[00:00:00] Speaker 1: More SKUs, more data, more complexity. The beverage industry is changing fast. VIP helps suppliers, distributors, and retailers stay ahead, turning purpose-built beverage data and technology into smarter decisions and better results. For more than 50 years, VIP has helped power the beverage industry. Now, they're building what's next. VIP, empowering smart decisions. Visit VIPinsights.com for more information.
[00:00:32] Ray Latif: Hey folks, I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of BevNET's Taste Radio podcast, and you're tuning into the latest episode of Elevator Talk, the series that profiles early stage and disruptive brands from across the food and beverage industry. Today's episode will focus on five beverage brands whose entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to hear feedback and advice from our co-host for this episode. That is the man sitting to my left, Andrew Guard, who is the founder and CEO of Right Coast Brands. Andrew, great to see you. Great to be back. Thanks for having me. Yeah. The man sitting to my left and also my dear friend. We met when you worked at BevNET way back in the day. Yes.
[00:01:08] Andrew Guard: I remember your resume just sitting on the conference table thinking, no chance for this guy. And here I am 14 years later.
[00:01:15] Ray Latif: Isn't that crazy? Hanging in there. I am hanging in there. You've done a lot with your life since, which is great. We've been busy. Yeah, you've been busy. The founder of Right Coast Brands, what do you guys do?
[00:01:24] Andrew Guard: We are an early stage beverage manufacturing partner. So we work with a lot of early stage, I say early stage, but we do work with some larger national brands as well to help them, you know, with procurement, full scale manufacturing, kind of everything we need to help them bring products to market, keep products, you know, going, build innovation, you know, all kinds of fun things like back of the back of the room for the beverage company.
[00:01:47] Ray Latif: I mean, it's great when you have a co-packer that knows the business inside and out like you do. Your background began in operations and you've since kind of become a jack of all trades in this business.
[00:01:59] Andrew Guard: Yeah. I mean, I learned on the job, you know, doing various operational roles for a handful of different beverage companies and kind of every type of category. I have technically now made every type of ready to drink product and every type of ready to drink package. Worked with large, multinational, small, bespoke manufacturing partners all over the country, literally all over the world. Then a couple of years ago, wanted to kind of bring everything in-house and really own that whole experience, you know, from, you know, the brand owner's lens. And that's kind of like what we like to bring to the table.
[00:02:32] Ray Latif: Yeah, and you do beer, too.
[00:02:33] Andrew Guard: We do, yeah. So we acquired a brewery a year ago, literally a year ago this month. So we've started our own beer brand. We have a tap room. We have a lot of contract brewing partners. It's a whole other segment of what we're doing and offering, kind of bringing the same kind of brand ideology process to the contract craft brew world.
[00:02:56] Ray Latif: Cause you weren't busy enough. You figured you might as well just add a brewery. A distillery is on tap too, I'm assuming. Uh, yes, we, well, we, we are, we, yes, yes. Are you serious? Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay. I was kidding. All right. Well, exciting stuff. Um, it's always exciting when I get to meet early stage entrepreneurs because they are the next generation folks that are bringing innovation, excitement, and newness to our industry. And that's what Elevator Talk is all about. You see these folks All Día, all night, all the time as well. What kind of questions are they coming to the table with? What is their most difficult hurdle to overcome when they're getting into this business? And I'm talking about today, because the hurdles were slightly different, you know, a few years ago. I know they're typically universal, but in 2025, what is the biggest challenge for early stage entrepreneurs?
[00:03:49] Andrew Guard: Biggest challenge, I think, is just understanding the capital required to really bring your products to market. Not just create something and have inventory and see how it sells, but really think about engaging with who your core consumers are. How do you go about finding them and speaking to them and having them become advocates for your brand? That next level of what it takes to launch a brand, not just create a product and put it in market. What is that next step and how are you being methodical with that? Because a lot of effort and time comes into that component of it, not just getting to the finish line of creating inventory. That's really kind of getting to the starting line. A lot of our conversations are reframing the process not to like, oh, we have a formula, we have packaging, we think it's the next best thing, we're gonna launch it on Amazon and our own e-commerce channels. That's great, and that's all essential parts of it, but really, when do you become a beverage business? And then what is it like to be an operator in a beverage business? And we spend a lot of time setting people up for success that way and having those types of conversations.
[00:05:00] Ray Latif: What's the plan? Exactly. Yeah. It's strange. It's almost like, you know, business plan should have always been part of the process, but a lot of times it's not.
[00:05:09] Andrew Guard: Yeah. I think a lot of the idea of a business plan in the traditional sense is like, I'm going to open a laundromat. I want to have 50 machines. It's 50 cents a thing. I'm open for eight hours. Like you can build a pretty black and white business plan with hard caps there. Beverages is forever going to be the Wild West of how you want to build a business for your business. There's so many ways you can approach it, and it's only gotten more prolific. And that's what's exciting about it. And that's also what's interesting for me, year over year, continuing to do this and being an entrepreneur, being in the space is that I mean, I've done a lot, I technically know a lot, but everything's still new, and that's what's exciting, and that's what's really cool about being in this space, even with you guys at BevNET, too. I mean, you guys are on the front lines of interacting with what's next, what's happening. I mean, the premise of this whole show is based around that, and that's what makes it so great.
[00:06:06] Ray Latif: Yeah, one of the things I really love about the beverage industry and meeting early stage founders is that we can help, hopefully, prepare them for success. I mean, there's a lot of failure in this industry. I don't want to use that word, but I'm going to just call it what it is. There's a lot of failure in this industry. But helping brands prepare for success and helping them realize that success is potentially possible, just as you do, Andrew, I think is really exciting, right?
[00:06:34] Andrew Guard: Yeah, it's defining success. Is the type of product you're creating positioned the right way? And how do you correct that or how do you plan for that in a way so it can be successful? What type of category are you competing in? Where do you wanna go and spend your marketing dollars that are gonna get the best bang for buck? I think there's a lot of ways to define success day one, And then, you know, day 10,000, look different, right? And like, it's an evolution all the way through. And it's finding, you know, more successes than failures along the way, to make sure that you can kind of continue to stay afloat, and learn and, you know, become a much better navigator, you know, through, you know, what is always like uncharted territory, it seems like.
[00:07:25] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's exhilarating and also really scary, I think. Just the idea, I mean, I'm not an entrepreneur, who knows if I ever will be, but I imagine the process can feel really lonely at times. And I think that's where it's good to have people like you who can help guide and shows like this that can help make you feel like you're not alone. There is some real solidarity in having five, six entrepreneurs together, talking about a lot of the same problems and a lot of the same opportunities as well.
[00:07:53] Andrew Guard: And the whole industry is collaborative. I would say even if you're peer-to-peer, potentially conflicting brands or business owners, everyone talks, everyone gets along. I mean, there's a lot of solidarity there. So even in the times of feeling kind of like you're on a raft in the ocean, you're kind of really not. Yeah.
[00:08:19] Ray Latif: Yeah. Good point. Well, I'm really excited to meet all these entrepreneurs. You ready to meet our first? Yeah. All right. Those folks are Sasha and Ailey Petrovic, who are the founders of Aldia. Sasha, Ailey, great to see you.
[00:08:32] Speaker 2: Thanks for having us today.
[00:08:34] Ray Latif: Thanks so much for joining us All Día. I'm pronouncing that correctly. Yes, you're pronouncing it perfect. And I assume it means All Día.
[00:08:41] Speaker 2: Yeah. And you've already said I think twice so far in the podcast because I keep track, which is okay. Well, tell us all about the brand. My name is Sash. I'm the founder of Dose of Aldea. We're a premium tequila-based canned cocktail really crafted for that wellness-conscious drinker who are looking for that all-day enjoyment without compromise. We're at two and a half percent ABV and 50 to 60 calories, so we stand out in what we would call a very crowded category. Our flavors are very foundational. We've got lime, lemon, grapefruit, and cucumber. They all kind of have a path back towards our Texas roots. We feel we can stand out really well. And again, like I said, a crowded space because we're authentic and transparent to a level that we've seen most brands unwilling to go. And, you know, I can talk a little bit more about what that means. And I also feel that we're really true to our mission, which is allowing people to kind of enjoy their cocktails All Día long. And I kind of tease to say, we are the brand that keeps you vertical and not horizontal throughout the day and to be able to kind of enjoy the day. So, and we're also very focused on the wellness side, which I think a lot of the data is showing that consumers are moving a little bit away from, you know, alcohol consumption. And we think we can kind of help bridge that back with our brand Aldea.
[00:10:04] Ray Latif: There's a lot to unpack here. The 2% ABV is actually something that somehow I didn't know about, and I want to get into that, but I want to talk about the branding first and foremost. You have spectacular branding. Where'd that come from? I mean, how did you consider the package design?
[00:10:18] Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to punt that to Ailey. She's the mastermind behind that.
[00:10:22] Speaker 3: Well, we work with a local Austin firm and I have loved fonts my whole life. So they sent us different canned options with a bunch of different fonts. And I'm like, I hate them all. I'm going to find the font we want. So I'm like, hunting online for the font, and I sent them the font. I'm like, okay, run with this. This is sort of the vision. And we had, I mean, probably 30 variations of colors. We asked everyone we knew, like, does this make sense for lime? What do you think about this for, you know, the grapefruit? And so I have a Pantone book, and I feel like I was constantly flipping through a Pantone book, like pairing two colors for each of the cans. So for sure for font and color, there was a lot of back and forth. We loved the design team we have here in Austin. They're really talented. I was very picky, but I think it came off with an end product that we're really happy with.
[00:11:12] Ray Latif: Can I ask a potentially uncomfortable question? Did it cost a lot?
[00:11:17] Speaker 2: It did. We wanted to make sure that the brand was very popped because it is crowded. And so the last thing we wanted to do was have a canned design and a brand that kind of blended in. So to Ailey's credit, she worked really hard with our brand team and unfortunately did cost more money than we hoped to spend. But the outcome we were very happy with.
[00:11:45] Andrew Guard: Hey, quality costs. Well, yeah, I mean, you have to think of your package and what's going to be consumer facing as your number one salesperson. So you think of it in relative cost to who's going to be out there, you know, selling your products. They work 24-7, seven days a week on the shelf. It's worth the effort and the time and dollars put into having, you know, very clean cut, you know, brand centric packaging.
[00:12:10] Ray Latif: But as we all know, you pick up the can once. This is beautiful. Crack it open, you try it. That's really what's going to sell it and it's going to create a repeat purchase. And as we all know, repeat rate is so important in our industry. You want someone to buy 100 cans, not just one can over the lifetime of their consumption, or certainly a lot more than that. But I've seen a ton of canned cocktails come to market. We've seen a lot more tequila-based cocktails come to market than I ever thought we would. I don't ever recall seeing one that was 2.5% ABV. This seems like a huge opportunity, right Andrew?
[00:12:47] Andrew Guard: It is, it is, and it's something that's bubbling up for sure. In a lot of ways, I think if you were to rewind the clock a couple years, the concept of having a low ABV drink would be seen as why. Consumer behavior's clearly changed. I also think the idea taken from the cannabis space too of micro-dosing things, the idea of micro-dosing and doing that in succession is starting to bleed over into the alcohol space and it's a indicator of that more so than it just has a little bit of alcohol in it. It's more about the moderation and the repeat consumption.
[00:13:28] Ray Latif: I guess the big question is about the marketing, right? Because the branding is beautiful. Tequila cocktails seem to be a category that a lot of people are paying attention to. But how in your face, Sasha, you talked a little about wellness. I think you have to be a little careful in the alcohol category about using that word or using any kind of health claims. But how much do you rely, Sasha and Ailey, on the notion that people are looking for a lower ABV type of cocktail. How much do you talk about that? How much do you talk about the calorie count versus saying this is a delicious product?
[00:14:05] Speaker 2: I think we lean into the liquid to start because that matters. And we've, I would say, over-invested in it. So our money goes into the liquid, not commercials. So we hope that kind of pays dividends. Then we lean into the calorie component and then we lean into the ABV. So it kind of like has that walk. where everyone speaks calories without a doubt. I think ABV, you'll probably find kind of a mixed audience on people understanding what it is. And when, if you ask them, hey, how much ABV do you have in the cocktail that you drink? Most people probably have an idea. There's a fair number that don't. Calories speak really well. So for us, that was kind of the second component outside the quality of the liquid. And from a marketing perspective, it kind of fits everybody. Like, you know, we've spoken to people who want to be able to, you know, go to the lake All Día, go to the park, go to, you know, to the beach, the pool, and there's All Día consumption across everything. And the best part about the brand is when we're talking about it, it's how many times people say All Día back to us. Which is like, you know, I think part of the brand kind of culture that said they're like Yeah, I do do things All Día. Like I spend All Día at the park I spent All Día at a lot of these events and I have to be able to stay on point I want to have a good time and enjoy it and I can't you know, go too far with it So this does feel like a nice blend that people who have families and kids who want to have a couple cocktails and enjoy people are gonna go tailgating in the college environment we've passed cans out to a number of legally aged sororities and fraternities at the University of Texas and These are college kids, right and you would say oh, they're the last people who'd want to drink it. They're loving it, right? You know, they're doing tailgate starting at 7-8 in the morning and it lets them kind of be in the game be social and allow them to kind of participate where nobody's looking to wake up hungover no one's looking to not like remember what they did and And I think our brand kind of allows for people to really cruise at that 30,000 feet in a way, you know, call it micro dosing and to enjoy the time, you know, enjoy the day.
[00:16:03] Ray Latif: Do you think there's more opportunity, Andrew, for a product like this, where it's a low ABV, I guess this we'd call it mid calorie?
[00:16:11] Andrew Guard: It's sub 100 calories, so I think in terms of the hard seltzer category, I call it more so than canned cocktails. If you're sub 100 calories, you're in a good space in terms of marketability standpoint. In terms of general idea of low ABV, I think there's plenty of room to play there and it's open for somebody to grab and own. I think the balance right is lower ABV, kind of the expectation of you consume more of them over a period of time. So low calories kind of have to fit into that. Otherwise you kind of just get tapped out on the sugar or just kind of the heaviness of it. I think with right understanding, right balance of flavor, there's plenty of opportunity for sure.
[00:16:59] Ray Latif: One thing we've seen a lot of in the past couple of years is non-alc cocktails. And some have, I guess, depends on your definition of success, some have done better than others. I almost feel like there's more opportunity here than there is in non-alc. Non-alc feels like it's a very, non-alc cocktails it is, feels like a very, it skews too much towards like sober lifestyle in a certain way.
[00:17:23] Andrew Guard: It almost creates an artificial barrier of, I can have this, I can't have this kind of scenario where this takes that away.
[00:17:32] Ray Latif: Al, Dio, where are you guys sold? What's the price point? What's the package size?
[00:17:36] Speaker 2: We're about to launch in the next three to four weeks. So we're going to start with some on-prem launching at one of the big watering holes in Austin, which is called Little Woodrow. So we're excited about that. And then we're going to start making kind of our ways into the big chain stores within Texas. So I think the specs, the total wines and the twin liquors will be kind of where we start. So our launch is coming up in the next three to four weeks. Price point is kind of where you see a lot of the other, you know, spirit-based RTDs, 4-pack $11.99. And then we go to an eight pack variety at $20.99. And then we'll kind of hold it there for now. We're looking at a 12 pack as well. That will probably be around $28.99. So I think it's designed to like play in the space that people are already comfortable and used to. And I think the reason why distributors like it as well as retailers is you can move volume, right? This is one of those drinks where you can drink an eight pack, right? Where there's a lot of brands out there you know, two to three cans in, you're done, right, for the day. And I think consumers want to be able to be in the game All Día. And distributors and retailers, as well as brands like like us, we want to move volume. So it kind of feels like it's, it's ticking all the boxes for the supply chain, you know, all the way through on the consumption side. And hopefully that will resonate in sales. And we're starting in Texas, so it'll be a central Texas launch. We're gonna dig our heels in really deep in Texas. That's where Ailey and I are from. She's got a very strong social network within Texas that we think can give us, I would say, a leg up versus other brands who are starting without that type of advantage.
[00:19:18] Ray Latif: We're out of time, but Sasha, do you guys have experience in the beverage industry?
[00:19:23] Speaker 2: No, no. We got in here on accident. We have no business doing this. We didn't want to do this. Yeah, this literally like hit us in the nose and we were trying to find a reason not to do it.
[00:19:32] Ray Latif: Well, it sounds like you guys are Caught up to speed pretty quickly. You're doing a lot of the right stuff that you're supposed to be doing early on and thinking the way a beverage entrepreneur should be thinking. So well done on that front. I can't believe we're out of time. I always say this, we need more time, but I'm thanking you so much for this time that we had together. Really appreciate it. Excited to see where the Brandt Gehrs from here. I don't know if you had an opportunity to send us samples, but when you do, please do. I'd like to drink eight on this Saturday, actually, myself. I think that would be fun. Yeah, All Día, All Día, exactly. In all seriousness, thank you so much again, and please stay in touch. Let us know if we can help in any way.
[00:20:09] Speaker 3: Thank you.
[00:20:10] Speaker 1: More than 70% of new CPG products fail, often over margins founders never fully understood. Outsourced accounting can close that gap for good. Visit belasolutions.com slash BevNET for a free small business accounting guide from Belay.
[00:20:27] Ray Latif: Artificial intelligence is reshaping every corner of the beverage industry. But where is it creating real value today? Stay tuned till the end of this episode for a bonus interview when I sit down with Andrew Krizis and Lucinda Awkwad of VIP to explore how AI is moving beyond analytics to automate decisions, improve efficiency, and transform the three-tier system. Let's keep it going with Eric Trueheart, who's one of the co-founders of Grizzlies Cosmic. Eric, it's great to see you again.
[00:21:02] Speaker 4: Ray, great to see you. It's been ages. You look exactly the same.
[00:21:08] Ray Latif: I really appreciate you saying that. You look exactly the same since we first saw you on stage at our cocktail showdown, I believe it was 2021 in Los Angeles. You were one of, I think it was 10 or 12 participants in that showdown. And I was really impressed with your product, your brand, your approach to the industry, because it was different. A lot of the brands that participated had similar pitches, a similar approach to the canned cocktail or ready-to-drink cocktail space. But Grizzly's Cosmic was just like, okay, this is cool because it's different. Tell us all about what you do.
[00:21:44] Speaker 4: First of all, my co-founder, Samantha Franklin, sends her best. She couldn't be here today, but she said, please tell Ray I said hi. But we are Grizzlies Cosmic, to answer your question. Grizzlies Cosmic is the first line of zero sugar, real bourbon, craft level hard cola, that we approach the hard cola as a cola line and a craft line. And most importantly, our mascot is a psychedelic space yeti, because why would you not? And what we, when Samantha and I got into this business, what we did is we looked around and we saw that The whiskey and cola is completely underrepresented in the RTD landscape. Today, if you search for vodka-based RTDs on Total Wine, there's over 100. If you look for margarita-based, there's over 80, 85. If you search for whiskey and cola, there is about four, maybe five, maybe, and it is a category that we think is wide open and there is, you know, the success of Jack and Coke canned product proves that the demand is there, but nobody has really engaged in that landscape, especially not with a colorful and fun and, you know, we think really you know, art forward, engaging brand that really sparks loyalty. And I hate to use the word loyalty because, you know, but it is, people love it and we have a good time with it. And we can approach this from an entirely different place in terms of marketing, not mechanics, but just, you know, the aesthetics of it, because we've got this brand. And I'll say we are 6% ABV, a little bit more than a beer. We have one carb because of zero sugar. The zero sugar has turned out to be a very, very popular aspect. And yeah, we are, you know, cola is one of the number one drinks in this country. And like I said, Jack and Coke is that first cocktail a lot of people cut their teeth on in college. And if you've had the Jack and Coke in a can, then I don't need to finish that sentence because you know what it tastes like. And we worked really hard on making our formula and people say it is delicious. We think we are at craft level taking that to the next level. And at BevNET, Ray, one of the BevNET executives whose name I now forget, he was about this high, he had hair and like a face. I don't know, you know who I'm talking about. Sure, hair and a face, yeah. Yeah, that guy. He said to us, um, have you considered marketing the cola just on its own and you know Our first thought was that sounds good. Our second thought was well, we really don't want to go up against coca-cola But and you know, there are liquor stores, which means we know where to market things. But yeah, that is that is where we are right now We're in every total wine. Um, well actually we're cleared for every total wine in california uh on the we're on the shelves at a number of them and the ones where we have our pilot marketing programs, we were actually beating Jack and Coke, which is great. And now we are just, we are fundraising and we're looking to get that, we feel like everything is in place, the product, the retail, the marketing, and then we just need the money to start meeting that demand through a marketing program and doing production runs.
[00:25:01] Ray Latif: So I've tasted this product, and if it's still the same taste as it was four years ago, it's a great tasting product. And, you know, Jack and Coke is not something I typically drink, but I really enjoy the taste of your bourbon and cola blend. I think, and I'm gonna ask Andrew the same question, one of the most difficult parts of comparing your brand to another, or comparing your products to another, is that you have to mention that other brand. And how good it is not. it's a difficult conversation to sometimes have. So Andrew, if you were operating Grizzlies Cosmic, I mean, what would be your 10 second pitch, maybe potentially without using Jack and Coke as that example?
[00:25:45] Andrew Guard: I would say it's the best tasting bourbon-based cocktail on the market. And then it leaves you the flexibility to play with cola, not play with cola, have it spawn into different SKUs, because the soda aspect might be something people love and are gravitated towards, or it's what's turning them away. Because even though it is zero sugar, some people are like, I don't know how I like quote unquote diet sodas or zero sugar colas or sodas, so I don't know if that's for me, or I don't know what that's going to be like. I think being the best bourbon-based canned cocktail is a great way to start. And it's in a larger format can, it's a 6% ABV thing, that's what I would do. That would be the 10-word thing, I would say.
[00:26:28] Ray Latif: Eric, how much do you lean on the low sugar, no added sugar aspect versus taste, versus the quality of the bourbon? I guess, what is the part of the brand that you lead with?
[00:26:40] Speaker 4: You know, we lead largely with craft level. We lead with the fact that we are great tasting zero sugar is actually has turned out to be a feature not about we do alienate some people with the zero sugar, but we've found a lot of people really respond well to that. And I think there are enough zero sugar products out there that. and people are now more familiar with them, that we haven't had a lot of pushback on the zero sugar. So we tried, but we try to lead with that sort of craft level hard cola, with real age whiskey, bringing up that best tasting bourbon cocktail on the market is actually a great angle too. And we'll have to consider how to work that in because I think that's great. But we work on that sort of, it's fun, it's engaging, it's what to grab if you don't, if you're going to, playing a game, you're going to be going to the pool, having a party, that sort of thing. Does that answer your question at all? Because I feel like I've rambled.
[00:27:37] Ray Latif: Yeah, no, it definitely answers my question. And I think you've identified your community, you've identified your audience and who this is for. How much of this do you think you're going to be selling off-premise versus on is also a question I would have for you.
[00:27:50] Speaker 4: For people who have tried to sell RTDs on premise, it's a little bit of a challenge because a lot of times you get pushback from the bar because they say, well, we can just pour these two ingredients that are in your can into a glass and it costs us five cents and we charge $8 for it. For us, we have found, and we've done mostly off-premise. We've been mostly focusing on sales in places like Total Wine. For on-premise, the hook has been the hard cola aspect, and we approach places who also sell hard seltzer, which can be bars with a lot of musical acts where the goal is to get things over the counter as fast as possible. People understand in their heads hard seltzer, and they see White Claw, and they see High Noon up there. The words hard cola, resonate in that area in their brain. And so it's easy to understand in that context. But we really do say it's that off-premises are our focus.
[00:28:52] Ray Latif: Andrew, with a product like this where the branding is so bold and very much, I think, designed for a fun time, for a fun community, for a fun audience, I think there might be a question among some folks is, is this a product for me? What's your advice when it comes to sort of walking that line between being fun and also being something that you can kind of leisurely sip on? You know what I mean?
[00:29:21] Andrew Guard: In terms of like the brand like powerfulness, right? Because it's a so bright colors, you know, there's a mascot that is, you know, I'd say very, like, really in your face and strong and unique, right? I think letting that characterization come to life through like your social media channels, and the way you go and try to engage with people like at events and all these things, like, How do you make that, like your brand and the visual nature of your brand physically come to life or be as personified as possible? And it might be too in your face on surface, you know, like surface level, but the reality is maybe put that character in something that is much more mundane or something that is very universally known, right? Why can't the character be in a Total Wine shopping for his own things and discovers himself? Make what seems unapproachable or I don't know what this is feel approachable or relatable and then have that be something that people can then resonate with and then they can recognize that. like on shelf or at a venue or wherever it may be, and then they are gravitating towards it because there's a level of familiarity or comfort there that is like the out of the norm in the norm scenario, I think is a fun way to be able to play on that.
[00:30:42] Ray Latif: Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because I was thinking about it almost in terms of, well, what retailer should I be in? And you brought up to a line, I'm almost thinking this is a shoe in for Trader Joe's, right? I mean, it has that kind of quirky appeal in the same way that retailer does as well. How much product are you going to move in a Total Wine versus a Trader Joe's? I think that's a big question right there. And certainly their purchasing strategy is very different as well. But finding the place where you can actually personify the brand.
[00:31:10] Andrew Guard: Yeah, I think anywhere that you have the freedom to merchandise well, there's a great opportunity to tell the brand story and have that Jump out at you, you know, so trader joe's is I would say a very unique set of ways that they especially bring alcoholic beverages to people and that you kind of play by their rules in terms of like the handwritten cards and how you can kind of do things, but I mean find like a really great, you know regional chain or independent liquor store and you kind of have the gamut to do whatever you want as long as it makes sense and speaks to their core consumers.
[00:31:46] Ray Latif: Yeah, that's a really good point. How the hell are we out of time? Eric, I feel like we just started talking.
[00:31:52] Speaker 4: I blame myself.
[00:31:54] Ray Latif: I don't blame you one bit. I blame our producers who only give us 10 minutes.
[00:31:59] Speaker 4: Can I plug something very quickly?
[00:32:00] Ray Latif: I would love for you to plug something really quickly.
[00:32:02] Speaker 4: We're starting our fundraising campaign. You can find us on lopt.co. That's looped.co. And that's the end of the plug, but except for look for us in California Total Wines.
[00:32:14] Ray Latif: Well, I'll say this. I've always been a big fan of yours and Samantha's and I think that this is a brand that is needed. I think a hard cola is different. I think your approach to the spirits category is different and I'd love to taste you of Grizzly's cosmic. Excuse me, I gotta get that right. You don't have to.
[00:32:35] Speaker 4: There's no reason on earth. After you had a few, you might just get it wrong all the time.
[00:32:39] Ray Latif: I'm sure I'm not the only person to say it that way, but in any case, please stay in touch. Let us know how we can help in any way, because I really think you guys got something.
[00:32:48] Speaker 4: Thank you, Ray, and we're big fans of you too. Thank you. We're big fans, so great to see you again.
[00:32:53] Ray Latif: Let's keep things going with Akshay Jagdali, who is the co-founder of a brand called Siply. Akshay, it's great to see you again.
[00:33:02] Speaker 5: Yep, great to see you. Thanks for having me.
[00:33:04] Ray Latif: Yeah, you and I had a chance to catch up at BevNET Live in New York City earlier this year, and I got to try some of your product in, I think it was pre-production form. This is the actual form right now. This is live and in person. You were very kind to send us some samples ahead of time. So while you're talking about this brand and the origins of the brand, Andrew Guard I are gonna crack this open and have a sip.
[00:33:29] Speaker 5: Wonderful, thank you. So yeah, so simply we're juice done right. Okay, we've spent the last five years developing a technology that allows us to take the sugar, natural sugars out of juice, while still maintaining the taste and nutritional profile. So as you guys probably know, juice is a massive category, $12 billion category. 65% of all consumers drink juice regularly, but juice consumption on a per capita basis has been coming down for two decades, down about 35% because there's just too much sugar in juice. The rest of the beverage category overall, 55% of it is low or no sugar, but in the juice category, it's only 5%. So people haven't cracked the code. What have they been doing? They've been diluting the juice with water, and that just doesn't work. So we don't do that. We do what's similar to water purification. It's our secret sauce, but the best way to put it is a process that's similar to water purification is what we do just to target the sugars and take them out. So what we're doing with that technology, we think it's a platform technology. The first line that we're starting with is a 30% reduced sugar shelf stable juice line. and we'll have three core flavors to start off. We'll have an apple juice, we'll have a cranberry blend, and we'll have a grape juice. Those are the three largest SKUs in the $12 billion category. So that's us, I mean, we intend to create a better for you functional category within juice, like we've seen happen in soda, like we've seen happen in milk. So we say we're the fair life of juice, because our technology is similar and we're bringing better for you functionality. So down the road, you should see us do a 50% reduced sugar line, 80% reduced sugar line, we'll add fiber, we'll do all kinds of stuff that you've seen happen in other liquids and other categories, but for some reason hasn't happened in juice. So that's us, both me and my co-founder, Federico Tripoli, have been in the industry for a long time. We've combined raised about $500 million, done IPOs and so on and so forth. So we left all of that, And started from scratch. We start our fundraising, our seed round today. We'll be in market in the first quarter of next year. We're working with several retailers to figure out who will choose to do our test market run in one queue. But we're getting tremendous interest because our hypothesis going in was there hasn't been much innovation in the category. Well, we're seeing that in our conversations with retailers. I mean, they see this as a real innovation and they're thirsty for it, pun intended.
[00:36:43] Ray Latif: Yeah, I'll tell you something. I stopped drinking apple juice because of all the sugar. I used to be in love with apple juice and I really, I avoid it because the sugar count is just too high. So I really appreciate a product that just has less sugar. Andrew, for someone who has been in the juice business, has sold apple juice, how do you evaluate a brand like this?
[00:37:06] Andrew Guard: One of the beauties of juice and unadulterated juice, let's call it, is you don't really have to do a lot of explaining. You walk into, meet with a retailer or a potential customer at a demo, you put your drink on the table and you say, it's delicious apple juice. There's no, and it's this and this and trust me on this kind of thing. It does a great job of selling itself because it's such a understood beverage, and that goes for all juice. there hasn't been innovation in it because of its simplicity, right? I think there's been ways to kind of use juice as a platform to deliver sweetness in other drinks and all this stuff, but juice in its truest form, it's been center grocery store, kind of in the same, probably like multi-serve centric packaging for 20 years, most likely, if not longer. So I get it that there's probably a real appetite to find some innovation in that space, in that retail kind of configuration, you know, it's a big business to jump right into and you're going up and competing against with some really serious, you know, like ingrained players in the traditional juice space. So there's challenges to being a newcomer there and trying to go toe to toe, right? What's interesting is, you know, this is a 30% less juice product. Less sugar, sorry. but there's also optionality for a 50 or an 80, I think, you know, is that like a step change over time or is that gonna be like a choose your, you know, sugar reduction threshold? And then how does that play in terms of like taste profile and nuance around the process or like the secret sauce as it goes away from just apple juice and into kind of blended juices and things that are a little bit more dynamic in flavor?
[00:39:08] Ray Latif: That's a great question that I would expect investors are going to ask, which is what is that plan? I mean, I think most people would say, hey, I want 80% less sugar as long as it still tastes as good as it does. And by the way, it tastes great. You guys did a really, really good job with this product because it tastes like a full sugar apple juice. It tastes even better than that, I would say in some ways. But how would you address that, Akshay? I mean, is 80% the goal or is it just going to be a tiered model for the brand?
[00:39:36] Speaker 5: I come from a food background, food industry background. I was Southside Analyst for a number of years, and my co-founder is from a C-tech or Ag-tech background. But when we started, I was most excited about something that's five grams or less. So the 80% reduced sugar prototype When we tried it against us kids, you know, we're getting 90% of people choosing art. So I was most excited about that. We brought on, so we don't have juice experience. So we brought on Ken Romanzi, who's our lead director. He used to run Ocean Spring. And he brought on his number one guy, Eric Fritsch as well. So we have great advisors who know everything about juice. So they asked us to concept test. So we concept tested eight different concepts and this one got a 90% top two box score. Interestingly, the five grams or less was 89%. But I think that appeals to a different demographic, right? So we're first right now, just going after the juice drinker. I think the five gram or less is probably drinking flavored waters and carbonated beverages and things like that, right? And so we'll go after that down the road. It's a little bit more of a technical challenge. And from a marketing standpoint, The 100% juice label is number one for a juice drinker in basically saying, does it taste good? So the 30% reduced sugar product that we have, we feel confident we can label it that way. And so we're starting off with that. It's a big market in itself. But over time, I envision having a 20-foot set within the juice category, which is just better for you. And you'll have 30%, 50% like skim milk, 1%, 2% skim. That's 60% of the milk category. I don't see why. Everyone's not just drinking lower sugar juices because they taste amazing. I mean, it's great.
[00:41:49] Ray Latif: I think that assumes that the price is going to be similar to what is currently on the shelf. I mean, if you're talking about milk, whether it's skim 1%, 2% or whole, it's all pretty much the same price. What's the price point going to be like for this versus a juicy juice and ocean spray?
[00:42:05] Speaker 5: Very close. So we think we've done the math. Um, we think we can compete at scale at $0.07 an ounce, which is where Ocean Spray is, but we're not starting there. We're going to start at $4.99. in a 48-ounce as opposed to a 64-ounce for the rest of the category. And so it's a premium price point. It's about a 10% premium to the competitive set in that pack size. But over time, I mean, once we scale up, we have the ability to be even more competitive if we wanted to. It's our belief that we're bringing something to the table that doesn't exist for which we should demand a premium. And so we intend to sell at a premium for until we can, we can't. So that's, but it's still an affordable space, right? I mean, like there's apple juices that are 20 and 25 cents an ounce today. So we're mainstream, slightly premium, you know, that's kind of how I would position it.
[00:43:06] Ray Latif: Andrew, we're out of time. If we're talking about channel strategy, is this something that you think they should consider mainstream right from the get-go, or is it a whole foods, sprouts, natural channel type of play?
[00:43:17] Andrew Guard: Coming in at it, you know, mainstream, slightly, you know, premium plus pricing. I would do some, you know, blocking and tackling, you know, with accounts that the buyers are more price agnostic there. You still can be in 10,000 accounts in doing that. Right. But really understand how do you how do you. deliver this brand, not just the value proposition, to people so it becomes part of their household. And then once you kind of establish that dialogue on package and how you talk to consumers in grocery, then you take that to the middle of the country and other areas where you're gonna be much more competing on price, gonna be in flyers, gonna be on deals, gonna be having to do a lot of the beverage industry stuff. I'd cut my teeth on my premium price point and figuring out the kind of brand messaging and how we make this a household item and then bring it totally mainstream.
[00:44:17] Ray Latif: Yeah, well, I want to see this everywhere because this is exactly what the industry needs is a better for you juice. And what does a better for you juice mean? It doesn't mean adding probiotics, in my opinion. It means reducing sugar, reducing calorie count while maintaining the flavor that everyone expects and wants. So Akshay, I think you're doing something awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us on Elevator Talk today. Please keep us in the loop when you do go to market and where you're going to market and let us know if we can help in any way.
[00:44:45] Speaker 5: Absolutely. Thanks so much for your time.
[00:44:48] Ray Latif: All right. Another really interesting brand from a really great founder. His name is Chris Cook. He's the founder of Olya. Chris, it's great to see you again.
[00:44:56] Speaker 2: Hey guys. Good to meet you. Good to see you.
[00:44:59] Ray Latif: Yeah. So this is a brand that's gone through a bit of a journey. Olya, tell us all about what you do.
[00:45:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, so we did the New Beverage Showdown in 2020. I was in my truck, no AC during the first parts of COVID with a brand called Special Leaf. And I come from a food and beverage background, worked my way up to the executive chef level after working in hotels, kitchens. And I actually had the opportunity to work at an olive orchard in South Texas in 2013, 2014. And they were making this tea with the leaves of the olive tree and just serving it in the glass in the little cafe that we had there. And I was, I saw this and I was just completely blown away, tasted it. Immediately went home and learned everything that I could about it. Come to find out it has, you know, a three to four thousand year old history, numerous health benefits associated with it. So, you know, for the better part of seven years, I've been working on getting to the point of where it is right now. 2013, 2014, I didn't know how to do what I'm doing now. So it took me about four years to start saying no to a lot of things and living differently and having a different budget and lifestyle to make sure that we're putting everything back into this to make sure that it can survive. So yeah, it has been a journey and we've never looked better than we do now. We've changed the name. the packaging and everything, the formulation included, to really, really resonate with our fans and our community more so than we did before.
[00:46:47] Ray Latif: For folks like Andrew Guard I who love innovation and love trying new products and seeing different ideas, I think this is a product that we'd be like, fantastic, let's try this, hopefully drink it more than once, again, a hundred times, is that lifetime consumption? Bare minimum. I'm just kidding, it's minimum consumption, that's a good point. Olive leaf tea doesn't seem like truly the most intuitive thing for a mainstream consumer, really any consumer, but what's been the reaction from using that term, olive leaf tea? Is it something you have to really explain, Chris, or is that something that people kind of get and just say, okay, I get it, it's a type of leaf that you're using for tea?
[00:47:27] Speaker 2: Sometimes both, Ray. You know, we started doing farmer's markets so we could really, really gauge, you know, customers' feedback. They would give us real-time critiques, talk to us about different flavors they'd like to see. But I think the fact that we are a tea, or we're a tisane, right, it resonates with people already because it's the second most consumed beverage behind bottled water. So you have that going for you in the very beginning. And education is always gonna be a part of what we're doing. We don't shy away from that. So I think that we have a leg up on some brands and some categories being that we have been considered a T for thousands of years. So really what we're trying to do is provide a daily wellness level of our olive leaf single source extract coming from Spain. to speak to those health benefits, but really it's to provide not just the health benefits and talk about those, but you want to have great flavor. I'm a chef, and that was always the most important thing is the taste and the efficiency of getting it to the table. We've worked very, very hard to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to make sure that the flavor profiles in whatever how many SKUs that we have is very, very impressionable and impactful. So we've taken our time with it. And yeah, it's education All Día. And we will always do that and continue to do that. But, you know, flavor and function is really at the heart of what we're doing.
[00:49:09] Ray Latif: I've asked this question a number of times to different founders today, which is how would you recommend leading this brand? What would be the message you would recommend in terms of communication and consumer education when it comes to Olea? Again, it's described as an olive leaf tea. It's described as the antioxidant tea. Chris just described it as a tisane. What do you think is gonna resonate most with consumers?
[00:49:37] Andrew Guard: If it's delicious and refreshing. In the package format and where consumers are looking to buy canned or bottled iced teas, refreshment and satisfaction of flavor are the number one and number two. I think everything else in terms of Functionality is all nice to have, but if it's sweetened appropriately, if the flavors work well together and not compete against what you're typically enjoying an iced tea with, which is usually with food, it's usually a highly paired item. That's what you lead a hundred times out of a hundred on, is the quality of refreshment and what you're expecting from a taste, you know, flavor, you know, impact standpoint.
[00:50:25] Ray Latif: Of course, you have to get to taste. You have to get the liquid to lips cliche that we've heard a thousand times and then some in this industry. So from what I'm hearing is demo strategy is really important.
[00:50:38] Andrew Guard: Yeah. Well, I think there's some competing elements on the package here. Having to introduce the concept of an olive leaf steeped product. I know it's an extract, but the idea is that it's a brewed olive leaf tea. I would say the average consumer is going to be questioning of that flavor profile because there isn't a pinpoint. So having to deliver that education while also communicate that this is refreshing and delicious and it's priced appropriately, sweetened appropriately, whatever all the other components of packaged RTD iced teas is a lot. There's a lot to have to kind of convey there. There's a lot of subtlety in linking the brand to olive leaf extract being kind of the differentiator. And maybe it can be a secondary discovery thing for consumers and allow them to approach the product rather holistically, you know, as a typical iced tea consumer, and then understand the component structure and the benefits that come along with that, and then fully digest the differentiation that way.
[00:51:52] Ray Latif: Would you move olive leaf tea to the back of the can and really focus on refreshment like you talked about in flavor? I would. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, is that something, is that a consideration, Chris? I know you just went through a rebrand, but when you're doing this kind of testing, consumer testing and hearing feedback from folks in the industry, is that something you would consider is sort of taking that, I guess, product description and moving it to a different part of the can or moving it to a different part of your messaging?
[00:52:20] Speaker 2: It's an idea, but we're not running away from that, Ray. We've been in central market for 14 months as of eight months ago or nine months ago. As we're going through this rebrand, we've run out of inventory. During those 14 months, we were demoing and promoing and talking and educating. The numbers will show that, you know, we've had success quarter over quarter and have seen people's response. And, you know, we want to be a part of that movement and we're pioneering the narrative, you know, make America healthy again and better for you and natural function and lower amounts of sugar added to products. So, I understand where you're coming from and we've gotten that feedback from the very beginning. changing our name and moving things around. Actually, the New Beverage Showdown that we did in 2020, we were told from the panel that we should not run away from what we have in package and clearly define what this is front and center. So we've been doing this long and steady and hard and we wanna be that voice and we don't wanna run away or hide the fact that this is coming from a certain hero ingredient of ours. We really want to have that front and center and continue to be educators on how this can be something that people can consume on a daily, that maybe they start to think about other foods that they're eating that aren't great for them, that they've always been told that they should eat, or a beverage that they grew up drinking that they were always told that this is okay. You know, maybe with something like this, you know, in education, they start to think like maybe I don't have to do what I always did, or maybe I don't have to take those pharmaceuticals that I have in the past if I can look at this and, you know, it gives me the same kind of relief to some of the ailments that I have. Our antioxidant level is just off the charts. This is a single source extract. It has an auric value of 16,105. So it beats out all those other natural high antioxidant ingredients in nature, including green tea, including chocolate, including acai and pomegranate and those kinds of things. So yeah, I don't, if you were to say, let's move olive leaf to somewhere else on package, you're kind of losing, you know, a main component of the narrative. And that's just, that's not what we're trying to do right now.
[00:54:55] Ray Latif: I mean, I think it also offers you an opportunity to charge a premium price point for what you're doing as well, because it is differentiated. What is the price point per can?
[00:55:03] Speaker 2: So we started in central market at $399. And through scalability, we've gotten it down to a $299. So we're, for the amount of function, that we deliver that's a very, very approachable price point. We've always wanted to help people. That's our mission is to help people, you know, through the clinically documented data that's derived from this extract. And, you know, a super appeasable and approachable price point is always something that we've tried to get to. And I think that 299 is right there.
[00:55:39] Ray Latif: Yeah. Well, I'm on your Instagram page and I'm looking at the, this is the old packaging for special leaf. And certainly I love, I love the new name and I think what you've got in front of pack is really beautiful. And so Chris, I think you're definitely on the right track and I'm so happy to see that you're, you're still at it. It's a tough, tough business. And a lot of the brands that you competed with five years ago are not on the market anymore, and you still are. So you're doing something right, and I'm excited to see where the Brandt Gehrs from here. Thank you so much for being on Elevator Talk with us, and please stay in touch. And when you have an opportunity, send us samples, because I'm sure folks in the office would love to have a can in their hand.
[00:56:16] Speaker 2: Definitely. Can I plug our fundraiser info real fast? Yes, absolutely. So we've just embarked a couple weeks ago on a WeFunder campaign, so wefunder.com backslash olea. is our link there. And then we're also raising additional funds through a seed round that's headed by our board chair as well. So we're raising some money to put towards our growth and make sure we're sustainable. Working with a great broker in North Carolina, Alliance, to make sure that we're doing things the right way. But once we get product, it'll be around the end of this year. We'll get back into building Texas more so and then kind of go into the different sides of the United States and fill in the gaps. I appreciate y'all's time and good to see y'all again and hopefully get to see y'all in person sometime soon.
[00:57:04] Ray Latif: Yeah. Perhaps at BevNET Live LA in 2025, which happens in about, I want to say, oh my gosh, like two months. Too soon. Yeah, too soon, but it's going to be exciting. BevNetLive.com if you're interested and anyone listening and interested, it is going to be a party for sure.
[00:57:21] Speaker 6: All right, Chris, thanks so much again for being with us. Thanks, guys. Thank you.
[00:57:45] Ray Latif: All right, wrapping up the show, we have Gene Kim, who is the founder and CEO of Birdie Sparkling Tea. Gene, it's great to see you again.
[00:57:55] Speaker 2: Hey Ray, it's good to see you again.
[00:57:56] Ray Latif: Yes. Gene and I met up at our Taste Radio San Diego meetup, which was pulsating. I want to say we had well over a hundred people, probably closer to 120, 125 people at the event. And I was so excited to meet Gene and team because Birdie, talk about great branding. This is one that stands out. Tell us all about what you do.
[00:58:18] Speaker 2: Just as you said, we debuted just about three weeks ago in the greater Los Angeles area, but I would say we debuted more during the BevNET Taste Radio meetup. And thanks to BevNET, we got a lot of good traction after that and just wanted to talk briefly about how we got to Birdie Sparkling Tea. So my co-founders and I started Birdie Sparkling Tea because we wanted to create a drink that gives you more clarity of the tea and refreshment of the soda without too much sugar, caffeine, and fake ingredients. And also growing up equally around two cultures, one that celebrated tea as a ritual and another that really celebrates refreshment Birdie Sparkling water and lots of beers. We aim to bridge both worlds, like blending the Eastern balance and the Western energy. To get into the product itself, Bertie is a sparkling tea brewed for balance and clarity. It's 35 calories, lightly caffeinated from the tea, six milligrams of caffeine, and it's designed to refresh your body without overstimulation. We launched with two flavors. I'm sure you're seeing it on your screen right now, Ray. We have the Apple Jasmine and the Peach Oolong sparkling teas. And we have a great manufacturer in Southeast Asia who source its fruits and ingredients from local farms, which had some of the tastiest and the sweetest fruits I've ever had. And me and my three other co-founders, we're starting out in Los Angeles. We are really trying to grow organically, conducting a lot of demos and samplings in fitness studios, such as Orange Theory, F45, Equinox, golf clubs, and restaurant franchises, and also lots of college campus social events. as not a lot of students are consuming as much alcohol as before. But ultimately, we want to really refresh the way we connect, just one drink at a time. And our product also has vitamin B, electrolytes, and two grams of sugar. So we try to make it as clean, crisp as possible.
[01:00:44] Ray Latif: Again, another brand, another product line with fantastic package design. You just want to pick it up. It's something you see and you're like, Hey, I got to know what this is. It's really, really striking.
[01:00:58] Andrew Guard: And it can go very broad. Yes. apply to a lot of things.
[01:01:02] Ray Latif: Yeah, absolutely. We had this conversation on Taste Radio, my colleagues and I, a couple weeks back. I think we had it multiple times. And that's about sparkling tea itself, which is, I don't know, it just, it seems like something that's tough. It's been done, but never really, there's no, I think. No one's owned it. No one's owned it. Right. Why is that? And do you think Bertie has an opportunity to do so?
[01:01:25] Andrew Guard: It's a, in my personal, you know, interactions with sparkling tea, you know, some of the carbonic acid of the CO2 doesn't jive well with kind of the earthier nature of a lot of teas. So they kind of automatically conflict with one another. A million factors can then go into leaning into that, helping that. It seems like with Bertie's products, there's a lot of functionality that's both naturally derived and then also fortified as well, too. So I think playing more in the angle of Seltzer's soft drinks as opposed to a sparkling tea takes me, my taste buds to a different place in a way that I think is much more approachable and less defined by the tea that happens to Birdie Sparkling versus like the teas like driving flavor in a sparkling beverage, if that makes sense.
[01:02:21] Ray Latif: It's funny you say that because, Gene, I think when we spoke, you heaped praise on a brand that we all know called Spindrift. Correct me if I'm wrong. It feels like Spindrift doesn't necessarily have to describe what it is because it's pretty intuitive. It's sparkling water in real fruit juice. Was that the conversation we had or am I making this up?
[01:02:42] Speaker 2: You're spot on right there. Um, our co-founders and I are obsessed with sparkling water. We've been drinking it for, you know, as long as I can remember. And also, uh, we drank a lot of tea as we were growing up and, uh, we wanted to create a, be a big player in a new category because there is a functional beverage wave, which began, I believe not too long ago. And, um, I, I see it as similar to how kombucha started, uh, at the same point about in the 2010s. And I believe we can make a big impact in the beverage space.
[01:03:16] Ray Latif: You mentioned some of the added benefits, Andrew, the vitamin B boost, the L-theanine, the electrolytes. How much do you think is that, how much of that is going to move the needle for most consumers?
[01:03:29] Andrew Guard: If it's an option between choice A and choice B, it's certainly kind of looking at value for your dollar, leaning probably towards products that are much more fortified or have something more to offer in terms of like brand allegiance, I think it's, you know, they're just nice boxes to check, you know, whereas someone gravitates towards the visual nature of the product, then becomes loyal customers through, you know, carefully delivering a great quality taste experience over and over again. The functionality I think I'm imagining in kind of the context of this drink is, you know, not medicinal in any sense or any real way, that's, you know, a supplement. So it's a nice to have, certainly more so than if there was a Birdie Sparkling tea that had nothing of the sort. I think it certainly, you know, is a differentiator.
[01:04:23] Ray Latif: One of the other things that's really interesting about this brand is that it doesn't necessarily need to say one thing or the other. I think, again, the branding is so interesting that you just want to pick it up. And then the word birdie feels fun. Where'd the name come from, Gene?
[01:04:42] Speaker 2: Yeah, so I grew up playing a lot of golf, and regardless of your skill level, even if you're an amateur, pro golfer, or just starting out, a birdie on a golf course is probably the best feeling you'll have during that day. And I wanted to replicate that onto your everyday experience. And in a customer day spectrum, I wanted to make sure we don't have too much caffeine content so that you can enjoy this beverage even after 4 p.m. Like myself, I can't afford to drink coffee after 2 p.m. I'm very caffeine intolerant. and I can't even touch energy drinks. So I just wanted to make it accessible on the golf course, whether after your hot yoga or even after a long day of work. Birdie will be there for you.
[01:05:36] Ray Latif: Andrew, Gene touched on the fact that people are drinking less alcohol and this could be a good alternative. You know, versatility can sometimes be a gift and a curse, right? Is there a way to sort of walk that line of saying, we can be drunk in this occasion or we can be consumed at this part of your day? I mean, or should they just focus on what you've been saying over and over and over, which is refreshment and delicious taste?
[01:06:05] Andrew Guard: It's a very challenging tightrope to walk, you know wanting to dabble and kind of day life and night life. Let's call it Because you're not really all in on one, you know, I I think for a product like this Why I wouldn't really think about bringing up as like an alcohol alternative. There's so much space the categories driven by RTD iced teas and soft drinks, there's no obligation for bigger players in those categories to say, oh, we also can be consumed when you're consuming alcohol in lieu of, right? In some ways, it's assumed or expected. It certainly can be a valuable channel to be available on premise, you know, as an alternative to something for someone who's looking for something new and unique. But I don't think it has to be positioned that way because you're kind of doing a disservice to the quality of the beverage as it stands on its own merit in its true like home category.
[01:07:14] Ray Latif: Gene Innovation Pipeline, I know it's early to say, but you have an apple flavor, you have a peach flavor. I assume you have some other stuff in the works.
[01:07:23] Speaker 2: Absolutely. We have two other flavors that are actually ready to go. I did not want to overcrowd our SKUs from the get-go. And as you know, we launched three weeks ago just now, and we have a lemon tea and shine muscat green tea also ready to go as well.
[01:07:42] Ray Latif: Very cool, very cool. Well, I mean, you're off to a great start. Getting the branding right, that's really, really difficult. Getting the positioning right is an evolution. It takes time and you will have a different iteration and a different way that you communicate and market your brand as you learn more about how consumers drink it. But I think you're off to a fantastic start and I'm so excited to see where you guys go from here. Please let us know if we can help in any way. We would love to do so. And consider, I think probably someone mentioned this to you already, participating in our New Beverage Showdown, or at least applying for our New Beverage Showdown, which is happening in LA in December in about two months. Andrew has judged one of our New Beverage Showdowns and it's fun. Yeah, really good way to bring exposure and awareness to what you're doing to a large audience that is full of investors, retailers, distributors, and everyone else who works in the beverage industry. So yeah, I would apply.
[01:08:42] Speaker 2: Yeah, right. I mean, uh, the great news is we will be there. Uh, we've signed up for the BevNET live happening in Marina Del Rey, December, and also the beverage showdown and super excited to see you guys there again.
[01:08:54] Ray Latif: Well, there you go. I didn't even know you were applied yet, but, uh, that's such great news for anyone listening. If you're like Bertie in any kind of way, you should also apply as well. Gene, thanks so much again for taking the time and we'll see you in December.
[01:09:07] Speaker 2: Thank you, Ray. Can I also plug our fundraising really quickly? Yes, absolutely. So, you know, after our BevNET Taste Radio meetup in San Diego, thanks to you guys, we've actually gotten a lot of inbounds from potential investors and distributors in the West and East Coast. And we are really looking to partner up with some, you know, strategic investors or distributors who could also help us scale in a great fashion. And for the limited consumers we've had since launch, I guess our biggest wins have been that we've gotten extremely positive feedbacks on how unique our product is, but also on how great it tastes compared to its uniqueness. So just wanted to bring that up there. And thank you, Babnet team.
[01:09:51] Ray Latif: Well, thank you again. And, uh, I'm glad you're getting a lot of inbound interest in the brand that just shows that people should be coming to our meetups, which we're going to continue in 2026, but thanks again, Gene.
[01:10:02] Speaker 5: Thank you, Ray. Thank you, Andrew.
[01:10:04] Ray Latif: Indeed. Thank you, Andrew. Uh, just a wealth of information, good advice, straightforward advice. I mean, honestly, it's hard to come by sometimes in this industry there's, um, a lot of people who say they can help, but maybe not have, don't have the kind of experience that they probably should when they're making those kinds of suggestions when it comes to your brand. And so I really appreciate you taking the time to be with us and just offering real world, thoughtful feedback to entrepreneurs who are gonna benefit from it.
[01:10:35] Andrew Guard: Yeah, I mean, I think you mentioned it just briefly a second ago. All of this is an evolution. You're constantly learning about, your business and your brand and your products, who your consumers are, your consumers change, your brand changes, you change as a person, and what you wanna devote your time and energy in and what you wanna be able to kind of go a million miles deep on and bring to the world and share what you're spending your energy and what you're creating. It's a process always. There isn't one way to get it right. If you think that you've nailed it and gotten it right and you don't have to do anything, you're definitely off base. Just in my own learnings too, it's always an evolution of what you want to do and how you want to continue to bring your products to market.
[01:11:20] Ray Latif: Well, I think this is your fourth time on the show? That's a good question. I don't know. I'm going to go with four. Okay. Which means we have to have a five. Yeah, of course. Yeah. We've got to have you back. We'll have you back soon. But if anyone wants to get in touch with you and your team, what's the best way to do so?
[01:11:34] Andrew Guard: You could just reach out to me via email or all of our contact info is on our website, which is just writecoast.co. I'm there All Día, every day for the most part. So always happy to help. you know, happy to lend my two cents on things, you know, partner or, you know, point in the right direction, whatever we can do to be, you know, a good resource. Outstanding.
[01:11:56] Ray Latif: Well, thank you so much again for being with us on the show and thanks so much for all the entrepreneurs who joined us and for everyone watching or listening at home, really appreciate it. And of course, thank you so much to our amazing team at BevNET, Nosh, and Taste Radio, the best in the business. Signing off for everyone, I'm Ray Latif, and we'll talk to you next time. VIP has quietly powered the beverage industry for more than 50 years, trusted by more than 2,800 distributors and 1,400 suppliers. They have defined this industry time and again, and in this era of AI, they're leading the way. Today, we're joined by VIP CEO, Andrew Krizis, and Head of Sales, Lucinda Aquat, to discuss where the industry is headed and what customers can expect next. Andrew, it's great to see you. How are you? Good. Thanks for having me, Ray. Lucinda, how are you?
[01:12:51] Speaker 7: So great, excited to be here.
[01:12:53] Ray Latif: Yes, and our audience is excited to hear about VIP's capabilities with AI because it is a topic that is top of mind for so many founders at this point. Andrew, as I mentioned, VIP has been around for over 50 years. Your background is pretty interesting because you bring so much to the table as CEO. How did you come to VIP?
[01:13:14] Speaker 2: Yeah, great question, Ray. And I think it does go back to the legacy of VIP. So I'm incredibly passionate about the beverage and alcohol industry, the broader CPG industry as a whole. So I spent the last 12 years plus working at Nielsen IQ, working with many of the suppliers that could be listening to this, distributors and retailers. And it was about five years ago that I first interacted with VIP and it's actually a partner to Nielsen IQ. And so complimentary partnership was created and I got to know the company a little bit. I got to see the value of what VIP creates in the industry and how it helps support the three tier system. And I was just blown away also by the people. by just the caliber of the talent, how respected they were in the industry, how much knowledge they had across the three-tier system. And so once I started to get to know the company a bit more, I saw just the opportunity for the technology to do so much more across the industry. And with AI, as we were talking about becoming really important and accelerating every day, every week, I started to realize it's a huge moment for AI and technology and more investment to come into VIP, really help our clients, help the suppliers, help the distributors and retailers, and transform how operations and the day-to-day work is getting done. So I just saw that as a great opportunity, both in the technology and AI side, leveraging all of my data background and knowledge in the industry, but then joining a group that has an amazing culture, an amazing team, and a ton of passion behind it.
[01:14:33] Ray Latif: Lucinda, when you came to VIP, you also came with a ton of experience. Just talk a bit about your background in this industry.
[01:14:40] Speaker 7: Yeah, thanks, Ray. So I like to say I was born and raised in the beer business, but I got here as soon as I could. Started when I was 21 with Boston Beer Company. I've worked in all three tiers of the three-tier supply chain over the last 20 years. And I showed up to the first day to the VIP office here in Burlington, and I felt like I should be asking for autographs because VIP is the only set of data and the only set of tools that I've ever used on any of the three tiers. So it was really remarkable to see the team of people that has built such an incredible organization and really built from the ground up over the past 50 plus years that VIPs existed. So I'm honored to be here, a part of the team now to help carry the sales team into the future with all this new, authentic work that we're going to talk about.
[01:15:26] Ray Latif: Andrew, let's just start off by talking about where the beverage industry is headed right now in broad terms and why AI is such a critical strategic investment for founders and businesses.
[01:15:36] Speaker 2: You know, I think about whether you're a small supplier or distributor or a large supplier, you know, the beverage alcohol space. You could be only have a few people at your company or hundreds. At the end of the day, everyone's looking for efficiency, whether you're three people within your company and you're stretching yourself to try to do five jobs. Or again, you're a larger company with maybe 10 people in the finance department. You're all trying to find better ways to do what you're doing so you can drive more product to consumers. So AI is just coming at this perfect moment over the last six to 12 months where everyone needs it. Everyone needs it for similar reasons, for inefficiencies, whether it's helping you run some reporting, it's helping you with pricing, it's helping you optimize something. At the end of the day, there's never enough hands and arms within a company when you're building a brand. And I've experienced that, you know, working with hundreds and hundreds of founders over the last 12 years in my past role with Nielsen IQ. And I see that with VIP. So I think all of the industry, both suppliers, distributors, retailers are looking at AI to try to understand how can I drive more efficiency? How can I drive a better delivery of my service or product to the end customer? And how can I do it in a way that's going to set me up for success? But now many people are taking it in different ways. You know, AI isn't something that's just intuitive and you throw on a chat bot and all of a sudden you're up and running. So it's really interesting to see how suppliers are leveraging AI, how distributors are leveraging AI, retailers, et cetera. And there's some fun nuances between those three.
[01:16:59] Ray Latif: When it comes to spending money on AI or otherwise, founders want to see a return on investment. And I'm curious about how you measure return on investment when it comes to AI. And also, there's so much hype about AI at this point. Where does hype meet reality? Lucinda, can you tackle both questions for me?
[01:17:18] Speaker 7: Yeah, great questions. So I think I'll tackle the ROI question first, because I think it will address the buzzword as well. But I think when you think about AI, I was thinking back to all these different technological advances and how they've impacted the industry all the way back to when we used to have rolls of quarters to get on the pay phone, and then all of a sudden, cell phones helped to make us more efficient. Same thing with printers, and then the internet. I think of AI in the same way. It will give us the ability to enable all of our teams to be that much faster, that much smarter, smarter by way of better insights from the data. So if we're able to take a sales report, a sales ranker, and extract out the insights that much faster and distill down to the actual accounts we should be spending our time in, that to me is an instant ROI. There's also back of house applications. We think we talked with our distributors about some of the features that are most important to them as we're building out our new agentic platform. And it's things like avoiding the fat finger on the order. We don't want 10, we want one. We don't want 100, we want 10. And so giving the teams the ability to capture those things in advance, I think is where we see the ROI. It also empowers our retailers to make better orders. So think of predictive ordering in an e-commerce platform like Connect. There is so many great things that we can do to empower across all three of the tiers using all of our agentic features that we have in place now. So if I'm a retailer, if I'm a distributor, if I'm a supplier, that's how I think about the ROI. And it really enables the humans to be better at their jobs. So that in itself, I think is the buzz. I encourage people to think about AI as more of a tool and a way to do their business, a way to go about seeking the outcomes they're looking for versus this buzzword of a tool. And I think when we all begin to embrace it much more, we'll see that firsthand as well.
[01:19:11] Ray Latif: Obviously, technology is moving faster than it ever has before, and it's incumbent upon VIP to provide technology that is keeping up with the times, or in this case, keeping up by the day.
[01:19:22] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're spot on with it's evolving every day, every week, new models come out, Able 5 came out for the second time. So it's a constant. It's been great. I've had a few conversations just recently with some distributors and suppliers. And when we talk about the investments, one of the things that came out clearly from our clients was, they are interested, they are getting pressure to use AI. And so initially, you know, whether you're a founder on this call, a supplier or distributor, the thought process was, let's just take Jett, GPT, let's take Claude, let's just turn it on for everyone. And like, let's go get some insights. And you can get some gains and insights there. But ultimately, those clients came to us and said, hey, for us really to take advantage of this new technology and capability, we need VIP. We need VIP to do this within all the business processes because VIP is so foundational to the core operations, whether you're a distributor, whether you're on the supplier side, looking at your inventory and depletions. And so that's where we took it upon ourselves to say, let's look at the marketplace. Let's look at all the different providers out there and take a hard look at ourselves. And we made the decision to make a really sizable, significant investment into a new architecture with AI and an agentic first decision. And what that allows us to do is actually create not just agents and AI on top of legacy products, which again, that still adds some value, but it doesn't change the game. And so we said, let's go down the path of actually building for the next several years, not for the next two months or three months, because a new model is to proceed something, but we need to have a new foundation. So VIPs made the biggest investment or one of the biggest investments we've ever made as a company. And that's gonna allow us to have an agentic first platform, bring in many different types of data and create agents on top that again, aren't just giving you some insights, but I like to say are doing work. They're doing work for you as a supplier. They're actually making decisions on your behalf within certain guardrails. And then they're able to communicate for you. If you're a supplier, actually having these agents do work for you, communicate to your distributors, to your trading partners on your behalf. Again, I go back to my first point. Everyone needs more arms and hands, right? You never have enough people when you're a small player or a large player. And so actually being able to do some of that work, communicate digitally to distributors, whether it's pricing, whether it's something related to inventory, whether it's shipments, and likewise distributors having agents that can interpret and engage and make decisions on their behalf, and then communicate to their trading partners. That's where we're going as VIP with AI. We think we play a really central role into that core operational element of how the three tier system works. But we were also cognizant that that takes real investment. It's not just lipstick. on an existing product and putting in a chat bot and saying, oh, everything's AI. It's really looking at the foundation of what's needed. So much has changed just in the last six months, where whether you're a software or data company, what you had built maybe two years ago, even 12 months ago, almost becomes irrelevant from an architectural standpoint, just because the last six months. So that level of investment is something we're fully driving towards and working with a lot of clients on both the distributor and supplier side of how we bring this new platform to life. And at the same time though, we're still investing in our existing products. That is not stopping. So I think of it from a VIP standpoint, as we're going down both paths, we're investing in existing products, putting AI on top, kind of what I was mentioning with many others in the industry, but we're also going after this whole new architecture and whole new platform. And that's what's really required long-term of the three-tier system.
[01:22:46] Ray Latif: Whenever I talk to founders, operators about who they choose their partners, it really comes down to trust. And I think when you're talking about AI and the evolution of this technology, it's really important to trust your partner. And it seems like the level of expertise that you guys can provide to companies is just unmatched at this point. So I highly encourage folks to get in touch with the team at VIP. Lucinda, what's the best way to do so?
[01:23:14] Speaker 7: Yeah, thanks, Ray. We are so excited to hear from all our customers. We're getting questions every day, and I do think the best way to reach out to us is vapinsights.com. And go and submit a form, request a demo, send in a question, and we will be able to get back to you. But our sales team is talking with all of our customers All Día, every day about this, and we're really excited to bring everyone more.
[01:23:35] Ray Latif: Outstanding. Well, Andrew, Lucinda, thank you so much for taking the time. I'm really excited for the future of AI and VIP's ability to help companies address this technology in a really effective way. So thanks again, and let's definitely stay in touch. Great. Thanks for having us, Ray.
[01:23:50] Speaker 7: Thank you, Ray.
