Alain BARBET

Over the past 18–24 months, a growing number of wine and spirits companies have entered extremely difficult territory — including forced sales, liquidations, and restructurings.
Yes, the industry is going through a significant consumption realignment. But this is not a bloodbath. In many cases, brands remain healthy and depletions may even be growing. Yet liquidity quietly erodes in the background — driven by issues that are not addressed early enough: excess inventory, cost structures built for a different scale, underused assets, or one-sided asset-based lending structures.
By the time liquidity stress becomes fully visible at the board level, optionality has often narrowed far more than anyone expected.
Having spent much of my career operating in — and advising around — the beverage alcohol sector, this is typically the moment where early, pragmatic intervention matters most: clarifying cash dynamics, separating solvable issues from structural ones, and creating time for thoughtful decisions rather than forced outcomes. In some cases, it also means refocusing attention on genuine green shoots and sustainable volume growth.
At Validate Advisory Services, we’re increasingly asked to engage before a formal restructuring becomes inevitable, working alongside founders, boards, and investors who want a clear-eyed assessment of their real options — and the discipline to act on them.
If you’re involved with a wine or spirits business and sensing pressure beneath the surface, this is a conversation worth having sooner rather than later.

MSc Essec Business School