US-based Blackheath Beverage Group has launched a brand development division including the development of wine and spirit brands for entrepreneurs who aspire to enter the beverage alcohol industry.

Spearheaded by Blackheath’s CEO, Jay Harkins, the new division will consist of a development team that will utilise insights from Blackheath’s existing national sales infrastructure.

The division will be responsible for aspects of brand development such as conceptual ideation, creative and packaging design, flavour development and product procurement, financial projections and business plans, acquisition and exit strategies, and sales and marketing tactics.

With the launch of the new division, the group expects to become the first brand-development agency with sales infrastructure under its ownership.

Blackheath marketing director Tom Michaelsen said: "While our Brand Development division will function independently of our sales organisation, our access and knowledge of the beverage alcohol industry across key US markets provides us with an unparallelled advantage over any other agency.

"This real-world experience, coupled with an energetic creative team, leaves us strongly positioned to offer a better suite of services to this industry."

Blackheath Beverage Group delivers distribution support for independently owned brands.

The company is touted as the first independently owned national sales and marketing platform in the US.