How one company became a 'game changer' for celebrity alcohol sales

There are now hundreds of owned or backed celebrity alcohols on the market for a range of prices to accommodate everyone's taste and budget.

GrapeStars, a mobile app and web platform that lets celebrities use their social media to sell products to consumers, recognized the growing trend and is now working with more than 300 celebrities and their brands since celebrities cannot directly sell wines and spirits themselves.

Part of that restriction has to do with strict U.S. laws when it comes to selling alcohol, according to GrapeStars CEO Jean-Jean Pelletier. Celebrities cannot sell directly to consumers, so Pelletier and his company created a channel for them to reach consumers with GrapeStars.

"The market is huge," Pelletier told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "There is new product coming in the market that we see — the new shift. Alcohol without alcohol, canned wine, all these have been booming like crazy. ... The market, it seems that it doesn't stop. We believe that we're a game changer in the industry."

During the coronavirus pandemic, sales have skyrocketed in the industry, Pelletier explained.

"They all wanted to follow what George Clooney did with his tequila, Casamigos," Pelletier said. "He sold for [roughly] $1 billion [in 2017]."

'The NFT and metaverse is the way to go'

The platform is currently available in 45 states and boasts more than 200 brands of wine, bourbon, whiskey, cognac, tequila, gin, and other boozy beverages. Celebrities associated with the company include singers Mary J. Blige and John Legend, basketball legend Michael Jordan, and heavy metal band Metallica.

They're also in talks to develop products with Adam Levine, Bruno Mars, and other big-name stars, according to Pelletier.

"When you look at the wine of Mary J. Blige, it's made by Marco Sentinel in Italy, who is one of the best winemakers in the world," he said. "When you look at John Legend, he made a deal where he partnered with Jean-Charles Boisset, who's also one of the best winemakers in the world. So these products are fantastic, and we're very proud. We believe that we're truly a niche market, but we think we're a game changer."

In terms of the company's most popular products, Pelletier said they include Metallica's whiskey, Steven Soderbergh's Bolivian drink Singani, and Michael Jordan's tequila.

The company is planning to expand even further in 2022 and work outside the U.S.

"We're talking with some partners in Canada to launch GrapeStars over there," Pelletier said. "Latin America, also. My brother is in Medellín in Colombia with some celebrities there, discussing about the opportunity there."

And, like many companies as of late, GrapeStars also has plans to enter the metaverse and NFT space.

"We see that the NFT and the metaverse is the way to go," Pelletier said. "So we're launching in 2022 GrapeStars NFT. This will be a game changer for many, many companies."

Karina is an anchor for Yahoo Finance.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn