November 30, 2018 – When we entered November 2018, we knew it was going to be a difficult sales comparison month vs. November 2017. That’s because last November was an unusually strong month accounting for 32% of ALL of 2017 sales of James FC Hyde Sorgho Whiskey.
In the past, on more than one occasion, we’ve cautioned of the tendency of GAP accounting to have the unintended consequence of “distorting” sales when an entity like ours starts building out a distribution channel. In simple terms it’s because: 1) our sales are really “stocking orders”to distributors for their “on hand inventory” (and subsequent sale to retail stores); and 2) when the number of distributors placing stocking orders is limited, their order flow tends to be irregular and choppy. Which is precisely what happened last November, when several distributors coincidentally placed orders in the exact same month. The result: an outlier Nov 2017 reflecting nearly 1/3 of full year sales.
In spite of Nov 2018 having to stand up against a month that accounted for nearly 1/3 of 2017 sales, we’re proud to announce we’ve surpassed Nov 2017 monthly volume by approximately 20%. The result, our momentum of shipments to distributors of James FC Hyde Sorgho Whiskey continued, resulting in year to date sales ending November 30 up 264% from 2017 to 2018.
We like to make it a practice of NOT SPIKING THE BALL ON THE 5 yard line. And we know we’ve got a lot more work to do to get where we want to be – a successful national brand. But we’re happy with our trend lines and our accelerating sales growth, and mindful that maintaining our momentum is an operational imperative. With your help, serving as financiers and proactive brand ambassadors, we’re confident we can. Wish us collective good fortune as we journey together into a bright but uncertain future.
