The Fat Link That Broke the (Value) Chain (And Killed The Drinks Ecosystem)
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Once upon a time, there lived a chain unlike any other. Each link was alive, pulsing with purpose, passing precious value from one to the next until it reached the eager hands of customers.
This was no ordinary chain – it was the Great Value Chain of the Drinks Industry, and it had flourished for generations.
The links were diverse in their roles: some produced, others distributed, and others sold directly to the thirsty customers.
Each link had its place, purpose, and, most importantly, its fair share of value that kept the entire chain solid and flexible.
One day, a particularly ambitious link named Magnus began to grow restless. "Why should I pass so much value to the others?" it wondered, watching the flow of drinks and profits move through the chain. If I kept more for myself, I could become the most important link of all!"
Magnus began to implement its plan. With each transaction, it held back a little more value, growing fatter and more powerful, while the other links grew thinner and weaker.
"Don't worry," Magnus would say to the struggling links, "You have enough to survive. Look how much the chain has grown because of my strength!"
But Magnus had forgotten a fundamental truth: the chain was only as strong as its weakest link.
As it grew fatter, the adjacent links struggled to maintain their grip. The products moved more slowly, and the once-steady flow of drinks began to stutter and stall.
The customers at the end of the chain noticed first. Their favorite drinks became scarcer, more expensive, or disappeared altogether.
Without customer pull, the chain's purpose began to fade. Precious inventory sat gathering dust in warehouses, trapped by Magnus's bulk.
The thinnest links tried to warn Magnus: "The chain works best when we all thrive together! We need enough value to create demand from the bottom up."
But Magnus, now swollen with pride and profits, wouldn't listen.
Then came the day when the chain finally snapped. It wasn't a dramatic break – just a quiet failure as one of the weakest links finally gave way.
The chain that had once been a marvel of cooperation lay broken, its pieces scattered across the marketplace.
In its isolation, Magnus finally understood that in seeking to dominate the chain, it had destroyed the very system that gave it purpose. A chain couldn't be built from the top down; it needed to grow from the bottom up, strengthened by the pull of customer demand and balanced by fair value distribution.
Ultimately, it didn't matter that Magnus had been the strongest link. Without the chain, it was just another piece of metal holding onto value that had nowhere to flow.
The moral was clear: in the delicate drinks ecosystem, true success comes not from growing fat at others' expense but from ensuring every link is strong enough to play its part in the endless dance of supply and demand.
Don’t be like Magnus. Brands are built bottom-up.I hope this mini-guide will help you develop the small, consistent habits you need to build your brand from the ground up.
Brands are built bottom-up.
If you liked this post, you'll enjoy my discussions with Drinks Builders on The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast , where I learn about how brands succeed in the market.
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📌🥃 Join 1,300+ Drinks Builders on The MAFFEO DRINKS Guides on Substack!
I've written a recent post on Substack called "The Bar Mapping Blueprint: The 5 Steps to Find The Right Venues for Your Brand in a City." where I share how to do it innovatively instead of a Useless List All Your Competitors Googled.
These posts are usually paywalled, but I left this free so you can benefit from it.
If you'd like to dive into more about building Drinks Brands from the Bottom Up, check out my recent post on Substack below 👇