spirits brands to connect with consumers.
Experienced distiller and production manager, Jake Holshue joined the Big Thirst consulting team to advise clients on spirits production and efficiency optimization. He is a nationally recognized leader in the spirits industry and will help Big Thirst clients with product development, production processes, efficiency, forecasting, and safety program development and training. His hands-on approach to distillation consulting will improve clients’ distillery operations with a range of services from recipe formulation to production scheduling. Holshue has managed brewing and distilling production and blending for well-known distilleries from coast to coast as well as internationally. Holshue is serving his second term on the board of directors for the American Craft Spirits Association where he chairs the Mentorship Committee and Consumer-Facing Committee—and previously was a co-chair of Education Committee—and serves on the Selection Committee for the STEPUP Foundation. He attended Montana State University Billings.
Jake Barnett joined Big Thirst as a Business Development Specialist responsible for making it easier for distilleries and spirits brands to join the e-commerce platform. Barnett’s knowledge of the beverage industry has been refined while working in sales and marketing for Restless Spirits Distilling, Co., a regional distillery to running a small beer and spirits brokerage, as a Co-Founder of Old Fashioned Beverage, and most recently as an account executive for Provi, an alcohol marketplace for bars and restaurants. His proudest professional accomplishment was developing the recipes for an RTD canned cocktail project. Barnett, a resident of Kansas City, enjoys playing tennis, shooting pool, and exploring new bars and restaurants. Jake attended Missouri State University.
Big Thirst helps distilleries succeed in a fast-growing segment of the market for online sales to consumers. It is operated by passionate beverage industry veterans and is powered by a distribution and sales consultancy, Big Thirst Consulting, and a full-service marketing agency, Big Thirst Marketing. The combined complementary resources provide a cost-effective, nimble approach to help spirits brands’ get bottles moving.
About Big Thirst, Inc.
Big Thirst, Inc. is a three-tier compliant integrated e-commerce platform for spirits brands to conveniently expand sales and ship products to consumers in more than 40 states. Big Thirst is the spirits industry’s most comprehensive e-commerce sales and marketing company integrated with a compliance, distribution, and sales consultancy, Big Thirst Consulting, and a full-service marketing agency, Big Thirst Marketing. It is a one-stop shop for distilleries to accelerate e-commerce sales to consumers with an online sales solution, website and website store design, distribution management, customer service, digital advertising, email marketing, business analytics, and retailer partner relations for order fulfillment. Connect with Big Thirst on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.