Afternoon Toast

0:00Kimmy Pace:Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market. it. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring those cool products to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real-life founders, their launch strategies, and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf.

0:42And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Glimpse. Glimpse is an AI powered deduction management tool that disputes and recovers invalid deductions, winning brands, thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours back to founders so that they can focus on what really matters most. If you're a brand selling in retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you. Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today I have the very cool Kimmy Pace.

1:31She is the founder of Afternoon Toast. I have the pleasure of being behind the scenes working with Kimmy on brand strategy for what she is building in the beverage space. I'm so excited for you all to hear more of the behind the scenes of how she's building, why she's building, and her point of view. So Kimmy, I'm so happy to officially have you on the podcast.

1:57Kimmy Pace:Thank you so much, Kelly. It feels so surreal being on it, even hearing you say like, this is Kelly Bennett, because I've been listening to your podcast now for about a year, um, and really drawing inspiration from it and kind of building confidence by hearing other founders and all throughout their stages. So it's so surreal being here myself. And I really appreciate you taking the time with me. That makes me so happy to hear. And thank you so much for listening. And honestly, that's why I I wanted to have this podcast of this community feel of founders, brand builders coming on, sharing their insights so that you have what you need or the little bit of inspiration that day or the piece of advice or an idea pop in your head that could really help you have the courage to do your own brand now.

2:50So this is so full circle for me as well, because that's exactly why I have the podcast.

2:56Kimmy Pace:Yes. No, it's been such a great tool. I recommend it to literally anyone that'll listen that's even interested in brands, even if they don't want to start their own. I'm like, you're going to listen because it's so cool to hear what goes into it that you maybe don't see on social media or you don't see when you're shopping in the grocery aisle. There's so much more behind it. Absolutely. Okay. This is where, yeah, this is why I'm a nerd and why I want to have this show. So let's dive into it. Last week or the week before, I said that I had predictions for 2026 of brands that I feel like people are going to want to shop next.

3:31Afternoon Toast was one of those brands that I had featured for a really good reason. One, I love your passion for creating a beverage that is so gentle on your digestive system, helping you hydrate. This is two things I'm personally working on. And I just love the energy and the brand world that you're building of this invitation to pause, actually digest your food, remembering to drink water. Like these are such simple things, but they're so overlooked in our super busy world. So I want to dive into all that cool nuance of what you're building. But first I wanted to say, if you can walk us through of why you wanted to build this type of beverage brand and what type of hero ingredients that you're using?

4:26Because one of the hero ingredients is fairly new in the U.S. market. And I would love if you could walk us through just the very early beginning stages of how you came up with the product concept.

4:38Kimmy Pace:Yeah, definitely. So I've struggled my whole life with chronic dehydration. I've been you know, fainting since I was young, I've been hospitalized for it. So I've always had to stay very, very hydrated, but I also have a sensitive gut. So carbonation, you know, sugars, additives, all of that doesn't sit well with me. So for hydration for me for a long time, it's looked like just a ton of plain water. I've tried the electrolytes and the sugars just don't sit well. They make me feel a little off, um, extra salt. So I was looking for some kind of solution just, you know, for the past, honestly, I'm 31 years old now.

5:20Kimmy Pace:So honestly, for the past 15 years and a couple of years ago, I read an amazing book, Pachinko, where a Korean family makes and drinks roasted barley water all day throughout the day with meals before bed. And I thought, okay, that's that, that might be a good alternative for me. So I started buying my own non GMO barley and roasting it on my stove. So I could play with the different roast levels and what it tastes like. And it has no caffeine and it naturally has a really nutty, uh, subtle flavor to it. So it still feels like an exciting thing to drink, but I'm not adding sugar to it. There's no caffeine.

5:58Kimmy Pace:I can drink it really all time throughout the day. Um, and when I realized I couldn't buy that lightly roasted barley tea ready to drink in the variation that I really liked. I decided just to start afternoon toast or what is now afternoon toast. I've worked obviously with you on names and things. I'm sure we'll get into it. That was a little bit of background of even why I started thinking that I could do that. And I love that it started off literally in your kitchen and something that you started drinking and understanding the origin and the roots of it and also your interpretation of it as well.

6:39So what were some of those early steps that you took to actually make it into afternoon toast that will soon be hitting the market?

6:51Kimmy Pace:Yes. So I, from really about last May till July, I was playing with the roast levels in my kitchen, um, playing with packaging names, kind of the fun early things. And then come July, I really thought, okay, I think this has legs. I think like, I think there's something here. I was having my friends try it, taking around all these sketchy little bottles to people. And then I thought, where do I go next? So I had heard Danielle Calabrese say from it's all happening on your podcast. She's a brilliant launch advisor, the best, absolute best 10 out of 10. So straightforward. She's so, you know, patient and she just has an amazing Rolodex, which you tap into.

7:34Kimmy Pace:So any who, I got in contact with her, started working with her for one-on-one launch advising. So we'd meet weekly. And then right after that, I was like, I really want to work with Kelly Bennett. And I know, you know, Kelly Bennett, can we, can we make this happen? And so she set up a call with you. And then I started working on, you know, brand strategy. But I think the biggest thing for me that helped me get from that spiral of where do I even go next was not only talking to other founders. I was doing that throughout the summer, but getting, getting advisors, getting people into, you know, really help me kind of take that, what felt like a lot of things going on and what are our tactical next steps.

8:12Totally. And I think that's such a huge step for a founder to actually raise their hand and say, hey, this is totally different and a whole new world. I need help and guidance and who are the right people to talk to. And starting with Danielle, I think is such a great first step. I also behind the scenes, Danielle, I'm going to have an episode with her talking about Launch Lab and her advising. It's going to go out the same week as this podcast. So I feel like this is like such good crossover episodes already. But I love working with Danielle's clients because I know that they're taking this seriously and they want to do the right steps at the right time to create not just a product, but a brand.

9:02And so I love working with Danielle's. and I like any share clients that we could have. I'm like, oh, this. And I had a designer just the other day on the podcast and he said one of the biggest green flags of a brand he says yes to is that if they're working with Danielle and myself. And I was like, that is like the nicest compliment I could ever get that that is like a green flag.

9:26Kimmy Pace:Yeah, because then you guys help articulate like even then I went into a couple of months later into visual branding with the amazing Jane Miller at Jane's house who was also on the podcast. Yes. That was an amazing episode. I listened to it like five times, but, um, I feel like working with, you know, Danielle and obviously you on brand strategy helps give the vocab that you might not have, or I didn't feel like I had as a founder prior to having those conversations. So that way, then when you go and talk to other people, you know, how to articulate what you're even getting at. And that's such a huge step, right?

10:02Because you could be getting ideas from chat, right? But chat's also helping hundreds of thousands, millions of people, right, have similar vocabulary. So I think what you're also pointing out is the importance of finding your own brand story and how your product is different and how your product has its own unique look, feel, vibe, personality. it's such I feel like that's such a big unlock to make this feel like a real thing that you're building yes 100 so what were some of the next steps then I know that working with Danielle then I entered the chat we changed the name we um really dialed in also with the ginger bringing in that as another hero product or a secondary hero product with the roasted barley and then you were then in formulation which you're still in formulation I know that we had some samples at a sneak peek event last year which got great reviews people really liked how subtle it was if it was perfect for with pairing with food or to digest after but I would love if you could walk us through this really important step of like formulation and tasting and testing and tweaking and back to the lab and getting more samples.

11:28Like, can you walk us through that? Because I feel like that's such a big step that so many people feel intimidated by and could feel really daunted with. So could you walk us through how that's been looking for you?

11:41Kimmy Pace:Yeah, definitely. So I've been working with the food scientist that Danielle put me in touch with since September. And it's now mid-January and we're still working through. I think the biggest surprise for me was that this is taking a long time, not in a bad way, but I just naively thought, okay, I have this recipe from my kitchen. It's fairly simple. It's filtered water, roasted barley, ginger. That's all we got going in here. And so I can't even imagine folks that have more ingredients, how complex it could get, but working with the food scientists to, um, you know, get the roasted barley. It has to be from a supplier that roasts barley.

12:25Kimmy Pace:A lot of manufacturers like typical tea manufacturers don't have roasting capabilities. They don't have the machinery to actually roast grain, which barley is a, is a very small grain. So think of like, uh, uh, you know, a cocoa roaster for chocolate or even a coffee roaster. We were looking, we were exploring those and if they could roast, but barley is gluten and coffee chocolate does not have gluten. They don't want to introduce gluten into their facility. So it took a little bit of time. And obviously I can't roast barley on my stove or even a commercial kitchen, you know, viably for a long, a long period of time.

13:03Kimmy Pace:It's not scalable. And so we ended up finding a barley roaster that is typically manufacturers for beer because Because barley malt, a really, really dark roast of barley is typically used in beer. A lot of the beer purchasing is declining in the United States. And so they're now open. A lot of these manufacturers are now open to selling to other customers. And so because of that, I was able to request from them a lighter roast of the barley. So for beer, it's very, very dark, almost a malt flavor, more similar to coffee, a little lighter of a roast. And so finding someone that'll work with us, we have someone out of, um, Virginia.

13:47Kimmy Pace:That's a, you know, it's a couple that roast their barley and they're, they're so nice. They're so, so sweet and able to work with us on, you know, low MOQs, which I learned all about, which is a whole other world, a whole other thing, which we'll get into, but, um, yeah, it's taken a lot longer than I anticipated. And I think being patient with myself during this process and, you know, staying true to my gut of, you know, I want this to taste right. I, you know, I want to be really excited about what I'm putting out and, um, you know, having friends try samples that I've made in my kitchen and adding the ginger in to help with digestion, you know, people are really excited about it.

14:23Kimmy Pace:And I want to bottle that literally, literally finding it to be able to have it be scalable, um, has, you know, has been a challenge and it's taken, it's been the thing that has taken the longest time to date, but obviously it's very important what the product tastes like. And is on par. I mean, I have had founders on the podcast that told me it took years. And so I know in entrepreneur world, like a day feels already like one year, like you could live a thousand lives in one day as an entrepreneur. But like when you think about it, it's actually amazing how much you've done in such a short time.

15:03what is your I know you work a nine to five also while building and you have a great structure from working in corporate now putting this into afternoon toast could you share a little bit more of like how you're leveraging your time right now or how you are approaching building this on the side while working a nine to five because so many founders especially in the very very early early days struggle with this. And I know it looks different for everyone, but I would love to hear how you're leveraging it, but also like finding the time to essentially do both.

15:44Kimmy Pace:Yeah, definitely. And I think, um, a quick shout out to Nicole from she's the sauce. She still works a nine to five and she had a good point on her episode. She said, it just gives her so much freedom. And I really feel that I, you know, I obviously feel pressure to finish the formulation and to get the recipe right. And let's get it in stores. Let's go. But I also have a paycheck coming in every two weeks. And that makes me feel like I can take a breath and I can really build this the right way. And for leveraging my time, I think it makes me more purposeful with my time. It's all, you know, nights, weekends.

16:21Kimmy Pace:And then, you know, if I'm running out to get a salad at lunch, I'll respond to some afternoon toast emails right then in there where I can. And it makes me more focused during my day job because I need to be done where I can by six. So then I can walk my dog, go to the gym and then get maybe two or three hours out in the evening where I can, um, you know, get some afternoon toast done. And I think it helps that I just love afternoon toast and I really believe in it. And so it's the best, I don't want to call it a hobby because it, that would diminish it, but it is the best use I feel like of my evenings and my weekends.

16:59Kimmy Pace:And it doesn't feel like a chore. It doesn't feel like, Oh, now I got to do this. It's like amazing. Now it's 8 PM and I have two and a half hours where I can do this. I really like that reframing. Yeah, no, I think it's been, and that's what I was worried about was finding the time with a corporate job, but I now don't know what I had done before. I think I would have, I still scroll on Instagram and TikTok, you know, trying to get out the founder story and everything and seeing what other folks are doing and supporting other founders, but it's in such a different lens that it feels, feels a lot more exciting and more purposeful.

17:39I love it. And you're very intentional. I feel that I felt that way. The first moment I met you, I was like, okay, she really wants to put the best product out there and so thoughtful and genuine. I really got that right off the bat. I would love if you could give us a sneak peek into the world of Afternoon Toast, of what you're building and how you want to help people feel and how you see the product being used in their lifestyle. Because again, we're not to market yet, but just to give people like that sneak peek of afternoon toast.

18:16Kimmy Pace:Yes, definitely. It's really, and as we've said, it's bottled for effortless digestion and hydration. And it's really about taking a pause. So much of our world today is, you know, go, go, go. And like you were saying at the top of the podcast, it's easy to forget to hydrate. And as someone that I have to, otherwise I'm very ill, I have to take those pauses throughout the day. And I really appreciate that ritualistic pause of, you know, obviously drinking water, but also making tea and having that kind of breath and that, and that moment to yourself, like you said, that intentionality of, okay, this is a moment for me and I'm going to have a little quick check-in and we can do that on the go.

19:00Kimmy Pace:You know, we can, we can do that whenever we make purposeful time for it. and I really enjoy afternoon toast. Like you said, with meals, with lunch throughout the day, I specifically love it around 3 PM when I can't have more caffeine. I'm sick of water, but I need to stay hydrated because I need to still, you know, go to the gym. I need to still keep my energy up and stay excited about things. And the sipping it then is my, my key of like three to 6 PM. It gets me through the end of the work day and it gets me, you know, continuously sipping. And then in the evening, if I don't always want, you know, a beer or wine or even like a carbonated drink, because I can't really handle the carbonation afternoon toast still has that flavor that'll keep sipping on it without, at least for me, without the carbonation, without the sugar, without alcohol and still feeling elevated.

19:57Kimmy Pace:It still feels exciting rather than just pouring water with dinner exactly and it doesn't have caffeine which is so huge yes and no sugar because even like non-alc drinks that I love they still have sugar in them and so as someone I'm trying to be more mindful of my sugar even though I had some really good um better for you quote-unquote um peanut m &ms last night and had no no qualms about it but I really genuinely speaking, like to be mindful of sugar. And I love that about your product. And also sometimes those have like a green tea in it or something along those lines. And you're like, Ooh, actually, I don't want to drink this right now.

20:40So I love how your product really checks all those boxes. Also, could you tell us why the name afternoon toast? Yes.

20:49Kimmy Pace:Well, the brilliant Kelly Bennett kind of got us, got us there, but the prior, the name had to do with barley, which as you mentioned on the call, not, not a lot of folks, at least in the U S market right now know what barley tea or barley water tastes like. And so having that ingredient right in the name, um, you know, could be a little confusing. And so, you know, you thankfully, thankfully working with you throughout brand strategy helped come up with, you know, still evoking the flavor, you know, toast is a toasty nutty. That's what roasted barley tastes like, especially at the level of barley that we roast for afternoon toast.

21:29It's kind of a medium level of roast.

21:32Kimmy Pace:Um, and then afternoon you can sip it throughout the day. Obviously it's not just for the afternoon, but there's no caffeine. So you can signal that it's not when you were craving a coffee in the morning, but you can sip it in the evening or in the afternoon when you still want a flavor, you still want something, you know, to, to sip on. And I would, I don't want to say bite because you're not biting, but it has a little bit of a, a subtle bite to it. And then with that ginger kind of at the back of your palate has a little zing. Um, so it's still very flavorful. So the name afternoon toast evokes that flavor evokes, not having caffeine and is obviously I'm biased.

22:10Kimmy Pace:I think it's brilliant. I think it's a great name. I mean, I think I'm biased too. And now seeing all your branding, I'm like, oh my gosh, this was so good. Like this name, the vibe, everything you're going, it like genuinely all came together. And I'm so proud of you. No, thank you. And thank you for everything you've done. And, you know, I mentioned Jane Miller at Jane's house too, but taking, taking the vocabulary in the world that you really were formative in building and making that into a visualization. I mean, that's something I know some people have, some founders I've talked to have tried to do it, you know, some logos on chat or something, and you can get, you can get most of the way there, but having two real professionals, you know, be able to have the dialogue together really builds that world in such a more crisp way than I think someone without that background trying to, you know, do it themselves.

23:00It's hard to piecemeal. It really, it makes your life so much harder and takes so much longer. Right. And I love how you're being very intentional with building the right way because in the long run, it will so be worth it and saving more time, money, energy, all the things and how you are intentionally building it brick by brick. I feel like people will be able to feel that from having your products.

23:28Kimmy Pace:Thank you. I hope so. Yeah, they will. I know. Um, so what piece of advice would you share with someone who's like in the very early stages or like where you were a year ago, listening to the podcast, kind of sitting on an idea or like it was just starting to brew. What would you advise them or give them feedback on? I think, you know, a couple, a couple things and so many founders have, you know, have said some of this. So it's, it does ring true, but really believing in yourself and waking up and it sounds so cheesy, but waking up and just telling yourself it will be a good day and don't get into the minutia of why, why wouldn't it be?

24:07Kimmy Pace:What do I need to fix? What it will be a good day. You can do it. You know, I come from corporate consulting. I do not have a background in CPG and I'm doing it there. So having some kind of confidence, like you will figure it out. Other people have figured it out. If they can do it, you can do it. And don't wait. I know everyone said this, but don't wait until you feel ready, just go. And it's a little terrifying. And I know, you know, we've talked about this before, but especially if you, you know, I'm 31. So I've been in a corporate job for a little bit where I feel like I kind of understand my day to day and I feel prepared for things.