Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/488317
april 2015 / the tasting panel / 101 W NEED Filling a With a demonstrated expertise in navigating the tricky waters of alcoholic beverage compliance and logistics, Park Street, in its 12-year life, has become the go-to solutions provider for helping spirits and wine brands go from zero to 60. Call it the ghostbuster of the wine and spirits industry: It takes just one call to start the process of solving problems and clearing a path for brand owners to do what they do best. And, says Park Street CEO Dr. Harry Kohlmann, that's not mastering the complexities of the regulatory and logistics landscapes. "A lot of our clients are coming from high-level executive positions in some of the bigger companies—the Bacardis and Diageos of the world," Kohlmann says. "They are expert marketers, but they don't know all the micro-level technical details that are required to sell product in each of the 50 states, like 'What alcoholic beverage licenses do I need to do business in Kentucky?' or 'How do I get a formula approved for a new product?' We take care of all these items and provide them an operating platform like the one they had in their former large supplier jobs, but it is now for their own projects." With names like McKinsey & Co., Coca-Cola, Bacardi and Harvard on their collective resumés, Kohlmann and President Chris Mehringer bring hardcore global business sense to the table, and have a read on what companies large and small need. Park Street offers a complete suite of back- office services and solutions including compliance, logistics, accounting, importing, warehousing, order-fulfillment and distribution, as well as strategic advisory and working capital. Thus free of the red tape and the nitty-gritty, brands can dedicate themselves to promotion, sales and scaling up. Ironically, promotion is an area in which Park Street itself has been modest, admits Kohlmann. "From our history, we never liked to talk too much about ourselves," he says. "And now things have changed: You get to a certain size or position within the industry and sometimes you have to talk about yourself a little bit." And, happily, they have a lot to say. As customer service and LEADING BEVERAGE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER PARK STREET FREES BRAND OWNERS TO DO WHAT THEY DO BEST by Lana Bortolot / photos by Vanessa Rogers "Full transparency." Mehringer and Kohlmann discuss strategy at Bodega Taquería y Tequila in Miami Beach. Park Street is based a short distance away in downtown Miami.