ON THE WIRE: PALLET MAGAZINE, A NEW QUARTERLY PUBLICATION FOR THINKERS, CRAFT BEER DRINKERS AND BEYOND

Welcome to "On The Wire" Our new feature where media industry professionals are interrogated about topics ranging from their work, to what they ate for dinner the night before. Because it can't always be about business, which it is!

Our first "On The Wire" feature are the founders of a brand spanking new magazine called Pallet. Pallet is quarterly print publication for people who like to think and drink. The publication uses beer as a conduit to additional topics such as Science, History, Photography, Music and more.

We chatted with Pallet's Nadia Saccardo and Rick Bannister, two publishing industry vets about their new magazine and how it all came to be:

       Nadia Saccardo                                                                                                               Rick Bannister

You guys love print, its still a huge source of revenue for some publishers. But In an increasingly digitized magazine publishing industry, why launch a print magazine instead of just a website?

Rick: Because reading online and reading in print are two completely different experiences. Reading on your phone or laptop comes with a low-level of anxiety, because you know there’s a bottomless pit of information ahead, so you end up skimming everything and scrolling on forever, never truly engaging with much. Nowadays, not many things have the power to make you stop and really appreciate what’s in front of you, but a premium magazine is still one of those things. We love the idea of that.      

How did the concept for Pallet come about, what inspired it?

Rick: After working in magazines for years, I took a detour to become a qualified brewer and ended up working in the industry for nearly five years. During that time, I realised there weren't any mags that were talking to me or the craft beer fans I was meeting and working alongside. That was where the seed was planted. Meanwhile, Nadia and I had worked together on magazines previously, she’s one of the most respected people in the industry in Australia, so we teamed up when the time was right. 

Pallet is in some of the key beer states like North Dakota which consumes a lot of beer. Are there plans to expand distribution even more in these states and around the country?

Nadia: For sure. Pallet is actually stocked in all US states aside from Mississippi (we are working on that…) with a larger presence in places like California, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Colorado and Texas. Our distribution strategy extends beyond newsstands to craft-beer centric retailers and cellar doors around the country, where passionate beer lovers congregate. Specialty retailers such as Craft Beer Cellar and Eataly, breweries such as Dogfish, and larger retailers like Whole Foods and Sprouts have been really supportive from the start and we hope to grow these partnerships over the coming years. 

Pallet is of top quality production. You guys said it also has more in common with a coffee table book than a regular magazine. A lot of luxury publications love the coffee table status.  Describe the reader Pallet is targeting and how are you reaching them?

Nadia: Our tagline is “only interested in everything” and Pallet’s dream readers are people like us: curious but not too academic, detail oriented, collectors of nice things, a bit nerdy, friendly, accessible, and fun. We’re putting a lot of time into connecting the mag with like minded readers by personally hand-writing notes and sending copies to people, in beer and beyond, we feel will love the mag and share it with their audiences. We’re also working closely with our distributors to select where Pallet is stocked. A big problem in print publishing is wastage. Mags churn out high numbers, sell about 30 percent of them, and retailers turf the rest. We think this model stinks and are trying our best to target stockists that are more likely to be frequented by our readers and, in this way, make sure Pallet has the best chance of getting into the hands of people who love it.

It’s a year later and we are talking about Pallet Magazine over a few beers of course. What would you be telling me about Pallet?

Nadia: That Gay Talese is writing us a three-part feature and we’re having a beer with Amy Schumer in the next issue. Ha! Seriously, we would love both of those things, and in the meantime we’re trying our best to put some interesting and unexpected content out there.

What beer goes best with an issue of Pallet?

Rick: You don’t have to be into beer to enjoy Pallet, but personally, we think good reading deserves a good beer. Someone asked our executive editor Sam Calagione this question recently and he said a hearty tripel or imperial stout in front of the fireplace. I’d have to agree. 

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