Home robot bartender Bartesian has made the (retail) big time.
According to a release sent to The Spoon, the long-time maker of countertop cocktail makers has announced that its machines are now available at Williams-Sonoma and Macy’s.
Bartesian, which shipped its first machine in 2019 after years of development, has seen a 300% increase in revenue in 2021, which follows a nearly 10x increase in sales in 2020 over the previous year. While the company saw its growth accelerate in 2020 with bars closed due to COVID, its fast growth predated the pandemic, according to company CEO Ryan Close.
From our post in April about Bartesian’s $21 million funding round:
Close said that while his company did get a COVID bump, it was already experiencing triple growth rates prior to the pandemic (they got off to a nice start by being an Oprah pick in the winter of 2019). Close said that the company has generated more sales in the first quarter of 2021 than during the first half of 2020.
Bartesian’s growth stands in contrast to the rough-sailing experienced by others in the home booze appliance business. Somabar, which saw early adulation at CES for its home cocktail bot, has struggled to fulfill its Kickstarter commitments. Barsys suffered early negative reviews for its cocktail robot and has recently emphasized its smart coaster.
Bartesian’s success is perhaps a validation of the company’s early strategy of partnering with larger companies such as Hamilton Beach (for manufacturing) and Beam to gain access to channels and resources in a business. It also was the first home booze-bot maker to build a business around a consumables with its pods, ensuring recurring revenue beyond the initial hardware sale.
Since its launch, Bartesian has witnessed other pod-based drink systems come to market. Drinkworks, the joint venture between Dr. Pepper/Keurig and AB InBev, continues to roll out new cocktail-related partnerships and products as it expands into new states. European startup Smart Spirits is trying to convince folks to use pods to create base-liquor drinks like gin or whiskey.
But now, with its entrance into Williams-Sonoma and Macy’s, Bartesian hopes to gain a leg up on the competition. By securing prime brick & mortar real retail real estate to sell to customers who still buy things brick & mortar retail, the company looks like it may be positioning itself as the market leader in the still-nascent but fast-growing home cocktail-making appliance business.
Leave a Reply