Oddbird

0:00Moa Gürbüzer: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.

0:42Moa Gürbüzer:And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They're connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf-level awareness, drive in-store momentum, and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most. Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you. 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.

1:35Moa Gürbüzer: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 a pioneer in the non-ALC space. Moa Gerkbezer is the founder and CEO of Oddbird. She founded her company in Sweden, and she is sharing behind the scenes of how she pioneered this very innovative technique on de-alkalizing wines, now has a champagne skew. And Moa, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for taking us behind the scenes of Oddbird.

2:29Well, thank you for welcoming me to this interview. you it's really really good to have this kind of conversation yes yes really good because out there there are a lot of people who really wanted to reduce their intake of alcohol and so and when I started it was not like that you know I was one of the first pioneers in this field there was nothing outside that we could call alcohol-free wine or non-alcoholic wine. And now it has been growing in Europe, especially, but also in the US and Canada and other markets as well. So Oddbird was actually founded with a very, very simple, but powerful idea, I would say.

3:21And that is to liberate wine from alcohol and from the norms and expectations that was surrounded. Because it is not about liberate the wine. It is also challenge the norms, challenge the alcohol industry and get rid of the expectations that you always need to drink. So we saw ourselves in first and foremost as a winehouse. Audebord is a winehouse. And we work with some of the best wine yards and winemakers, especially in France, but also in Italy. And we have wines from Languedoc, wines from Saint-Chinan, wines from Alsace. We also have a research center in Alsace where we also examine every molecule in the wine in order to get the best taste, for example.

4:24And we do have university PhD students that examine every molecule and to understand, in order to understand, in order to get the next generation of wine, we are in the forefront of doing the best. So we exactly understand what is it in the wine that makes wine the best and when is it time for de-alkalization process. So, and we make our wine very in traditional methods. Sorry, was you going to ask something?

5:03Moa Gürbüzer:I was going to ask, when you started this in Sweden, what was the perception of a non-alcoholic wine? Just not in Sweden, the perception of non-alcoholic wine is what's clearly, this is bad, this is awful, you can't drink it. That was the perception. So we had a quite big challenge to change that perception. That's what we started with. How can we change the perception? Because that was so bad. And people had a very bad experience. and still some of the brands are out there and still giving the bad experience. But we want people to actually, or I mean, we want people to give them a chance to try more brands that have a very high quality.

6:00Moa Gürbüzer:So that was really the approach, too, of how you wanted to set yourself apart in the market right from the beginning of working with these really incredible winemakers in France and Italy so that you could go side by side by some of the best wines someone would be serving, say, at a restaurant or in their home. But you are giving the option of something very comparable, but without the alcohol. That's right. We started from there trying to get to the best winemakers to the best energialists to the best i mean i have in my team a doctor of wine he she's the only one in europe that has doctor in wine and a lot of universities a lot of chemistries that we are in that we have in our um working space and we work with different kind of perspectives and solve the problem of not tasting good.

7:07Moa Gürbüzer:Right, because that is a big perception. Even someone like myself, I drink alcohol and non-alcoholic. I like to switch it up and have it. But I'll be honest, some of the non-alcoholic, it's not that good. And so I really love your attention to detail so that it really is just on its own a great wine that just happens to not have alcohol in it. That's right. You know, you will feel the same structure and you are going to feel the same structure in a wine from Alsace based on different kinds of grapes. You will, when you taste the non-alcoholic or liberated from alcohol, as we said, because we liberate the wine, the alcohol.

7:54And you can say exactly what kind of blend it was. For example, our Blonde Blonde that we're selling all over the world for 22 countries, it just has a taste of a champagne style from 1979. So all the champagne experts have said, oh, this is actually from 1979. and one of the champagne tastings that we made and one of them just pick up a bottle from 1979 and there we were. All the structures was there from 1979 and that's what we are trying to do. I mean, we're trying to make the best qualities and also to see what year was the best quality, for example, in champagne and try to find it out to give the best taste as it is.

8:53Moa Gürbüzer:I appreciate that attention to detail because that is what consumers also want. They want an option, but they also want to make sure that it tastes really good. Like anything else, if you think about, say, like vegan products or non-dairy products or gluten-free products, right? People still want great products, but then more aligned with how they're living or have an option. What was some of the strategy? And I love how you say liberated from alcohol and repositioning how someone can think about a non-alcoholic wine or champagne. What was that go-to-market strategy? I know you're being sold, did you say over 20 countries?

9:36Yes, we're in 22 countries.

9:38Moa Gürbüzer:That's incredible. So what was that go-to-market strategy?

9:45Well, we do have different go-to-market strategy because it's very deliberate. But we always start in the best places, the world's leading restaurants, hotels and cultural destinations, including, I mean, Michelin started restaurants. We are now serving most in the world, served wines in every 22 countries. And this is, these are not just point of sale. They are also a cultural beacons. I mean, the shape, the taste, the defined aspiration, and the influence, how people behave far beyond their own walls.

10:37Moa Gürbüzer:How did you get in front of the Michelin star restaurants to even give it an opportunity or give it a shot? How did you get it on their radar? Yeah. Some of the Michelin stars, I mean, there is a consumer that pushing them to have an option and people just not want to give them a juice or not a good option. And so many often they give us a call or sending us an email and said, we have tried all the best, all the non-alcoholic wines and we have tried your, this is incredible. we won't have you have the odd bird on the menu. So that is how it starts. But we are also partner with Star Wine List, with Michelin, Master of Michelin, Master of Sommeliers, and other around us that are working with the wine, the energy list, the winemakers.

11:38So all together, they do understand what we are doing. for example with the launching with the C. Champagne yesterday well all the media was there all the sommeliers, chef sommeliers was there it was incredible to see how loved it was and also oh my god I can never believe that this could be so good and that is why we are working so hard from the beginning with this traditional winemaking. It is not every winemaker that can make wine because you need to challenge yourself in your own mind because this wine should be without alcohol. So you need to have to think about the acidity, to think about the minerality, to think about the fermentation.

12:29So all our wine, for example, from France is from Alsace, where we also have our research center. It is nature wines, low intervention wines. We don't put anything inside. We don't disturb the nature. It's a spontaneous yeast, hand-crushed, hand-picked, and everything around is a circularity. You know, the trees, the animal, everything is around. It's very, very in circularity with what we call regenerative wines. And then we even use the rainwater, for example. and then in the dealkylization process, it is, you know, the wine is very fresh. It needs to be very fresh. So we age all our wines in a very careful way and tasting them all the time during the fermentation to get the timing right for dealkylization.

13:30Moa Gürbüzer:I love attention to detail. I really do. I appreciate that so much. So I wanted to ask you, because you have a really interesting point of view. You're in 22 countries and I know we touched upon this being founded in Sweden and you mentioned having a different go-to-market strategy depending on which country you're entering. Have you noticed any nuance of differences of how different consumers in different countries are perceiving the wine or their experience with it or anything that you have found interesting or something that you didn't expect? Well, I found out that people are willing to pay for the quality.

14:13And the quality, the flavors, the way we give attention to flavors is almost the same in drinking cultures.

14:26Moa Gürbüzer:Got it. Yeah. So they know very much about the wine and they're well-educated in somehow, but they don't want to have the ethanol inside the wine. And that is overall, both in the U.S. market and the U.S., but also in Asia as well, that people want to reduce, I mean, 80 % of all alcohol drinkers wanted to reduce their intake of alcohol. That's what they want to do. So 80 %? Yes, that our alcohol drinker wants to reduce, but can't find the right quality out there. And that's what we want. We wanted to give them the best option. We wanted to make it available for them to choose anytime, wherever they are.

15:25Moa Gürbüzer:I like your analogy and it's on your website and it really stuck with me is that you want to make it feel as natural of when say someone orders a coffee and they say do you want it with or without milk and this say for ordering a glass of wine do you want alcohol or non-alcohol and I thought that was a really good analogy and how second nature it is to say yes I want milk or no milk and how you are creating something so similar in the wine and champagne space that, I mean, speaking to the numbers too, 80 % of alcohol drinkers wanting more options to decrease their consumption, that's a really powerful statistic to work from.

16:09Yes. You know, there's a lot of shame out there. I mean, the industry is the shame of not being drinking. That's a good point. Yeah. So that is, you know, to feel the kind of shame is excluding you. And you are, in that case, forced to drink, even if you don't want to drink, to just feel the inclusiveness. So what happens in this shame that if you say no, thank you, it is like you are broken the social bonds between each other. So that is a way to take away the shame. Right.

16:59Moa Gürbüzer:And that also speaks to your background and your point of view. It all connects. I really appreciate, again, how you're connecting the dots and your perspective in making this option more accessible and feel more socially acceptable and normal and an easy choice, right? That you're not sacrificing taste or quality. I wanted to ask you, as someone who really has been leading this space, what piece of advice would you share to an emerging brand founder who is maybe innovating on a new category or stepping out and really starting a conversation for a growing category that people are still trying to wrap their head around or maybe not have the best perception about?

17:49Moa Gürbüzer:what advice would you share with them based off of your experience? You know, for me, to be value-driven is very, very important. And that is, I mean, how a company should start with. In which way? I mean, when I started, for example, you need to have the questions to you. When I started, in which way? because I have been working as a family therapist for 25 years. I have seen thousands of children that have been affected, deeply affected of the parents, the drinking. And some of them have struggled in all their childhood, perhaps not being able to have a hug that hasn't smelled alcohol. and some of them has been parents through their own parents.

18:46So this kind of value, yes, and it's very, very important that I do want to change the lives for them, but I also want to change the perception with non-alcoholic wines. I would not say non-alcoholic wines because it is alcohol without, it is a wine without ethanol. and so it is a kind of non-alcoholic it's a liberation to choice liberation so i i would say stick to the values what you want and in which way do you want to make the impact i know that women-driven companies have this kind of value in the start of the business while perhaps may take it afterwards. But that will be, and keep it, keep it, and have the patient and don't get afraid.

19:46And as long as you stick to that, your brave will just be there. Your courage will just be there because you're sticking to that.

19:57Moa Gürbüzer:That is a great piece of advice of knowing your why, knowing why you're going on this crazy ride of starting a brand and creating a new category and figuring out how to create your product and really sticking to your values and having that. I didn't know how to make wine, but I found out the best person who can do it. I learned during the way. I was kicked out from the wine yards from the first, but now I am in Alsace and having their best 10 energy list in order to get this. So you have to be in the line all the time and don't get afraid if something is going wrong. You just restart again. Don't feel that, okay, this was the end.

20:44We just need to learn that we need to restart as a relation, you know, it is a relationship. You have to restart and try to talk again, try to convince us again. And that's how it is. It's an inauguration. I mean, I had a reward from the Swedish king and I never would imagine that I could have an award from a Swedish king and that could award me for my job in changing societies. That's incredible. Yes. And then I had a picture of him and a couple of years later, I was invited to speak about in which way this award had given me for kind of benefits. And one benefit was that when it didn't go well, I could just show me the picture with me and the king and said, hello, my king from Sweden is telling his regards to you.

21:59Could we please start to speak?

22:02Moa Gürbüzer:Seriously. So you could have a lot of things on your way that you can use in order to get. Yes. And that's a great point too of you never know how it's going to come together and just going along for the ride and seeing the twists and the turns and maybe a Swedish king is, you know, part of your story. That is great. I love that. Well, thank you so much. Anyone listening, go to oddbird.com and check out their new website. They have great products. And thank you again, Moa, for coming on the podcast. This was really great. Oh, don't forget to the new production of Sea Wine, the first champagne in the world.

22:48Moa Gürbüzer:Amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much. And I'll see everyone on the next episode. Bye. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They are connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf-level awareness, drive in-store momentum, and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most. Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you. This episode was brought to you by Glimpse. As we know, building a brand is not as sexy and glamorous as it looks on social media at times.

23:34Moa Gürbüzer:A lot of those unsexy problems come into play when brands start to scale in retail distribution. Founders are always incredibly excited to see their products on shelves at major retail chains, but they don't realize all the hard work that starts to begin. Retailers and distributors are known for their processes of deducting amounts from invoices. Most of the time, those are totally valid. Promos, slotting fees, free fills, and all the things that brands agree to to be part of the retail experience. But sometimes those deductions are invalid, costing brands thousands to millions in fees. Actually finding those needles in the haystack though and fighting to win back lost revenue, it's a costly, manual, and time-consuming issue.

24:30Moa Gürbüzer:And that's where Glimpse comes in. 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, scaling their businesses. With a team of in-house deduction experts who come from some of the most successful and profitable CPG companies and custom built AI with 100 % accuracy and precision. You'll recover money that you never should have had leaked in the first place. 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.

25:24Moa Gürbüzer:Thank you again for listening to this episode of the Emerging Brands Podcast. It really means so much to me that you listen to this show, share it with your friends and support it. If you are a CPG food and beverage founder and you're ready to launch a brand, people want to shop, head to withkellybennett.com for the details. And as always, thank you so much for listening, shopping the brands featured on the show and following brands I'm working with. It means so much. See you on the next episode.