Ten Things to Know When Entering the US Beverage Market

Consumer demand is 90% of everything. Articulate why consumers will want to buy it.
Be patient. Brands go through different phases—proof of concept, pain of growth, mainstream. It takes time to build a brand.
Sell a little, learn a lot. Start in a limited geography and then build on success.
Distributors will not build your brand for you. Demand creation is the responsibility of the brand owner.
Rate of sale is more important than distribution. If it doesn’t sell right away, it is hard to recover.
Manage inventory and logistics carefully. Supply chain costs can eventually suffocate profitability.
Pay in US dollars if you can. Let the manufacturer take the currency risk.
Laws and trade channels are different in every state. Be aware!
Expect to burn cash in the first two years. Don’t go in undercapitalized thinking profit will fund growth.
Get good advisors that have experience and understand the US market.