This year, we celebrate a milestone: 10 years since we set up BTW Drinks Ltd. A whole decade in the ever-evolving, always exciting world of drinks! Over the years, we've ridden a rollercoaster of highs and lows, its not always been easy but its never been particularly dull.

From humble beginnings, we've had the privilege of being involved in creating a diverse array of drinks enjoyed all over the globe. Some of these beverages have soared, becoming recognised brands that have sold over 5 million units and generated millions of pounds in revenue. Some ideas have faded into obscurity, fleeting whispers that never fully took shape. That's the excitement of the drinks industry—sometimes it's a calculated choice, and other times it's an unpredictable market twist that determines the success or failure of a project. Here's looking at you Messrs Brexit & Covid.

Our passion lies in helping brands, entrepreneurs, and dreamers bring their visions to life. We’ve spent literally hundreds of hours in R&D, concocting innovative drink ideas. Whether it’s our unique approach to recipe development or our extensive network of contacts in the manufacturing world, we’ve realised that the true value we bring often comes down to the simple things we’ve learned over the years. Things that, if we’d known on day one, could have saved us a whole lot of headaches and a shed ton of money!

We’re talking about the practicalities such as calculating the right ABV in a canned cocktail, navigating the maze of sugar tax regulations, understanding complex labelling requirements, mastering margin calculations, managing bonded warehouse movements, assessing the ecological impact of various packaging options, and ensuring shelf life through rigorous microbiological testing, pasteurisation, filtration, and carbonation. And that's just scratching the surface!

Here’s the kicker—many drinks development services out there keep this information locked away, making the process seem more daunting than it really is. But why gate-keep? Knowledge should be shared! So, we’ve decided to break down those barriers. We’re going to start a regular blog series where we spill the secrets we've gathered over the years—everything we have to dig deep to learn ourselves.

So, to all the budding drinks entrepreneurs out there, consider this your go-to resource. We hope you find it as helpful as we would have when we were just getting started. Cheers to the next 10 years and to making the world of drinks a little less intimidating.

‍