Adrian Biggs is now one of Bacardi’s top figures in the US: where he brings the spirit giant’s top brands to life.
But early in his career, Biggs signed up to a six-month stint on a cruise that took him far away from the comfort of home.
The cruise wasn’t about seeing the world. It was about learning the ropes as an assistant quick service manager. Here, Biggs learned first-hand about the hard but rewarding work in hospitality: everything from staff scheduling to late nights and long hours.
And – despite an impressive career that’s since taken the Australian to the US – it’s this experience that sticks with him the most.
“Do you know why I did it?” he said. “I was young and wanted to test myself. I knew it was going to be hard, but I went and did it to see if I could put myself in a tricky situation and learn from it.”
And that experience set him up for the rest of his career.
Turning drinks into an experience
Fast-forward many years and Biggs is now leading, shaping and simply living cocktail culture with Bacardi in the US.
He’s been the company’s director of trade advocacy for the last five years. It’s a role that is at the intersection of culture, commerce and creativity: leading the strategic direction of brands and how they engage with consumers.
That means working with superstars such as Bombay Sapphire, Grey Goose, Patron, Martini, Bacardi, Cazadores, St Germain and more.
Biggs’ office is now much more conventional that a cruise ship cabin, but he still spends time travelling (most notably to Mexico, with tequila making up an important part of the company’s portfolio) and spending time in bars and restaurants.
That’s where his passion lies. He’s eager to enthuse about the latest experience at Papi Steak in Miami (a luxury steakhouse known for its signature tomahawks); a memorable cocktail at Shinji’s bar in New York; or a delight at Sip&Guzzle, also in the city.
Because that’s what his job is all about. It’s about making Bacardi’s drinks more than just drinks: but an experience.
“We’ve really seen the experience culture take hold,” he said. “People aren’t just going for the food on the plate and the client service that’s delivered. What makes you pull your phone out and capture something as a special moment?
“These experiences are becoming more and more important as the boundaries of creativity are being pushed.”
Sometimes these experiences are about dry ice and smoke, magic and theatrics. Sometimes it’s a lot simpler: using the foam on a cocktail as a canvas for words or images to create a personalised drink.
“Have you ever enjoyed a cocktail with a picture of your face on it?” he asks. “It’s phenomenal. You should see the delight on people’s faces when it comes their way.”
But spending time in bars is only the start. Biggs has a job to do. He’s got to put Bacardi’s drinks out there and centre-stage, not only in the mind of consumers, but in the minds of bartenders.
“In advocacy, we’re the educational geeks of our own company,” he said. “So I’ve been fortunate to go to pretty much every brand home and distillery and I know all of our master distillers and the passionate scientists that make our brands.
“I’ll take all that heavy information and, across our advocacy teams, we’ll develop that into digestible education that we can share with our sales teams, our distribution partners.
“If I walk into a bar and order a Patron margarita, I want the bartender to be proud to pour it. And they might say: ‘Hey, did you know that Patron is additive-free? It’s just made with water, amazing blue weber agave, and yeast.’
“And if they want to go wax poetic about why additive-free is important, we’ve shared up the right information."
The mighty margarita
What's the top cocktail? Biggs showcases the mighty margarita: a drink that can be classic and yet creative at the same time.
"It's been the #1 cocktail for several years; and I'll be bold and say I think the margarita will hold that #1 position for the next five to 10 years," he said.
"It's such a delicious, easy cocktail. Tequila is on trend: I don't see that rading, it's now within our palette set. Much like coffee, our palettes have evolved to enjoy the bitterness.
"And the margarita is easy to make, very replicable, but easy to alter and showcase your skills as a bartender."
Take, for example, a spicy margarita (jalapenos); Tommy's margarita (agave nectar); a burst of mezcal for smokiness; or a passionfruit margarita.
“So experiences are not going away. They’ll become more elevated, more opulent as creativity flows.”
The spirits industry is not like others in food and beverage. Here, leaders is the spirits industry often had have interesting backgrounds: many starting on-the-ground in a bar.
And that’s experience that remains important, even when climbing a more corporate ladder.
Biggs’ role is about combining the rules of marketing with the experiences of hospitality.
“In advocacy, we’re not your classic textbook sales or marketing function, we’re a bit of both,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed sitting and observing brilliant marketers within Bacardi and seeing their textbook approach to things, but then being open to on-premise expertise and finding this beautiful harmony.”
From fine dining to summer camp
Biggs’ stint on a Disney cruise is not the only experience that’s shaped his career. His early career covered top bars in New Zealand; two years as a Summer Camp Counsellor in the US; and working in fine dining at the Sydney Opera House.
That, he said, was another transformational experience. “The high pressure, the level of expertise and precision that’s required in fine dining, the finesse that comes with it − that experience blew me away and helped set me up,” he said.
“So I would highly recommend that. You see things most people don’t: you’re looking at everything with such rigour, you’re looking to touch the table with such finesse that everything is flowing like magic.”
Biggs has been based in Miami as director of trade advocacy: heading up a team of around 100 people, including a range of local, regional and national ambassadors.
Next stop is Chicago, where he’s moving into the role of Bacardi USA senior state manager, on-premise in Illinois.
So what’s his top tips to others looking for a similar career?
In a role like this, it’s not about qualifications or a collection of impressive titles. It’s about how you move, learn and adjust as you go along.
The chapters of our careers are rarely linear. They are shaped by intention, circumstance, curiosity and resilience and when you zoom out, they all tell a story not just of what you have done, but who you’ve become.
Adrian Biggs' LinkedIn bio
Biggs knows how his experiences have shaped him, and his career.
His easy-going, open (and stereotypically Australian) personality is important in hospitality and spirits, where the industry is still very much about showing up in person and making connections.
“I have this fearless personality type of just knocking on a door and saying ‘hey, I’m Adrian, nice to meet you’,” he said.
But success is not about being an extrovert: it’s about knowing when to listen, watch and learn.
“I’ve also found myself to be a sponge: that I’m able to pick up things through sheer observation,” he said. “But the other part of being a sponge is that I’ve had exceptional mentors along my journey. They’ve stopped to give me time when I’ve asked for it, so I’m a huge proponent of mentorship.”
“I was very lucky to surround myself with people that were willing to give me the hard knocks: but also show me the way, when I asked for help.”
And that now also influences how he leads his team.
“I’m a huge believer in vulnerable management,” he said. “I will say to any member of my team: ‘I don’t know the answer, but can we figure it out together?’
“I think there was a past view of leadership that you had to know everything: but that is not the way I like to manage things. I might find somebody in my team that is excellent in an area that I’m not, and I’ll go and ask them for help and take them on that journey with me.”
