Episode 29

029 | Building Bottom-up in the US 3-tier system | with Brian Rosen, Chairman of Growth Beverage (Chicago, IL, USA)

In Episode 029, I had the pleasure of chatting to Brian Rosen. He is the Chairman of Growth Beverage and Founder of InvestBev, Sprout Beverage, Bev Strat and Algoma Capital. He has decades of experience in building drinks brands in the US. He gave us incredible insights about the dynamics of the US market. I hope you will enjoy our chat.


Time Stamps

(5:08) How To Spend Money Effectively
(12:28) Building Demand Effectively
(15:04) Home Court Advantage
(18:39) Doing The Boring Stuff
(27:35) Running Out of Money
(31:25) Breaking Into The US
(40:00) Demand Generation






About the Guest: Brian Rosen

About the Podcast

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The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast
Brands Are Built Bottom-up.

About your host

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Chris Maffeo

With 20 years of experience working for some of the biggest drinks brands across 30+ markets, I've developed a unique understanding of how brands grow in today's market.
Now, I help drinks brands build sustainable growth through bottom-up demand creation.
My methodology focuses on how brand demand spreads - from initial venue adoption to international expansion.
I teach brands how to create, convert, and sustain demand across the three critical stages of growth: from one bottle to one case to one pallet.
My expertise lies in understanding how brands grow through genuine advocacy, from bar to bar, city to city, and building foundations that enable natural scaling.
Through consulting, training, and speaking engagements, I help brands:
• Build sustainable demand from the ground up
• Systematize their approach to building brands city by city
• Navigate the path from local success to international growth
• Develop strategies based on occasions rather than demographics