“It’s okay to fail, but do it fast and do it cheap” – just-drinks speaks to Atom Labs global head of NPD, Rosie Milsom

UK drinks company Atom Brands is the third arm of Atom Group, a consortium of drinks businesses that also includes online spirits retailer Master of Malt and sales network Maverick Drinks. In 2018, the group was bought by Anheuser-Busch InBev, marking another step on the company's journey from producing just 24 bottles of gin a week in 2012 to an estimated half-a-million bottles in total this year. Last week, Atom Brands revealed Atom Labs, an NPD platform tasked with developing spirit ranges based on customer feedback from Master of Malt data. The company can go from idea to execution in just six weeks, allowing it to test what works on Master of Malt before committing fully. Products that have already come off the Atom Labs assembly line include Jaffa Cake Gin and Burnt Ends, an American whiskey designed to pair with barbecued food. Speaking to just-drinks after the launch, Atom Group's global head of NPD, Rosie Milsom, talks about how Atom Labs aims to disrupt the spirits industry through trial and error, COVID's impact on the project and A-B InBev's hands-off approach to ownership.

December 14, 2020