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.
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A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
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It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
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