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How Brooks & Chie Addington Built a Non-Alc Mainstream Brand

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📢I talk🎙️with Chie, Chief Administrative Officer & Brooks Addington CEO of TOST. 👏🍷 🎇 🎉 ✨ 👏 🥂  😁 YouTube: https://youtu.be/0zelyx78hH8

The word is out! Check out their PRESS page of everyone saying so!

As an ending to "Sober October" we have a wonderful couple on to talk about the brand they are managing now called TOST (pronounced TOAST) and in PROST or cheers in other languages.

This dynamic duo from Hiroshima, Osaka andTokyo, Japan and Chicago have a great perspective and experience that they each brought to the brand building of a popular non-alc bubbles alternative.

Conversations started as early as 2014 and since 2016, they have building this TOST brand from a plethora of cultural experiences living all around the world from Tokyo, London, Toronto and now Vermont.

ALthough they are not the founders, they have been majority owners and running it since 2017 back when there was not a plethora of premium non-alc options. And our culture was to eliminate going out period if you weren't drinking.

This brand has gone through at least 50 iterations since 2016 which was their soft  launch. They quickly got distribution in 50 stores and asked Brooks to help from there.

TOAST fully launched in April 2017 and the why stems from the classic saying There's a problem, so how do we solve it?" question. They wanted to create a beverage that could be widely liked and great with or without food.

100% sourced and made in the USA and has a 2 year shelf life

This is a High-Quality brand!!!

Tasting:
TOST Original
A blend of white tea, white cranberry (mouthfeel stringency), some extracts: ginger, citrus plus a secret blend of 80-90 spices and flavors in it! Great acidity as my mouth produced a great amount of saliva. Sweetness with agave.

Good nose, mouth feel and relatively dry finish
Pairings with anything!

Rose
Dryer than the original and has elderberry vs cranberry. A bit less acidic and is softer with a longer finish. Sweetened with cane sugar.

I like them both for their different styles and they can be enjoyed for different occasions.

Product Offering:
Comes in Slim Cans - Limited to Arenas, Resorts, Pool Side, Cruise Lines
4pk Mini 250ML bottles $13.99
750ml Bottles $8.99 - $9.99 may be at $12.99

DSD wasn't interested. But the Athletic Brewing team helped make it more mainstream as they grew over the years. So, this widespread acceptance has evolved their distribution network. 

They started with specialty grocery, mom and pop stores, and independents that gave early trial through 2020. Once we demoed it really took off. 

Off-Premise
Now we are in Walmart, Albertsons, Total Wine, ABC, Bev MO, HEB, Sprouts, Fresh Ma

NOW ON YOUTUBE!!! Thank you for Listening! Join us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

Host Jessie Ott's Profile on LinkedIn





00:00:09:22 - 00:00:23:21
Unknown
Welcome to Thursday Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. My name is Jessica. The host of this podcast, which is all about beverage innovation. I talk with innovation pioneers from agriculture to glass.

00:00:24:08 - 00:00:29:09
Unknown
Thank you for listening and be sure to subscribe to be notified of all new episodes.

00:00:29:09 - 00:00:35:05
Speaker 1
And welcome everybody to Thursday Thursday's. My name is Jessica and I have Brooks and Chia

00:00:35:05 - 00:00:36:10
Speaker 2
from toast.

00:00:36:10 - 00:00:41:11
Speaker 1
Welcome. I'm so excited to have you guys on today. Obviously, I'm wearing

00:00:41:11 - 00:00:46:13
Speaker 1
your shirt and your hat.

00:00:46:15 - 00:00:52:17
Speaker 2
Yeah,

00:00:55:10 - 00:00:55:14
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:00:55:14 - 00:01:16:04
Speaker 1
I didn't know you guys listen to the podcast. That's awesome. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoy it. I think it's, you know, a platform for people like yourself, you know, that are kind of doing something different out there. And it's kind of a startup situation. Not too long ago, at least. And so it's fun to learn other people's journeys.

00:01:16:04 - 00:01:18:20
Speaker 1
And and you know how you got here.

00:01:18:23 - 00:01:20:07
Speaker 2
And.

00:01:20:08 - 00:01:29:02
Speaker 1
You know, I can't wait to dig in and get your history and find out what your outlook is for 2024. So where are you calling from today?

00:01:30:22 - 00:01:32:15
Speaker 1
Vermont.

00:01:32:17 - 00:01:35:23
Speaker 2
wow. That's far.

00:01:36:01 - 00:01:38:22
Speaker 1
It's called.

00:01:38:21 - 00:02:21:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:02:21:08 - 00:02:25:02
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well, it's a beautiful part of the country. I'm sure I haven't made it up there yet, but I want to.

00:02:29:08 - 00:02:47:19
Speaker 1
Yeah, it would be so fun to fly up to Boston and just drive around up there or even fly in to Bangor. We have Allegiant Air. That's there's an airport in Sanford about 10 minutes from our house. And so we could just fly up there real easy and just get a car and and travel around. Be great.

00:02:47:20 - 00:02:49:08
Speaker 1
Yeah, right

00:02:49:08 - 00:02:52:20
Speaker 1
after the kiddos go to school

00:02:54:08 - 00:02:54:14
Speaker 1
like.

00:02:54:17 - 00:02:57:20
Speaker 1
Like late August to September. That'd be fun.

00:02:57:19 - 00:03:01:07
Speaker 1
When

00:03:01:07 - 00:03:10:07
Speaker 1
do the leaves start? I mean, I'm from Iowa, so I know that they start or, you know, I'm sure you're further north. I mean, you're further north, but I'm sure it's not September, but

00:03:15:07 - 00:03:16:19
Speaker 1
late October. Yeah.

00:03:19:19 - 00:03:26:16
Speaker 1
Yeah. I remember going into my my tooth surgeon, whatever he's called.

00:03:26:16 - 00:03:28:16
Speaker 2
Sorry, I had a.

00:03:28:16 - 00:03:48:20
Speaker 1
Little bit tiny work done. But anyway, he was on the 12th floor in Dallas and in it overlooks the whole western side of the city. And when I was up there, I guess it was the first week in December, and you could see all the trees were all these different colors and it looked really beautiful. You know, like a real fall.

00:03:48:22 - 00:03:56:19
Speaker 1
And when I came back for my checkup, it must have been maybe the second week in November. And there was there was all green. It was still.

00:03:56:23 - 00:04:04:01
Speaker 2
Green and like, isn't late. We're this is so disappointing. And then I remembered.

00:04:04:05 - 00:04:06:17
Speaker 1
it's like two weeks, which I guess makes a big difference.

00:04:21:15 - 00:04:24:18
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah,

00:04:24:17 - 00:04:35:05
Speaker 1
I know. In Iowa, growing up, Halloween could just be miserable. And, and even in Dallas, you just never know. You could be in shorts or you could just be miserable, cold, you know?

00:04:35:05 - 00:04:36:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. You just don't

00:04:36:17 - 00:04:39:17
Speaker 1
know. You just don't know. But it's still fun.

00:04:39:17 - 00:04:43:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah,

00:04:45:05 - 00:04:49:16
Speaker 1
yeah.

00:04:49:17 - 00:04:51:10
Speaker 1
It's kind of like. Kind of like the news.

00:04:51:10 - 00:04:53:06
Speaker 1
It just is what it is.

00:04:53:08 - 00:04:54:10
Speaker 2
So do.

00:04:54:10 - 00:04:59:02
Speaker 1
You. Do you snowshoe or cross-country or ski or anything like that?

00:05:20:16 - 00:05:22:04
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:05:58:15 - 00:06:00:03
Speaker 2
Perfect.

00:06:16:15 - 00:06:18:03
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:06:25:04 - 00:06:26:02
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:06:26:02 - 00:06:27:14
Speaker 1
That's a lot of fun.

00:06:27:14 - 00:06:32:14
Speaker 1
So is there tubing like downhill tubing, too? That would be so fun.

00:06:38:19 - 00:06:40:02
Speaker 1
especially if it's icy,

00:06:40:02 - 00:06:46:21
Speaker 1
I'm sure.

00:06:46:23 - 00:06:49:14
Speaker 1
Yeah,

00:06:49:14 - 00:06:54:23
Speaker 1
yeah, yeah. We always did, too. Was fun. You know, growing up in Iowa. We did.

00:06:54:23 - 00:06:56:08
Speaker 2
We we.

00:06:56:10 - 00:07:12:13
Speaker 1
We lived by a big park, and so we had some hills, and it was kind of fun. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, you got to embrace it. And I think it's also a mindset, you know? And, you know, I mean, I was always, I'm leaving Iowa, I'm going south.

00:07:12:15 - 00:07:13:05
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:07:13:07 - 00:07:36:17
Speaker 1
Just because I just knew it wasn't fun. But if I were to go, say, you know, visit for a weekend or go skiing for a week or something, it would be fine. I, I would love it just to be outside. And it is pretty and it's fun. It's, it's, it's not miserable unless the wind is blowing. You know, you can tolerate pretty decent cold weather, you know, because of the layering.

00:07:36:17 - 00:07:41:12
Speaker 1
But then it gets the wind is like a whole other conversation.

00:07:42:14 - 00:07:43:01
Speaker 2
And.

00:08:08:18 - 00:08:10:00
Speaker 1
wow. That's

00:08:23:12 - 00:08:25:01
Speaker 1
blowing.

00:08:25:03 - 00:08:26:00
Speaker 2
Shoveling.

00:08:34:11 - 00:08:35:23
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:08:41:11 - 00:08:46:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. And fighting with the city. The city plow in your driveway.

00:08:46:23 - 00:08:51:06
Speaker 2
Yeah, I just shovel that and it's fun.

00:08:51:06 - 00:08:55:05
Speaker 1
But, you know, I remember, you know, doing donuts and, you know.

00:08:55:07 - 00:08:55:20
Speaker 2
Having a lot.

00:08:55:20 - 00:08:56:08
Speaker 1
Of fun as a.

00:08:56:08 - 00:08:58:05
Speaker 2
Kid. I get around.

00:08:58:07 - 00:09:07:18
Speaker 1
Doing things we weren't supposed to do, but it was fun. It's good times. Yeah. So Chieh, you said you're from Japan. We're in Japan.

00:09:07:19 - 00:09:28:04
Speaker 1
The rest is.

00:09:28:04 - 00:10:15:06
Speaker 2
History. Wow.

00:10:15:08 - 00:10:21:03
Speaker 1
World travelers. Yeah.

00:10:21:05 - 00:10:24:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. I can't wait to get into that.

00:10:24:04 - 00:10:29:09
Speaker 1
Real quickly before we get into the brand. I spent some time in Japan this summer with my cousins.

00:10:29:09 - 00:10:40:17
Speaker 1
Yeah, he. He's. He's from Colorado. He's a boy and his first cousin and then married a Japanese woman and she. We just love her to death. We just can't wait for them to get here.

00:10:40:19 - 00:11:08:07
Speaker 1
And she's. She's a designer, Yeah, they live in Osaka. She's from Osaka and he teaches there. And so we're excited to go to the parks. And you know, get some miles and get some rides and yeah, it's so great we get tattooed, which I know is is a no no, but we did it anyway. It was really fun.

00:11:08:09 - 00:11:13:20
Speaker 1
It was really fun. Yeah. Now I can't go any into any hot springs or spots. I am, I am no longer.

00:11:13:20 - 00:11:24:18
Speaker 2
Allowed hide it.

00:11:24:20 - 00:11:34:11
Speaker 1
They look the other way. They don't really care. Okay, That's good to know, because. Okay, that's good to know.

00:11:34:13 - 00:11:36:11
Speaker 2
Go. I can't wait to go back.

00:11:36:13 - 00:11:58:20
Speaker 1
It's where I realize we don't know anything about soccer. I really hear it in general. You know, as Americans, we just don't. It's like a whole new world over there. Yeah, they had to drag me out of the stores there. It was so impressive. And 80 wineries over there that. the wine was good. Was really fun. It's a great, great trip.

00:11:58:22 - 00:13:23:08
Speaker 1
So anyway, I'll go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's certainly a segment I'm leading into as well as and above, but, you know, I think the key to success on that segment is is education. Just because, you know, I w set level three, not that I'm supposed to know anything about soccer, but if I hadn't done any any any studying on my own, I it's just not part of, it's not part of our culture really, and it's not part of our cuisine and our, you know, our habits and how we look at food and drink.

00:13:23:08 - 00:13:49:06
Speaker 1
It's beer spirits, it's cocktails, it's wine, it's, you know. And so one of the things that struck me and I'm sorry, we're talking about soccer, I can I can cut this out, but the versatility of having soccer within amazing flavors in a single meal, you know, if you want steak, you want red wine, and if you want an appetizer or salad, you want maybe a different flavored wine and this, that and the other.

00:13:49:08 - 00:13:58:05
Speaker 1
But you can have one bottle. It's okay to go with a million flavors and that all works. It's really cool.

00:13:58:07 - 00:14:52:15
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:14:52:14 - 00:14:53:04
Speaker 2
I don't I don't

00:15:09:14 - 00:15:37:23
Speaker 2
I love it.

00:15:38:01 - 00:16:09:11
Speaker 1
Yeah. I can't wait. The the soccer industry is growing here in terms of just, not so much consuming consumer, but also American brewers. They're becoming it's becoming more and more and that's very exciting. And so I actually just heard from Ty Bellamy. He was on the podcast in December. He was on Soccer Revolution and he was the number five and 23 podcast, which is really cool.

00:16:09:13 - 00:16:37:18
Speaker 1
But he's like amazing and I can't wait to kind of get to know him and learn more about the soccer world because it's a lot smaller, I think, than you think. You know, there's not as many players as like spirits and wines and beers and whatnot. So I'm super, super excited for 24 on that direction. So, apologies We, we went down that, that ski trail but it's, it's so much fun to talk about and I think it's an important, product.

00:16:37:18 - 00:17:00:14
Speaker 1
I think, you know, for us to embrace certainly it's the underdog to, you know, the in a bear category which is predicted to be the biggest dry January ever, which, you know the numbers are indicating that. So I'm super pumped to see what happens and excited that we're you know in dry January and about to talk about your product.

00:17:00:14 - 00:17:15:05
Speaker 1
So but let's let's let's let's start so where do you guys you want to start from the very beginning Yeah let's let's let's do it so how did it how did the project come about?

00:17:15:05 - 00:20:26:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you said that conversations around this started back in 2014.

00:20:26:18 - 00:20:39:05
Speaker 1
Wow. That's that's about as early as it gets. Yeah. I mean, I know that there's a few companies that started back then, but it certainly wasn't a thing in the U.S. here.

00:20:39:07 - 00:20:54:06
Speaker 1
I think the UK was a little bit more developed and quicker than than we did over here. But that's really ahead of the curve. You know, if you're already in market by 2017, that's great.

00:21:13:07 - 00:22:33:22
Speaker 1
So far. Yeah.

00:22:34:00 - 00:22:35:05
Speaker 2
Yeah. And that that echoes.

00:22:35:05 - 00:22:56:21
Speaker 1
Exactly what you know, Bill and John were saying athletic brewing, that they were surprised at the the they surveyed their customers and they they said the exact same thing. Yeah, I still drink, but I take breaks or sometimes I don't want to drink or exactly what you said. I don't drink on weekdays. Whatever the case may be. And they were pretty surprised about that.

00:22:56:21 - 00:23:22:19
Speaker 1
But I think that's kind of becoming pretty mainstream. I know it is for me. and I didn't do it before this podcast until I started kind of learning more about it, interviewing people. you know, the beer segment is, has been so far ahead of everything else that I've known, that I've known. I didn't realize that toast has been around since for that long.

00:23:22:19 - 00:23:39:12
Speaker 1
So that's really exciting. And how have you developed or re redeveloped or fine tuned any of the, the ingredients or any of the the processes since 2017?

00:23:44:21 - 00:24:33:04
Speaker 1
Is it made here and sourced here in the U.S.?

00:24:33:04 - 00:24:40:05
Speaker 1
What's a shelf life for something like this?

00:24:40:05 - 00:25:19:02
Speaker 1
Wow, that's a long time. Okay. Even in the can, Yeah. awesome.

00:25:19:04 - 00:25:56:17
Speaker 1
That's cool. Should we break it open and try some? Yeah, let's do it. Okay, so I.

00:25:56:17 - 00:25:57:13
Speaker 2
Have.

00:25:57:15 - 00:26:13:06
Speaker 1
It is. It's very cold. It came from the beverage fridge outside in the lanai. So you've got to. These are the little minis which comes in this cute little four pack. So what do what do these retail for.

00:26:13:06 - 00:26:35:19
Speaker 1
Okay. I'm not very good at it. I'm wimpy. Okay. Thank you. I'm tough, but some things I'm kind of wimpy.

00:26:35:21 - 00:26:38:02
Speaker 1
All right, so which one should we try first?

00:26:38:02 - 00:27:08:21
Speaker 1
I should have poured that on the camera. this looks perfect. You can't tell the difference with this at all. The color, the bubbles, the fizz. Wow. It is pretty. Sorry. Cheers. I got excited. Yummy. Okay, so you want to talk us through the ingredients?

00:27:33:05 - 00:28:20:18
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, all of the above. It's definitely got a wonderful mouthfeel in mouth. It's. I really, really love this. What kind of pairings do you recommend with the.

00:28:22:17 - 00:29:26:02
Speaker 1
Great idea. Well, what That nice structure, you really can kind of pair it with, you know, heavier foods, which is really nice. Yeah. That's got a nice finish to it.

00:29:26:04 - 00:29:29:03
Speaker 1
It makes you want more a can't stop.

00:29:29:05 - 00:29:29:20
Speaker 2
It's a good thing.

00:29:29:20 - 00:29:38:14
Speaker 1
There's no alcohol other cranberry. So how can we explain the cranberry in here.

00:29:38:14 - 00:30:42:13
Speaker 1
Okay. Interesting. Well it's it's a high quality. Really nice.

00:30:42:15 - 00:30:44:13
Speaker 2
Product.

00:30:44:14 - 00:30:50:22
Speaker 1
what other sizes does it come in? Do you want to talk a little bit about that? I see you guys have some cans, and I know it's in the seven fifties.

00:31:03:15 - 00:31:39:18
Speaker 2
Nice.

00:31:39:20 - 00:32:16:23
Speaker 1
Yeah. yeah,

00:32:16:23 - 00:32:28:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. I don't know of any other in a bag that's like that in a can, but for summertime they're pools and whatnot are perfect.

00:32:28:19 - 00:33:20:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah. 100%. And what are your seven fifties retail for?

00:33:20:18 - 00:33:56:08
Speaker 1
Okay, so. Okay. Yeah. Well, let's taste this second one and then I have a few questions.

00:33:56:08 - 00:33:59:06
Speaker 1
Okay. You want to talk a little bit about this one?

00:33:59:08 - 00:34:16:12
Speaker 1
The rosé? Yeah.

00:34:16:14 - 00:34:44:23
Speaker 1
Okay. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, awesome. Well, I got to try it. I can't wait any longer. Yummy.

00:34:44:23 - 00:35:04:13
Speaker 1
man. I know you're going to ask me that. I think I like them equally for different for the different flavors that they kind of that come across. Because this one, it has a little bit more acid to it. To me, you know, it's got a little bit more pungency to it.

00:35:04:13 - 00:35:35:07
Speaker 1
Like, you know, the you can feel it in your mouth. It's creating that saliva where you just want more, whereas this one's a little bit silkier softer, a little bit more of a finish, I guess this one's definitely feels a lot drier. but both are very, very, very well made. The quality is certainly in the bottle and the, the products you can tell or high quality and yeah, I serve this anytime, anywhere.

00:35:35:12 - 00:36:56:13
Speaker 1
Yeah, these are great. Congratulations. These are so fun. They're so yum. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think it's mood and it depends on what you're eating or what you're getting ready to eat. I mean, maybe the white can be a little bit more, you know, easygoing, palatable, and the the roses, maybe a little bit better with food. And on this day and not the other day.

00:36:56:13 - 00:37:08:05
Speaker 1
I mean, it just depends, you know, a lot. And that's the fun about, you know, the industry that we're in. Right. We get to try all these different flavors of different foods. That's obviously where.

00:37:08:07 - 00:37:10:15
Speaker 2
Where I come in with food.

00:37:10:15 - 00:37:39:00
Speaker 1
And beverage innovation. It's fun. It's it's definitely the the core of what you know, I do. So this is been awesome. So I do have some questions, if you don't mind. Before we jump off, what was it like trying to sell in 2017 comparatively to now? I mean, we talked a little bit about the mindset change and, you know, being in a neighborhood so early on.

00:37:39:02 - 00:37:59:23
Speaker 1
What was your thoughts behind just distribution? Who do you go to, Where do you go, what distributors, you know, what's the the the the tier at that point, Was that a thought in your mind? Did you have relationships in that road or did you go right to the big box retailers? Like what was that thought process and how did that come about.

00:38:26:21 - 00:44:07:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, so well, great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I 100%. And you know, to your point, with cannabis, you know, there's a lot of talk on this podcast too about not just any bird that's coming, but it's the CBD and the THC that in beverages that people are experimenting with. I mean, how many people and I don't know if it's in Vermont, but in the cities it's like, yeah, microdosing on mushrooms that make me feel great.

00:44:07:06 - 00:44:33:07
Speaker 1
I'm having a good time. Like you're not getting drunk, you're not being weird. It's just sort of a mood enhancer. And I think, I think that is such a lovely thing. Also as part of, you know, a way to evolve into our drinking culture, maybe less about alcohol and more about health and more about mood. Your mood and the enjoyment, the enjoyment of life.

00:44:33:09 - 00:44:41:12
Speaker 1
You know, everybody drinks for different reasons, but certainly that would be a completely that'd be more of a yay. I'm doing this.

00:44:41:12 - 00:44:42:14
Speaker 2
For my health.

00:44:42:16 - 00:46:28:02
Speaker 1
It's like for me with coffee, I, I had COVID really bad, like the thing like everybody did with their taste buds and whatnot. But, chaga mushrooms, you know, in Lion's Mane, they help me focus. They, they really. I really love it. I love that's my favorite coffee now in the morning and it makes a difference. Yeah, Yeah, yeah.

00:46:28:03 - 00:46:50:14
Speaker 1
Right, right. Yeah, that's true. I mean, who doesn't have a story of taking a gummy and going, well, 30 minutes later? Well, this is boring.

00:46:50:16 - 00:46:52:12
Speaker 2
let me take five more.

00:46:52:14 - 00:47:11:13
Speaker 1
And then they kick it out of bed for like 24 hours or whatever. You know what I mean? Like, that's the thing. I mean, I remember my first trip to. To Denver. We just went and bought a few things, not knowing what we were doing at all. There's a Tootsie Roll and it was 25 milligrams. And on the way out the guy's like, You should only have five milligrams.

00:47:11:14 - 00:47:12:00
Speaker 1
You're like.

00:47:12:00 - 00:47:13:13
Speaker 2
What?

00:47:13:15 - 00:49:36:07
Speaker 1
So we split the 25, 20 milligrams nugget. That's not fun. It just wasn't enjoyable at all. yeah, I don't know. I didn't like it. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Ooh. Yeah. that's interesting.

00:49:36:09 - 00:49:36:21
Speaker 2
Well, that'll.

00:49:36:21 - 00:50:02:08
Speaker 1
Be interesting to the texture, but it tastes terrible. It tastes like you're drinking a cow. It's awful. I really can't stand it. Yeah. I'm not even going to put that my coffee. If I'm going to drink it, it's going to be closing my nose down the hatch.

00:50:02:10 - 00:50:04:09
Speaker 2
It's just terrible.

00:50:04:10 - 00:50:13:15
Speaker 1
Yeah. I can't imagine people doing that, but you never know. I mean, if there's a way to, you know, neutralize the flavor or it could have some structure to it.

00:50:13:14 - 00:50:21:03
Speaker 1
Well, you've given me a good idea after the podcast. I've got some nonalcoholic spirits in there. I might mix and match and see what see what happens.

00:50:21:03 - 00:50:27:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, that's fun.

00:50:27:06 - 00:50:46:16
Speaker 1
It'll be fun. We're we're doing the dry January. I didn't do so well at the beginning. my father passed away, so I went back home and I didn't put myself in that, didn't want to deal with anything else but that. So. And, you know, it's just family time hanging out. But. But what? We've been really good these for like, for three weeks.

00:50:46:16 - 00:50:54:01
Speaker 1
So it's been fun for me just to get to at night, you know, whatever. Just get out different ingredients and just play.

00:50:54:00 - 00:52:26:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Especially for an industry that doesn't really change. It's really it to its limits in a lot of ways. And you know, it it's rare to have a new category just come and take over like our TDs did and just some weird stuff that's been going on.

00:52:26:22 - 00:52:52:23
Speaker 1
But it's been welcomed I think in fun for a lot of people and the experimentation is exciting and I think what I've learned in my journey over Dry January and I used to detox twice a year, so it's not really a new or, you know, new thing for me, but what I, what I don't miss the alcohol. I'm actually kind of annoyed by it in some ways because I just enjoy the flavor.

00:52:53:01 - 00:53:06:22
Speaker 1
And so like if I my, my go to for bourbon is gin being black. It's like my daily like if I had a daily drink, that would be like my go to I love old Fashioneds, I love mixing it. I love doing all fun things with it. I don't know how I ever.

00:53:06:22 - 00:53:09:16
Speaker 2
Get that without alcohol. You know what I mean?

00:53:09:16 - 00:53:30:23
Speaker 1
And I mean there's all kinds of other, you know, gins and whatever. How do you replicate that flavor that you like, You know, I think that's sort of the challenge that's out there and there it'll get there. And it's just such a young would mean cash like you said, 2017, you're way ahead of the curve. Or maybe it's a three year cycle.

00:53:30:23 - 00:54:59:08
Speaker 1
I mean, it's just beginning 100%. Yep. yeah, for sure. For sure. You know, we have some neighbors that they don't drink. They don't eat me, which is totally fine there. That's I mean, I don't care what their thing is, but as a neighbor, you're like, well, I don't know if they drink. What do I take them?

00:54:59:08 - 00:55:07:18
Speaker 1
You know, I wanted to introduce myself. And so I'm into plants and whatnot. And so I just kind of potted I potted some plants and took them over to them because.

00:55:07:20 - 00:55:08:04
Speaker 2
I knew.

00:55:08:04 - 00:55:19:04
Speaker 1
They gardened and, you know, played out in the yard and did some stuff. So, you know, that's certainly a thought. Right. Because you're you're like, well, I don't know if they drink. I don't want to take over a bottle of wine and be.

00:55:19:04 - 00:55:20:08
Speaker 2
Insensitive.

00:55:20:09 - 00:55:35:05
Speaker 1
You know, because those things kind of come to your to your senses now, like, gosh, I got to be really careful about you. You know, you take over there, you don't want to offend somebody. you know, not that they would be offended. They probably just give it away.

00:55:35:05 - 00:55:36:05
Speaker 2
To.

00:55:36:07 - 00:55:41:09
Speaker 1
Somebody else. But your process of thinking, you know is a little bit different.

00:55:41:10 - 00:57:09:00
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, it's a little bit more inclusion and it's insensitive. You know, it's interesting to I don't know where you were in terms of, you know, sales or distribution, but when I think about the pandemic and how we reacted as, you know, as as humans or as people in the industry or people that like to have drinks or whatever, you know, you have these parents that are home with littles and they're trying to navigate what that is.

00:57:09:00 - 00:57:22:06
Speaker 1
You know, you're the sales of Baileys skyrockets, rum chowder. You know, they're putting that stuff in their coffee, you know what I mean? Like in the first year of the pandemic, it was like, yes, I need a drink.

00:57:22:08 - 00:57:23:05
Speaker 2
Yes.

00:57:23:07 - 00:57:41:23
Speaker 1
Right. You can't go anywhere. You can't see anybody. You wave across the street, you're all in masks. It's such a weird thing. And then the next year you're kind of like, okay, this is the new norm. And I got to dry out like, you know, 20, 21 is like, okay, I've I've done my thing. Now I need to to get back in the gym.

00:57:42:01 - 00:58:54:02
Speaker 1
It's safe, right? So I'm just wondering if that kind of has any sales trends behind that for you guys. Yeah.

00:58:54:03 - 00:59:15:09
Speaker 2
Did you ever.

00:59:15:11 - 00:59:44:13
Speaker 1
that's what yeah, that's fun. Yeah. There you go. Put a shirt on there and I'm playing around with those. It's so fun. It reminds me of the Steph Curry ping pong ball. The do you see the ping pong ball thing you did during COVID? It was funny. Yeah.

00:59:44:15 - 00:59:59:17
Speaker 2
You get yourself something, that's so cool. yeah.

00:59:59:17 - 01:00:05:17
Speaker 1
You'll have to send that to me. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it'll be fun. I love that stuff.

01:00:05:17 - 01:00:10:04
Speaker 1
how did you both get into the industry? Was this your first kind of foray

01:00:49:11 - 01:02:46:08
Speaker 1
right? Yeah. Operations. It sounds like you're a processor.

01:02:46:08 - 01:02:53:15
Speaker 1
that's awesome. So you kind of jumped in together. That's really cool.

01:02:53:15 - 01:03:05:03
Speaker 1
Have you had any mentors that have helped you through this process that you want to talk about or that you might want to mention?

01:03:39:00 - 01:04:31:05
Speaker 1
Sure. Yeah, that's awesome.

01:04:31:05 - 01:04:56:23
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's a great industry. I mean, you know, you do pick up certain things from different people along the way. And I think, you know, for, you know, we all have different journeys, but I think whenever LinkedIn came, came to be really kind of facilitated a lot of that learning online and seeing different people post different things, articles, writers, you know, it kind of helps you trends on what's going on.

01:04:56:23 - 01:05:18:05
Speaker 1
So I think to, you know, you run into to, to your point, Brooke's people that you may not know by name, but you you know or you definitely remember something they said in some kind of seminar or some kind of, you know, article that they posted. Because I know for me, you know, my journey, I have certain things that I'm looking for and wanting to improve upon.

01:05:18:05 - 01:05:25:16
Speaker 1
And so you kind of just take which take what little bits you can from different people and kind of create your own, you know, way of doing things.

01:05:25:16 - 01:06:17:22
Speaker 1
Yep. 100%. No, no. You get we, I hear that a lot too about the team and learning from the team. You know as I moved into, you know, any resources that you know come to mind and it doesn't have to be related to the business it can be personal, could be, you know, professional organizations or podcasts that you listen to just for information that you you'd that you'd like to share,

01:06:17:22 - 01:07:48:20
Speaker 1
resources, anything, websites, books, anything that kind of stands out that it had any any particular impact

01:07:48:22 - 01:10:16:04
Speaker 1
right now right. Yeah. I have a podcast for you. She's a Japanese woman. I think she's a I don't know if she's a journalist, but she and Todd Bellamy, when I was Googling him and kind of, you know, before his interview, he was interviewed by her and I'll get her that. And for me, I'll get you the information you might be you might enjoy her podcast because I don't know if she interviews, you know, people in Japan or not, but I it's she's really cool and she's really fun.

01:10:16:04 - 01:10:23:11
Speaker 1
I think you really enjoy it. Yeah. And I think she does a lot of food and beverage so I'll I'll point you in that direction and see if something that you might enjoy.

01:10:23:11 - 01:10:24:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

01:10:24:09 - 01:10:26:04
Speaker 2
Yeah, of course.

01:10:26:05 - 01:10:52:16
Speaker 1
So are there any pain points that we haven't kind of talked about that you want to express. I mean I guess for me, I'm still a little, cloudy on your, your distribution. I don't know if that's a major pain point, but like, are you using, you know, Southern or Republic? Are you using the traditional wine and spirits distribution networks?

01:10:52:16 - 01:12:51:10
Speaker 1
Are you doing something different? Yeah, Yeah. You did the hard part. You did all the hard part.

01:12:51:12 - 01:12:59:13
Speaker 1
One more business question before we get into your outlook. I'm just curious, have you ever thought about doing kegs for on Prem?

01:12:59:14 - 01:13:56:02
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You'd have to get enough orders to to make it worth it and then be sustainable. So any, any other comments on outlook for 2024?

01:14:23:05 - 01:15:49:13
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yep. This start all over.

01:15:49:15 - 01:16:17:12
Speaker 1
yeah, for sure. Yeah, I. I can maybe introduce you to a couple of people. I don't that might be able to help through my network that, Yeah, that could, that, that might. I don't know if one of them represents. I she's on her own internationally. I don't, I just don't know what she's, what her focus is for sure.

01:16:17:18 - 01:16:38:01
Speaker 1
I'll just, I'll ask her and then I can connect you. And are you in Canada I assume, You are, I guess if you're in seven countries. Yeah. Nice. Well, you know, one of the things that my business partner and I do is focus on on premium restaurants. And, you know, as we're working their menus and.

01:16:38:03 - 01:16:39:03
Speaker 2
One of the.

01:16:39:05 - 01:16:57:01
Speaker 1
Current projects that we're working on as well, I want more women and children in our, in our, in our space. Well, he had like, you know, maybe two or three wines on the, on the menu. And it's like, okay, well, if you want women, you got to bring the wine and then you got to get that, nine, that nine elk section built up.

01:16:57:01 - 01:17:15:15
Speaker 1
So there's certainly people working on all facets of the industry to try to help bring that to the to light because it's important and it's growing. And I think people really appreciate it, you know, especially if you're going out to dinner with a bunch of kids, you can't, you know, not going out with the girls. You got you don't want to drink too much.

01:17:15:15 - 01:17:35:00
Speaker 1
And this is a great way to still stay social and and still have a drink. So, you know, I, I, I'm doing my part as much as I can to help you with, with that movement. So that's. It's exciting. I love what you guys are doing. Congratulations on being the early entrant. And it was a lot hard work for you guys.

01:17:35:02 - 01:17:50:04
Speaker 1
Yeah, navigate this by yourselves. Convince a lot of people this is a thing, and I'm sure the quality of your product really helped, you know, you know, sell that once they tasted it, they're like, okay, I.

01:17:50:04 - 01:17:51:15
Speaker 2
Get that.

01:17:51:17 - 01:17:53:04
Speaker 1
And mixed it and, you know,

01:17:53:04 - 01:18:41:07
Speaker 1
yeah, 100%. Yep. Don't do that to yourself.

01:18:41:09 - 01:19:03:04
Speaker 2
That's too much.

01:19:03:06 - 01:19:55:09
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And they have East Coast West Coast teams you know the that are brewing and they're, they're challenging each other to try new flavors and seasonal seasonals and you know that's kind of the core of of what they're offering offering you know through athletic they've got their core three or four and then you know they like to have their seasonals which I think is exciting it's fun, but it's works for them.

01:19:55:11 - 01:20:04:13
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you know, that's yeah, I think you're good.

01:20:04:15 - 01:20:05:01
Speaker 2
I think the.

01:20:05:01 - 01:20:30:02
Speaker 1
Cans are like the perfect next thing for you. I mean, you've got great quality in the bottle. The bottle is beautiful. The marketing is great. You guys are on point. Yeah. You guys are going to rocket. So best of luck to you in 2024. More excited to watch your your your progress. We do have one final question and that is passions outside of of work.

01:20:30:06 - 01:20:35:07
Speaker 1
Well I know that suck is in there somewhere and cup collections.

01:20:35:09 - 01:20:35:23
Speaker 2
And.

01:20:36:02 - 01:22:21:07
Speaker 1
Snowshoe any other things that you activities. Yeah nice yeah yoga

01:22:21:06 - 01:23:06:04
Speaker 1
No, that's fun. I've got some Japanese flowers over here. We we bought little socket cups. They're so cute and so fun, but we didn't, we, we would buy things and just throw it in our bag and you know along the way. And so we when we got home, we, we unloaded all our stuff and we opened up these cute little, you know, just little cups and there's dirt in them with seeds and a whole process.

01:23:06:04 - 01:23:10:11
Speaker 1
So you're supposed to like, grow them in these cups that Lugano and let me keep them in the cup.

01:23:10:11 - 01:23:11:09
Speaker 2
So it.

01:23:11:09 - 01:23:18:15
Speaker 1
Is stuck of in a park because she wanted to use them but but anyway they're it's I'm not growing a bonsai.

01:23:18:17 - 01:23:18:22
Speaker 2
But.

01:23:18:22 - 01:23:27:21
Speaker 1
I am growing three or four different Japanese plants. I'm super excited about. Yeah they're not it's not pretty

01:23:27:22 - 01:23:35:07
Speaker 1
Yeah. Aren't they cute. This one is a you know, being stubborn.

01:23:35:06 - 01:24:21:06
Speaker 1
You know, I love Japan. We can't wait to go back. It so great. Yeah, I found it consumption was was very different from the the Americans in the sense that you know we take our donut and breakfast 12 ounce or 14 ounce cup of coffee and we run around and do whatever and throw it away.

01:24:21:06 - 01:24:38:22
Speaker 1
There's garbage everywhere. No garbage, no garbage there you don't, you don't, you don't take that with you. You, you consume it home. And then, you know, except for suck on the vending machines and, high balls and beer.

01:24:39:00 - 01:24:40:06
Speaker 2
Just so fun.

01:24:40:08 - 01:25:22:19
Speaker 1
Yes, we did it. Yeah. The markets. Yeah. And the shopping, the halls and of shopping was amazing. You know, being in in our industry, not really knowing exactly what what to expect with the wine industry over there. but it wasn't everywhere. you know, in a lot of restaurants. Well, they're small right there, like four, ten people in a lot of cases.

01:25:22:21 - 01:25:44:09
Speaker 1
So you get maybe maybe a choice of a beer and maybe it's okay. You know, it's a totally different culture. and, and for me it was different consumer habits because, like, we, we go to the train station and wait an hour to have dinner. You don't there's no reservations or, you know, which is fine. It didn't bother us or anything.

01:25:44:09 - 01:25:53:13
Speaker 1
It was just it's, it's just a different it's just a different way of doing. But the food was so good.

01:25:53:15 - 01:25:54:06
Speaker 2
The sushi.

01:25:54:06 - 01:25:55:13
Speaker 1
Ever.

01:25:55:13 - 01:26:57:02
Speaker 1
Yeah, it was pretty amazing. I think the, the bigger restaurants are the ones kind of had the bigger selections and that's where I got to try a cab commercial. I actually I can't remember. It was really good. And the other main takeaway for me being that I worked for Beam Suntory here in the U.S. is just they're everywhere.

01:26:57:11 - 01:27:24:14
Speaker 1
Everywhere. Yeah, huge. I tried to interview a woman that was the first woman that was in a certain position. It was in a non ALC space and in pure Japanese, you know, they're so sweet.

01:27:24:16 - 01:27:26:19
Speaker 2
No, we can't do that. But we wish you.

01:27:26:19 - 01:27:31:19
Speaker 1
The best of luck with your podcast. And I was just like, Man, that's so nice.

01:27:31:21 - 01:27:35:05
Speaker 2
So nice. Thank you.

01:27:35:07 - 01:27:47:08
Speaker 1
So polite and generous. It's nice. Yeah. All right, well, this has been really fun. I, I could.

01:27:47:10 - 01:27:48:02
Speaker 2
Talk.

01:27:48:04 - 01:29:22:07
Speaker 1
I could sit here and talk a long time. I could talk about Japan for another 2 hours. I think we loved it so much. yeah. What I want to do is go back and just get a car and just drive all around. Just go right? Yeah,

01:29:22:08 - 01:29:36:23
Speaker 1
yeah, yeah, for sure. Or just, you know, maybe just go for six months and stay in travel and go to another place in six months for six months to travel.

01:29:37:01 - 01:30:11:12
Speaker 1
Exactly. So yeah, you'll do it. I remember seeing an Instagram post and, the feeling of leaving the restroom situation in Japan really broke our hearts because the toilets are amazing. They're and anybody that's ever gone there I know feels the exact same pain of, my God, hurt leaving. I Miss it. I'm in the airplane.

01:30:11:14 - 01:30:14:06
Speaker 2
God, I miss it.

01:30:14:08 - 01:30:49:18
Speaker 1
Well, yes. In fact, the friend of mine whose brother lived there spoke Japanese. Amazing, amazing guy. Anyway, he. So he's been there a million times. And so right before the pandemic, he bought he bought two.

01:30:49:18 - 01:30:51:17
Speaker 2
Dolls and it sells.

01:30:51:19 - 01:31:03:08
Speaker 1
And it was fun. I mean, we just sweat like crazy, you know, you walk outside, it's just you just you're like, this is the way it's going to be for the next 10 hours.

01:31:03:08 - 01:31:14:12
Speaker 1
Well, I will let you all go and you'll have an amazing evening. And best of luck in 24. And, can't wait to see how you guys do this. You're going to rocket.

01:31:19:19 - 01:31:25:17
Jessie
This week's episode was Produced by Fedora J Productions.