Why Une Femme Abandoned DTC to Focus on Major Brand Partnerships

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Brett Stapper interviews Jen Pelka, Co-Founder and CEO of Une Femme Wines. Growing from a small in-house brand at her champagne bars to the third-largest canned wine company in the United States in just five years, Une Femme has transformed its go-to-market strategy from traditional fine dining and boutique retail to securing enterprise-level partnerships with companies like Delta Airlines, Virgin Voyages, and major hotel chains. Pelka shares how pivoting during the pandemic led to explosive growth, taking their production from 1,500 cases to over 300,000 cases annually with just eight full-time employees through a capital-light model focused on strategic B2B partnerships.

Topics Discussed:

• Transitioning from restaurant ownership to building a wine brand

• Scaling production 3-4x overnight to meet enterprise-level demand

• Creating a capital-light business model through strategic partnerships

• Developing high-quality canned wine products backed by scientific research

• Building a mission-driven brand that authentically centers women

• Navigating the challenges of retail distribution and DTC economics

• Surviving devastating personal and business losses during the pandemic