Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/488317
april 2015 / the tasting panel / 103 to quickly get to scale with Beso del Sol sangria in a box. "We saw an opportunity to launch the first premium, 100% natural bag-in-box sangria in the U.S.," Holst says. "However, in order to be first-to- market we had to rollout very quickly. Park Street understood the strategic relevance of being a fast-mover and enabled us to open more than 30 markets in just a few months, which was essential to our success." Park Street works with more than 1,000 brands, ranging from the mega- global suppliers and centuries-old family businesses to craft distillers, winemakers and entrepreneurs. Even long-established brands benefit from Park Street's nimbleness and efficiency. Whyte & Mackay and Royal Dutch Distillers are but two large suppliers using Park Street's platform to increase the performance of their back-office and avoid large overhead investments. Mehringer says the company's large investment in IT-driven systems benefits not only them as a company, but helps their clients stay competitive. "Our clients are from all over the U.S. and world, and having access to all of their data to track the performance of their back office and business is extremely important to them," he says. Park Street's secure portal keeps data, charts and results at clients' fingertips so they can pull presentations together fast. Kohlmann says, "We launch certain business management tools that don't sound huge, but they make a huge difference. Every month you might save a whole day of work." At the end, as you utilize more and more of the tools, he says, you could easily have an extra productive week per month. He says the ongoing innovations—a constant tune-up, if you will—were in response to customer feedback. One such advance was a proprietary tool developed just for handling chargebacks. "One of [clients'] chronic problems was managing chargebacks from their distributors, so we built a management tool that aggregates all the charge- backs, invoices and supporting data in a single easy to access place—every- thing from menu shots to product floor placements," Mehringer explained. "It gives clients the whole picture—a com- plete scenario that they can't otherwise ascertain from an assortment of emails or chargeback memos." Such innovations and attention to client service have helped the company double in size in just the last year. Most of their business comes from existing client referrals, and about 60% of their clients are international. With 70 employees on staff in Miami, the company already has an excellent institutional knowledge base and is positioned for more growth. Says Mehringer, "We are pleased to have a very diverse staff, which was a priority for us when we founded the company." He notes they will continue to recruit people who are "a good fit with our organizational culture, which empha- sizes meritocracy, integrity, and putting clients' interests ahead of all else." Park Street was critical to the success of The 86 Co. and its lineup of bartender- driven spirits. The PERSONAL Side THE TASTING PANEL asked Park Street principals to share the less serious side of doing business. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Harry Kohlmann: Spending time with family and friends, exercise and happy hour. Chris Mehringer: Family and friends, running, reading and traveling. Favorite place to travel? HK: Wine country. CM: Italy. Which beverage(s) are always in your bar or refrigerator? HK: Cabernet, tequila. CM: Beer, gin. A personal goal you'd like to accomplish? HK: I'd like Park Street to stay on its growth path. While it's a company goal, it's also personal for me as well because it would be a testament to how clients value our service, which is a great motivator. CM: I'd like to finish the Berlin Marathon in September with a respectable time—or perhaps just finish!