Craft beer: How Talea crushed the female market

Talea Beer Co., an anti-beer bro” brand founded by two New York City female entrepreneurs who had the fearless idea to take on the saturated beer market dominated by industry giants like Anheuser-Busch (BUD), Constellation Brands (STZ), and Boston Beer Company (SAM).

But with the U.S. beer market projected to reach nearly $150 billion by 2032, niche players like LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson found an opportunity in an otherwise crowded marketplace by taking a disciplined, research-driven approach to making their concept a reality.

Darland and Hankinson started with a hypothesis that the experience and culture of beer - pubs, packaging, taste - were all focused on men - and that “...women were not being attended to by craft beer.”

When the duo first tested their beer on the market, “nine out of 10 times, we would convert women (into craft beer drinkers), and it's the best feeling because they haven't been spoken to. No beer companies are trying to expand craft beer to this consumer,” said Darland.

But they didn’t just slap a different label on a bottle. They built an entire experience around craft beer for women with brighter tap rooms, more-colorful labeling and packaging, and more aromatic and fruity flavors.

Darland and Hankinson conducted market research to prove their hypothesis and found a significant gap in the craft market market.

According to Darland and Hankinson, market research showed that despite women making up 30% of craft beer drinkers, many felt sidelined by brands that catered predominantly to male consumers.

That was when the concept behind Talea was born.

"We wanted to create a beer company that spoke to a broader audience beyond the typical 'beer bro,'" said Darland.

Market research should be done “before you put your first dollar and your first brow of sweat into,” according to Steve Zagor, Professor at Columbia School of Business and restaurant and food business consultant.

Market research is also crucial in determining a product’s viability. By conducting it, you answer questions about location, pricing, market size, and, most importantly, market demand and saturation.

In fact, 42% of small businesses fail due to a lack of market demand, according to the U.S. Chambers of Commerce.

But the more you analyze your market and people's behaviors, "the more opportunity you have to beat all of these competitors in the marketplace," said Zagor.

While market research can be “quite expensive,” Zagor recommends doing “it until you feel you have enough data, either pro or con, to justify or change the product idea that you have.”

When testing a product, it is essential “to find an independent testing opportunity where you're testing it on a broader market of people that don't know who you are and get real honest responses to the product,” said Zagor.

Currently, Talea is opening their fifth taproom, a temporary location in the Penn District, as a “trial run” to test the neighborhood before building out a permanent space.

Hankinson's advice to potential entrepreneurs is, "don't let yourself wait till you have the absolute perfect thing and the perfect packaging and the perfect name. That's never gonna happen. Sometimes, you just need to start and get going."
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