Life & Work with Michael Baruch of West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Baruch.

Michael, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
BTL SVC started with a pretty simple question: why can’t you get a cocktail in a bottle that was every bit as good as the one you could get at your favorite bar?

Our cocktails were created by Nathan Oliver, now a bartender of 20 years, initially as a solution for the travel and hospitality industries. Nathan saw that there were countless situations where people wanted a great cocktail, but having a bartender make one from scratch simply wasn’t practical. His goal wasn’t to create another flavored alcoholic beverage. He wanted to put a real cocktail in a bottle.

From the beginning, we established one fundamental rule: if it’s not something you would find behind a bar, we don’t use it. No additives, no preservatives, no artificial colors or artificial flavors. We only use premium spirits, vermouths, liqueurs, bitters and other ingredients that bartenders actually use, and Nathan based the cocktails on the original recipes and correct proportions of the classics. The result is a line of cocktails that are perfectly balanced, just as a properly made cocktail should be. That’s also why our cocktails have true cocktail-strength ABVs, generally between 20% and 28%. And because we use the same ingredients and proportions as a properly made cocktail, the calories are the same, as well.

Nathan also brought some innovation to those classic recipes. Working alongside chefs, he saw how they used oils to enhance aroma, flavor and texture and began applying the same thinking to cocktails. He incorporated citrus oils and extracts derived from fruit peels to recreate the aroma and flavor you get when a bartender expresses fresh citrus over a cocktail. It’s why you can smell and taste orange in our Old Fashioned without us adding orange juice or artificial “natural” flavors. That attention to detail became an important part of what makes BTL SVC taste and feel like a freshly prepared cocktail rather than a typical ready-to-drink product.

We started in travel, including hotels, airlines, cruise lines and trains, places where delivering a great cocktail can be particularly challenging. In hotels, that meant applications such as minibars, in-room dining, grab-and-go, welcome amenities and events. The same fundamental idea applied throughout travel: provide the quality and consistency of a properly made cocktail in places where making one from scratch isn’t always practical.
From there, we moved into concessions, including stadiums, arenas, museums, theaters and other entertainment venues, where BTL SVC could provide not only a great cocktail but important operational benefits such as speed of service, consistency and controlled costs.

We then expanded into retail, initially focusing on gourmet markets and subsequently moving into liquor stores, specialty markets and supermarkets. Retail introduced BTL SVC to another consumer altogether, the person who appreciates a great cocktail but also appreciates the convenience of simply opening, pouring and enjoying one at home.

Then the RTD world changed dramatically. Thousands of new products entered the category following COVID, and suddenly “ready-to-drink” could mean almost anything.

We had a decision to make. We could reformulate, lower our costs and ABVs and compete with mass-market RTDs on price, or we could remain committed to what Nathan originally set out to create.

We chose quality.

In fact, the growth of the category ultimately helped us better understand where BTL SVC belonged. Just as consumers have choices ranging from value to ultra-premium in spirits, wine and beer, we believe they should have the same choice in ready-to-drink cocktails. There is a consumer who cares about quality, and when they do have a cocktail, wants it to be a great one. That’s our customer.

Over time, we’ve also realized that BTL SVC is about something larger than simply selling bottled cocktails. We’re providing a cocktail solution. Depending upon the customer, that can mean improving the guest experience, creating incremental revenue, increasing speed of service, reducing labor requirements, providing consistency, controlling costs or simply making a great cocktail available somewhere it otherwise couldn’t be.

That realization has brought us full circle to Nathan’s original idea. Whether it’s in a hotel room, on an airplane, at an arena, by a pool, on a golf course, at an event, in a retail store or simply at home after a long day, the objective remains exactly the same: provide the experience of a properly made, perfectly balanced cocktail without compromising quality simply because a bartender isn’t standing in front of you.

That journey has led to more than 50 awards for taste, design and packaging, placements across hospitality, travel, entertainment and retail, and opportunities we never could have imagined when Nathan first started putting cocktails into bottles.

But despite all that growth, the idea behind the company really hasn’t changed.

A great cocktail should be available whenever and wherever you want one.

BTL SVC. Anytime. Anywhere.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think the road is ever completely smooth when you’re building a company and, as mentioned above, one of our biggest challenges came following COVID when the RTD category exploded. Suddenly, we were competing for attention with thousands of new products at every price and quality level, including products backed by conglomerates with very deep pockets and a strong market presence.

But in many ways, that challenge helped us better define who we are. We made the decision not to compromise the quality of our cocktails simply to compete on price. Instead, we doubled down on what made BTL SVC different in the first place and focused on being the premium option within the category.

Like any growing company, we’ve had plenty of other challenges along the way—from educating buyers and consumers about what makes a true premium RTD different, to navigating distribution and expanding into very different industries. But each challenge has helped us refine the business and better understand where BTL SVC provides the greatest value.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was born an entrepreneur. From a very young age, I was always enterprising and looking for business opportunities. At 16, I launched my first real company, a valet parking business that ultimately became the third largest in Los Angeles, with more than 150 employees and 50 locations.

I later went to graduate school in Boston, and when I returned to Los Angeles, I launched a media company that was acquired several years later. During that same period, I also launched a beauty company at the iconic Fred Segal in Los Angeles, which began what would become more than 20 years for me in retail.

Those years on the retail floor were probably one of the greatest business educations I could have received. I learned consumer behavior firsthand—how people discover products, why they choose one product over another, how to match products with customers, how pricing affects purchasing decisions and how to market and sell products to different types of consumers.

I eventually took that experience and created a consulting firm focused on helping entrepreneurs take an early-stage idea and turn it into a viable consumer business. We worked from concept through launch, including business organization, product development, pricing and competitive analysis, operations, organizational structure, sales and marketing and, when necessary, fundraising.

It was during this time that Nathan Oliver approached me with an idea for creating a cocktail in a bottle that was every bit as good as the cocktails he made behind his bars. I liked the idea so much that rather than simply taking him on as another client, I decided to build the company with him. A year later, BTL SVC was born.

I think what I specialize in—and what has probably been the common thread throughout my career—is seeing the commercial opportunity in an idea and figuring out how to turn that idea into a business. I tend to look at things from both sides: what does the consumer want, and what does the business selling to that consumer need in order for the product to succeed? My years in retail taught me that having a great product isn’t enough. You have to understand who the customer is, why they should care about it, how it should be positioned and priced, and how you’re ultimately going to get them to buy it.

What I’m most proud of with BTL SVC is that we started with an ambitious idea—to create a bottled cocktail that could genuinely compete with one made by a great bartender—and never compromised that original vision. Today, our cocktails are perfectly balanced, made from the original recipes and correct proportions using premium ingredients you would actually find behind a bar, and have won more than 50 awards for taste, design and packaging.

But I’m equally proud that we’ve taken that original product and continually found new ways for it to create value. What began as a solution for travel has expanded into hospitality, concessions, entertainment and retail, with each industry using BTL SVC somewhat differently.

If there is something that sets me apart, I think it’s that I don’t look at a product simply as a product. I look at the entire business around it. What problem does it solve? Who is the customer? Why should they buy it? How does the retailer, hotel, airline or other account benefit from selling it? And how do you create a business model where everyone in that chain wins?

That’s really what I’ve spent my career doing—taking ideas, finding the opportunity within them and figuring out how to turn them into businesses.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Helping others realize their entrepreneurial dreams make me happy. Taking an idea and figuring out how to take it to market and make it successful makes me happy.

Pricing:

• 100ml – Single Cocktail – $12.00
• 375ml – Multi Serve (4 cocktails) – $40.00
• 4BTL Box Set – $80.00
• 6BTL Box Set – $110.00

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.BTLSVC.com
• Instagram: @BTLSVC
• Facebook: BTL SVC
• Twitter: @BTLSVC
• Youtube: @BTLSVC
• Other: Pintrest: BTLSVC

Image Credits
Photos of Nathan Oliver & of Women in Green Dress – Skandia Shafer
Photo of Michael Baruch – Michael Baruch
All other photos – Saul Rasco