If you’ve purchased more than your average share of wine over the past year, you are not alone. According to Wine Intelligence, consumption during the pandemic’s lockdowns surged in the U.S. and UK.
Last year, Barefoot led the nation’s wine brands in total sales with nearly $675 million. For Jennifer Wall, winemaker with the brand, “bottling lines keep rolling” even as life has changed drastically around the world.
Wall, who has been with the company since 1995, said that it has been a journey watching Barefoot’s growth over the years.
“I was 26 years old, and at that time we were selling around 140,000 cases in only four states … only four types, and now we’ve grown to be the largest bottled wine brand in the world,” she told Cheddar.
She has since become an innovator within Barefoot. Last year, Wall was part of the development of the only wine-based seltzer available nationwide. With hard seltzer the largest alcoholic beverage category, she said it was important to provide wine lovers with a similar option.
Wall's journey to beverage innovation began with four years of experience in the wine industry already under her belt before joining Barefoot, in what was an industry largely bereft of women.
“My peers and mentors were mostly male, so that was quite different than it is today. Today, in 2021, I’m really honored to work alongside some really fabulous and brilliant female winemakers,” Wall noted, advising women who wish to get into winemaking to pick from a wide variety of options now open in the field.
"There's tons of opportunity in the wine industry and with a lot of room for promotion and growth."
In addition to wine-based seltzers, Wall is also helping the company expand its new line of Fruitscato, fruit-infused moscato wines.
“It’s the hottest category in wine right now," she explained.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
