July 23, 2020 (Yardley, PA) – The Spearhead Group, Inc. is excited to share that co-founder and CEO, Heather Fritzsche, has been selected for the 2020 Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program. The Tory Burch Foundation advances women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship in the United States by providing access to capital, education and digital resources. The Spearhead Group is one of 50 women-owned businesses that were selected for the fifth annual Fellows Program. World-renowned designer and business entrepreneur Tory Burch joined the leadership team of the Tory Burch Foundation to personally deliver the news over a surprise virtual call; watch the announcement here.

The Fellowship receives numerous applications annually and provides women entrepreneurs with $5,000 for business education and access to a distinguished community of their peers. The 2020 Tory Burch Fellows encompass women business-owners from 36 different cities and 13 industries. The year-long Fellowship will include dynamic virtual programming to help each of their honorees navigate the challenging economic environment.

“It is an unbelievable honor to be selected for the 2020 Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program,” said Heather Fritzsche, CEO and co-founder of The Spearhead Group. “Women entrepreneurs face unique business challenges, and the opportunity for recognition and mentorship from one of the country’s most accomplished business leaders cannot come at a better time. I look forward to interacting with the other members of the 2020 Tory Burch Fellowship in driving real business solutions that reflect our shared dedication to women and diversity.”

One of the founding principles of The Spearhead Group is to use their platform to amplify women and minority-owned businesses. They achieve this by dedicating business resources to help fellow entrepreneurs source expertise, manufacturing innovation and product development at more preferential cost. The Spearhead Group also appoints women-owned business suppliers whenever possible, including their Pioneer partners Acuity Packaging (Louisville) and Greener Planet (Chattanooga), who have showcased the opportunity to create a wholly women-owned supply chain with collaborations such as seasonal VAP.

The Spearhead Group is proud to be a part of many organizations that embody their values including Women of the Vine & Spirits, Women’s Business Enterprise East (WBEC-East), Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and the Women Presidents Org (WPO). Jessica Knee, Business Manager at The Spearhead Group, was also just appointed to the WBEC-East Next Gen Committee, a taskforce dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurs under 40.

For more information about The Spearhead Group, including interview requests, please contact Helen Gregory, helen@gregoryvine.com or Amanda Davis, amanda@gregoryvine.com. Gregory + Vine, the communications agency of record for The Spearhead Group, is also a certified woman-owned business.

About The Spearhead Group
A leader in manufacturing innovation and product development for spirits, food, beverage and beauty brands, The Spearhead Group is an immersive partner in the Physical Brand Enhancement ^TM process from creative brand design to manufacturing that enable clients to stand apart from the competition. Our proven process and global team have set out to revolutionize the industry and redefine how PBE^TM can deliver a more memorable buyer experience. Founded in 2018 by Heather Fritzsche, CEO, and Robert Catalano, President, the Spearhead team brings more than 50 years of collective experience enriched by Pioneer Partners around the world. The result: a proprietary manufacturing and product development process and unparalleled relationships that ensure the execution of high-value business and brand-building goals for each client. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, The Spearhead Group manages a client-facing Packaging Innovation Center in Louisville and Yardley, and a production center in China. The Spearhead Group is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), member of Women of the Vine & Spirits, and actively supports diversity suppliers. The Spearhead Group is currently building and meeting with Fortune 500 Companies. Follow The Spearhead Group on LinkedIn (@thespearheadgroupinc).

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The results are in!  Last week, we launched a poll about cocktails-to-go packaging and the highest total of votes have shown that people are most interested in the recyclable/reusable cup and lid. https://bit.ly/2YQs39p Next week, we will explore the importance of sustainability in cocktail-to-go packaging for the consumer. Till then, we wanted to share the conclusion to our three part “Cocktail-to-go” series by exploring another packaging concept.

The final part of our series explores cocktail copack kits which include the full size spirit, mixers and instructions. These kits are convenient and fun concepts for both on-premise (bars/restaurants) or off-premise (liquor stores) accounts that want to consider this new mainstay of cocktail culture.

For on-premise accounts, this type of cocktail kits allows for them to get creative with bottling in-house cocktail mixers and instructions for their creative cocktails.  They then have options to be able to sell the full bottle spirit with the cocktail mixers. Consumers love the opportunity to create some of these bartender favorites.  One thing to know, some laws vary by state about whether on-premise locations can sell full bottle spirits to their customers. For off-premise accounts, they can sell full spirit bottles and mixing ingredients together including: simple syrup, sours mixer, bitters, etc.  This concept allows the retailer to pick what recipes and brands of mixer items that they believe will sell their products.  With a little direction to the consumer, they can help them know what will work well together and provide an additional revenue stream for their account.

In conclusion to our series, cocktail-to-go kits are gaining popularity in our culture and we can’t wait to see how they will keep growing. Are you interested in learning more, please reach out to Lana Toler at lanat@thespearheadgroup.com

This week, we launched a poll about single-serve packaging preferences and so far, the highest percentage of answers have been for the “reusable/recyclable cup/lid”. We are interested to learn more about why people have chosen this answer over other options, by posting another poll in the coming weeks asking, “what is the most important feature of a Cocktail-To-Go single-serve container?” In this poll, we hope to address what the importance of sustainability is for consumers versus the shape of the packaging. We can’t wait to share these insightful results. Stay tuned.

Read more about how cocktails-to-go are advancing forward: https://www.distilledspirits.org/?s=cocktails+to+go&submit=

Stay tuned for our three-part cocktails-to-go series, as we bring packaging ideas forward for single serve, multiple serve, and full bottle spirit kits!

We are always exploring innovative Physical Brand Enhancements^TM at The Spearhead Group, Inc.  Our proven process brings unique concepts from the drawing board to a reality in the marketplace.

We are excited to present this cool video of the fun we had creating this Luxury Bourbon Barrel Box. Originally imagined & designed by Bill Hutto, and developed & produced by three different Spearhead facilities: China, India and Mexico!

“This project was such an enjoyable collaboration with the entire global team of Spearhead.  To see this concept play out from a rough idea, to actually being produced out of three different Spearhead country locations, was really one of the coolest parts of my job.”  – Bill Hutto

January 16, 2020 (Yardley, PA) – The Spearhead Group has announced the opening of their new East Coast Innovation Center in Yardley. A leader in packaging innovation for spirits, food, beverage and beauty brands, The Spearhead Group delivers customized solutions from creative brand design to manufacturing through a full suite of Physical Brand Enhancements that enable clients to stand apart from the competition. The result: a proprietary packaging process and unparalleled relationships that ensure the execution of high-value business and brand-building goals for each client. In the past 6 months, The Spearhead Group has expanded their reach with new Innovation Centers in the Louisville market and now on the East Coast to provide direct customer service to the dynamic packaging industry. This week marks the second- year business anniversary of the company.

“Packaging ranks high as one of the most important business investments for our clients and we are committed to delivering a full suite of options from maximizing manufacturing efficiency to high-impact bottle design,” says Heather Fritzsche, Co-Founder and CEO of The Spearhead Group. “Our new East Coast Innovation Center in Yardley is inspired by our successful launch in Louisville and allows us to expand our customer service footprint with a hands-on immersion into the packaging process.”

By appointment only, The Spearhead Group East Coast Innovation Center is based in Yardley, Pennsylvania, and is readily accessible from major metro areas such as New York. Technical, marketing and procurement teams are invited to schedule custom workshops with Spearhead’s East Coast team.

To launch the innovation center, Spearhead Pioneers, a group of best-in-class innovators from around the globe, joined the Yardley team to lend their production expertise from glass to sustainability, luxury packaging and decorative arts. They included: Acuity PLS (Kentucky); Vitro (Mexico); TPC/Greener Planet, LLC (Tennessee); Curtis Packaging (Connecticut); Apholos (Argentina); The Signature Glass Company of Paşabahçe (Israel, Egypt and Turkey); SigmaQ (El Salvador); Package Development Co., Inc. (New Jersey); and Techcentrix (California).

Click here to view photos from the launch party.

Prospective customers of The Spearhead Group on the East Coast can connect with Lana Toler, Innovation Advisor, by email, lanaT@thespearheadgroup.com, or phone, 502-439-5065; or Robert Catalano, President, by email, rcatalano@thespearheadgroup.com, or phone, 215-769-9008. For more information about The Spearhead Group worldwide, including interview requests, please contact Helen Gregory, helen@gregoryvine.com or Amanda Davis, amanda@gregoryvine.com.

About The Spearhead Group
A leader in packaging innovation for spirits, food, beverage and beauty brands, The Spearhead Group delivers customized packaging solutions from creative brand design to manufacturing through a full suite of Physical Brand Enhancements that enable clients to stand apart from the competition. Founded in 2018 by Heather Fritzsche, CEO, and Robert Catalano, President, the Spearhead team brings more than 50 years of collective experience enriched by Pioneer Partners around the world. The result: a proprietary packaging process and unparalleled relationships that ensure the execution of high-value business and brand-building goals for each client. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, The Spearhead Group manages a client-facing Packaging Innovation Center in Louisville and a production center in China. The Spearhead Group is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), member of Women of the Vine & Spirits, and actively supports diversity suppliers. Follow The Spearhead Group on LinkedIn (@spearheadgroup).

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Companies choose The Spearhead Group because they know we are invested in all aspects of the process. We bring a unique and personable approach to each and every brand we represent and work towards ensuring the most rewarding outcome on PBE activities.

About Spearhead

With more than 45 years of collective experience designing and delivering memorable Physical Brand Enhancements that make a lasting impact, we understand the importance of a customer’s connection to a particular brand.

Companies choose The Spearhead Group because they know we are invested in all aspects of the process. We bring a unique and personable approach to each and every brand we represent and work towards ensuring the most rewarding outcome on PBE activities.

This article was written by Maggie Kimbrel of American Whiskey Magazine

Oftentimes when you visit a craft distillery that has had a product on the market for a couple of years, you’ll see a progression in packaging from something that is easily lost on a shelf to something that stands out from the crowd. Invariably you’ll get similar stories about the progression: we worked really hard on that first bottle but then we went into a bar we knew had it and couldn’t find it on the back bar. Packaging is one area where newer distilleries often struggle, mainly because they don’t know where to turn and they end up using what is cheap and readily available in order to get their product to market faster. Poor packaging decisions don’t always hurt new brands, but they can, and a new branch of a packaging company aims to address that problem.

The Spearhead Group recently launched an innovation center in Louisville, Kentucky in order to be closer to the distilled spirits industry. At this innovation center, clients from distilleries of all sizes can come to learn about packaging options for everything from their mainstream products to holiday packages and more.

“As part of The Spearhead Group’s expertise in the spirits business, we lead clients through the whole development process of how brand and packaging work together through the end-use and engagement with consumers,” says Spearhead Group Innovation Advisor Lana Toler. “We are able to lead the packaging development as one contact across all of the packaging comments to ensure that the closure works with the bottle, the labels and adhesives work with the bottle, and the bottle works with the shippers. We have developed a thorough protocol to test the spirit and contact points with the packaging to ensure compatibility and shelf stability. As an example, the proof of the spirit changes the amount of headspace needed in the bottle to ensure that a cork wouldn’t pop out.”

The Spearhead Group takes the time to get to know the product in order to make the best recommendations for that product’s packaging. For smaller distilleries, this can mean less wasted time and energy for a sub-par product package. For larger distilleries it can mean a wider array of options for things like amending existing packaging to reflect a recent spirits competition win, building a special tasting kit for brand ambassadors, and even creating gift packs that will stand out from the crowd.

“One of the issues that many spirits companies may face is properly sizing their new bottle to fit a pour spout,” says The Spearhead Group’s Global Packaging R&D Advisor Ben Abernathy. “This may sound like an easy task until you take into consideration the number of different pour spout sizes on the market and how they are used at bars and restaurants. Often times, bartenders use pour spouts in many different size bottle necks. If a spout is used for even a short time in a small bottle neck, the spout will deform and may not properly fit in a normal size bottle. To combat this, we’ve worked closely with bartenders to better understand the plastic deformation to ensure we can design bottles that will fit all pour spouts, new or used, perfectly.”

“For startup distilleries, we do a deep dive into the category of spirit,” says Toler. “Where does the new brand fit?  Who are the competitors? Then we visit on and off-premise accounts, discuss what important assets will start for your brand and become icons for your brand and what the brand stands for, and discuss and determine how to use brand assets with the packaging. We have a long term discussion on where the brand could go to develop that packaging hierarchy within a spirit category, but we’re also mindful of whether new categories will be added in the future. We narrow down options for differentiating packaging for the client to pick and choose, either new designs or unique physical brand enhancements, to create differentiation, such as using the existing bottle structure and adding metal, leather or other embellishments to create packaging that represents the brand while differentiating it on the shelf.”

“For legacy distilleries, we do a more specific brief for a more specific packaging project, such as creating a premium gifting box that includes one 750ml of bourbon and two custom-designed rocks glasses within a given cost range,” says Toler. “We present opportunities to bring new technology and “outside-in” innovation to brands on a regular basis, like when we look at sustainability and the minimizing of packaging from the health and beauty category. If a brand is established, we think about other unique ways to bring the liquid and the experience of drinking the liquid to the consumers, such as custom glassware to be used with a signature cocktail.”

There are some things you have seen that The Spearhead Group is responsible for, such as production of the various Crown Royal bags. But there are lots of things they do that aren’t often noticed by the general public, such as helping distilleries find more sustainable suppliers for things like paperboard boxes for special bottles. They do value-added products, such as those gift packs you see at holiday times with special branded glasses, and they can help startup distilleries distinguish their products through things like ceramic bottles and special closures.

“The first Innovation Center Flagship is located within Acuity in Louisville, Kentucky,” says Toler. “Acuity is one of the Pioneer Partners and offers thermoforming, co-packing, and logistics and shipping. Not only is Acuity local to work with the whiskey category partners, but having The Spearhead Group working directly at the facility gives the clients a more cohesive look at the flexibility and end to end processes that The Spearhead Group can provide.”

Whether a distillery is new or established, has a great package already or is struggling, there are various ways in which The Spearhead Group can help you make your packaging go from good to great, regular to holiday, or mid-level to premium.

“The Spearhead Group has decades of cumulative spirits experience from the direct team, the global advisory committee and the Pioneer Partners,” Toler says. “The various backgrounds complement each other and enable the group to provide insights to clients to minimize time to market, execute quality packaging and “wow” the customer’s experience with the brand.”

Where packaging designs come from isn’t something that is usually at the forefront of the end consumer’s mind, but seeing the process and understanding the thought and time that goes into it can be a fascinating experience.

About Spearhead

With more than 45 years of collective experience designing and delivering memorable Physical Brand Enhancements that make a lasting impact, we understand the importance of a customer’s connection to a particular brand.

Companies choose The Spearhead Group because they know we are invested in all aspects of the process. We bring a unique and personable approach to each and every brand we represent and work towards ensuring the most rewarding outcome on PBE activities.