Be Timely. Be Great. Be Relentless. Why The GNGR Formula Works.

26:49Yes. One of your stripes is a lot wider than the other one though, I think. Well, I think that, I think the term that we had been using was flex sober, which is you have a, you have a drink and then you have a non-alcoholic drink, You have an alcohol drink, then you have a non-alc drink. But zebra striping, I like that better. Yeah, I like that too. As much as I love alcohol, I really find that I have to be so, so careful because otherwise I get a migraine. So I just got back from Montreal and my husband and I went to Von Papillon, which is one of our favorite restaurants there. And they had an option on the non-alc menu that was a collaboration with Le Seltzer, which is a big beverage brand in Canada.

27:26and a restaurateur named Danny Smiles, who owns a few restaurants there. I tried their Amaro version and I just thought it was, it was such a nice way to kind of offset the sips of my husband's cocktails with something that I could be drinking. Cause I mean, like, I just, I love a cocktail. I love a drink, but it just, I just can't handle it like I used to. And I think another thing that I really loved about the product is that, again, it was zero calories. It had a nice sort of like herbaceous, bitter, orange. There's some quinine in there too. But if I'm not going to have a cocktail, I don't want it to have, you know, 15 grams of sugar in there.

28:07Like I want to, you know, benefit from the fact that I'm not drinking in addition to not getting a headache. You want it all. Melissa wants it all. I like that. You know, Melissa, you're probably speaking for a lot of people who have to consume the way you consume or choose to consume the way you can do. So sad, but you know, what am I going to do? You know, I just choose to get the migraine. That's the thing. I just choose to wake up the next day and be like, oh, why did I do such a thing? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Well, all right, Mike, don't shake your head at me in a negative. I'm not judging you very much over here.

28:39All right. Well, what do you got there? You got some Kate Farms. Look at that. Yeah. Right. We're going to have some things. So, I mean, I looked at this and 25 grams of protein, high protein. First of all, let's talk about what Kate Farms is. Kate Farms is a maker of plant-based products. Smoothies and shakes. They have primarily focused on the healthcare industry. And I think this is one of those where they probably should figure out a way to call that out on here just for the mainstream consumer who isn't familiar with why they do what they do. There's an interesting call on the front here that it says it's the recommended number one plant-based brand.

29:17It doesn't say by who, but that's one of their call-outs on here. And then there's just a lot going on on the back of pack. In terms of ingredients, you mean? Right. And I think per what Ray said, people who are recovering from surgery or have cancer or whatever it is, it's stuff that doesn't taste good is really hard to get someone to eat because you, if you're having chemotherapy, I know this from my mom, she would say everything tastes like metal or I can't taste anything or whatnot. So you try to give them something that just gives them a little bit of flavor. And this is pretty flavor explosive.

29:54They're trying to get you to taste the chocolate. They're trying to get you to taste the strawberry, but they're trying to get you to get a lot of stuff into you too. So there's just, it's loaded with vitamins, 25 grams of protein and pretty tasty. Yeah. I can see this as being a meal replacement as much as it is a nutrition drink. I mean, it has 160 calories, but it's got 25 grams of plant protein. And as Mike pointed out, I mean, like a lot of vitamins and minerals in here. I don't even know if it mentions 27, 27 vitamins and minerals, zero grams of sugar, six grams of fiber. 27 vitamins and minerals, which usually points to there's got to be some kind of masking going on.

30:32So you're not tasting all that. And there are a lot of things in here that we might otherwise criticize, but I think given the functionality of the beverage, you get away with it. And then one of my favorite beverages lately has a pretty strange name with a beautiful package, Corpse Reviver. Which, is there a functional benefit? I know Corpse Reviver. I'm just trying to ask you. Yeah, Corpse Reviver is an electrolyte beverage. In this case, I've got the Prickly Pear in my hand. Prickly Pear Hibiscus Tea with Electrolyte Revival Blend. You know, it's supposed to give you a little boost. Pretty good ingredient panel, 10 calories.

31:09This one's prickly pear. This one's botanical. It's got cardamom, anise, pomegranate, lemon green tea, an electrolyte revival blend. This stuff's tasty. The design is beautiful. Yeah. You want to try it? Yeah. Which one? The pink one. Ready? Prickly pear. You're coming your way. Oh, I don't think it's going to blow up. Let's see. All right. Yeah. I sat down with the founder and CEO, Anna Zezbaugh, a few weeks back for an episode of Elevator Talk. Elevator Talk, once again, is a series that profiles early stage and disruptive brands from across the food and beverage industry. And it's interesting because I think they started out as one thing and then they saw this opportunity to be more than that.

31:50So it's an electrolyte beverage, as Mike pointed out. But it's more for mainstream consumers than I think the niche audience that they were looking for or that they were targeting early on. 325 milligrams of potassium, 175 of magnesium, 75 of althenin, 20 milligrams of zinc, 20 milligrams of sodium. Jackie, what do you think of Corpse Reviver as a name? On Instagram, she'll call you, she'll be like, corpses, hey, that's what the fans are calling. I think I remember stopping by their booth and I thought like originally the packaging from afar was like kind of like feminine. And And then I saw the name and I was just like, oh, interesting.

32:30I was surprised by the name when I saw it, but I like that it's like telling you kind of the function and kind of a fun way. It definitely makes you question it, you know, like which we've been talking about a little bit lately of just like sometimes making people question or having some sort of surprise is like a good thing. Confusion. Yeah. Mike Cesario in particular is like confusion is an advantage in marketing. Like you remember it. And you see this and you're like, what is that? And why is it so feminine? And why is it so playful? And why is this speaking to me? And I don't know. It just unlocks something for me.

33:03I love this stuff. It tastes like a flavored seltzer with the added electrolyte benefits. And I can definitely imagine this reviving your corpse after you drink maybe way too much the night before to replenish some of those. Not remembering what that's like. I like the magnesium play and I like that there's a little green tea in it too. It's just like a nice sparkling tea. And zing. Yeah. None of us get enough zinc, right? I'm sure we don't. For listeners, not viewers, you may have not caught the point of a finger and the side eye that Melissa gave me when she talked about perhaps drinking too much.

33:38Overindulging. Overindulging. Overimbibing. I think you guys are a team. Yeah, there you go. There you go. Yes. You can have a sip of my cocktail the next time we have a company event. That's perfect. Okay. Okay. Jackie and I have mostly converted to the weed at this point. Yeah. Weed and mushrooms for me. The next morning you thank yourself. I think we've got time for one more brand product and that one looks pretty interesting by your side there, Melissa. What is that? Yeah. So this is another thing I brought back from Montreal. We go every year. We send our kids to sleep away camp and we go to Montreal by ourselves.

34:15And every single year I stock up on these Koyo products. So it's an imported product from Japan. There's this Japanese market that I love. I have the ume plum vinegar here with me, but I also stocked up on their sesame oil, their mirin and their brown rice vinegar. I remember this from last year. And I just, I have never found an ume plum vinegar like this anywhere else. I've ordered them off the internet. Eden has one. They're no good. This one is - Have you tried Japan? You know, I've gone to the ends of the earth. Except for Japan. Except for Japan. But it's such a, I just love this Ume plum vinegar so much.

34:53I use it in so many things. Anytime you need something that's a little bit tart, I love it. Now I'm all stocked up. So good for me. Good for you indeed. And good for our audience for, you know, knowing now that there is a plum vinegar that exists that is actually worthy of being in your cabinet. But you're going to have to go to Montreal or Japan because I can't find a way to order it off of the internet that doesn't cost like, you know,$200 a bottle or something like that. Listeners, if you have any advice on that front, just let us know. Let someone has a hookup for you, Melissa. Please let me know.

35:23I'm desperate. Well, not now, but I will be. Ask at Taseradio.com or the Nambay Slack. There you go. That's right. Quick break. If this episode has you thinking about what's next in food and beverage, explore BevNet and Nosh Insider, our subscription platform with deeper insights from the BevNet team. Visit Taseradio.com slash Insider to learn more. All right. It's time for our interview with Namik Sultan, the founder and CEO of Ginger Labs, a wellness beverage company best known for its organic cold-pressed ginger shots and functional drinks crafted to support immune and digestive health. What began as a homemade remedy has become a staple in bodegas and independent grocery stores across New York City and beyond.

36:09Earlier this year, Ginger Lab Shots landed nationwide distribution at all Wegmans locations. I caught up with Namek last month at BevNet Live Summer 2025, where he shared the journey behind transforming his mother's ginger lemon honey recipe into a fast-growing wellness brand. In our conversation, Namek talks about the role of grit, flavor, and relentless hustle in building GingerLabs and emphasizes the power of timing, the need for true product differentiation, and the value of growing with intention driven by steady organic momentum.

36:51Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I am honored to be sitting down with Namik Sultan, the founder and CEO of GingerLabs. Namik, great to see you. Likewise. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, we're in your hood. We're in New York City here at BevNet Live, summer 2025. What part of the city are you based in? Brooklyn. You're in New York. What part of Brooklyn? Shipset Bay, south Brooklyn. Okay. By Coney Island, you know, where the hot dog contest happened every 4th of July. So that's where, nearby there. Have you always lived there? I used to live in the city before. Moved to Brooklyn in 2018.

37:26That's kind of like the start of the company and been there since then. So 2018 feels like it's not too long ago. It was seven years ago. Exactly. But Ginger Labs has been doing some amazing things since. And I should be more objective, but I love your company. I love your shots. Every time I come to New York City, I see them all over the bodegas, and I can't wait to grab them. But what got you into it? What got you started? What got you really excited about the prospect of starting a juice shot company? And I know you sell more than juice shots, but we'll get into that. Yeah. So I think just kind of stepping back to 2018, that's where we had another beverage brand.

38:00It was a shelf-stable, infused water brand that, unfortunately, we had to shut it down. It didn't work out. And in 2020, that's where we started Ginger Shot Brand. Essentially, once we shut down the old business in 2019, I had this idea, my mom's recipe for ginger lemon honey paste that I turned into Ginger Shot, essentially. And it was summer 2019, and I had this idea. We always have cold and flu season regardless of year. It's coming every single year. And we're about to start the company. COVID happened. So it was kind of like it was once in a lifetime opportunity or it's the right product at the right time.

38:45We launched in April 28th, just right during the pandemic. But main idea was that, you know, a lot of people trying to be more cautious when it comes to medication, especially when you have some sort of like a minor alignment. Idea was that instead of taking NyQuil per se, you take ginger shot, helps you tour with your cold, the flu or stuff like that. And as we expand, we start adding different variation of shots, different like energy and digestion and vitamin C. What was your strategy? What was your thought process when it came to not just creating the product, but going to market and getting off on the right foot?

39:26Because as you know, if you stumble at first, it's really hard to get back up. Yeah, especially when it comes to shots, it's always short shelf life. And when it comes to New York, if your product doesn't move fast enough and then expires, obviously stores are not going to buy it. And when we started, obviously we went out, we bought a bunch of other products and just kind of see what's good out there, what's not. We just realized that most of the shots, they were very diluted. And I think like 2020 or 2019, that's still that era of wellness product. Or those like maybe you remember green juices, green shots, wellness shots.

40:03They were very mild. So our main idea was let's create one of the spiciest ginger shots on the market. Then when people consume this product, they're like, okay, I'm paying$4 for something. I really, I want the shot to burn everything, you know, all the, all the bacterias that I have. And I think that was our main idea. Obviously, when we start selling this product and people, you know, they try the product, they come back, buy more and more and more. And I think that's what became kind of like our signature line that this shot, this is the real ginger shot. This is the shot gives me that extra boost, extra spiciness.

40:38and I think that just keeping the high quality product, high quality ingredients, that really helped us to build this business throughout almost five years. Crazy to think about it. It's been five years. And slowly, slowly, slowly, we build our reputation on the market and New York market or New York stores, they're unforgivable. You know, if your product doesn't move fast enough, right, they will just not buy your product. But I think we build a reputation on the New York street market. And over the last five years, there's so many brands launched and relaunched within the New York, and most of them, they failed.

41:18Obviously, some of the big brands, they're still in the market. But I think that was kind of main point of differentiation for us. Yeah, high quality is always a great differentiator. Quality ingredients, people respect that. Typically, they'll pay a premium for it. But in the bodegas of New York City, as you mentioned, getting onto those shelves, getting into those cooler sets. What was your sales strategy? How did you talk to those owners to let them know, not only are you selling a product that has a higher quality profile of ingredients than what's currently out there, but also it's going to move.

41:54Because you can say all you want up and down the street that our product is better, our product is better. But what's going to motivate people to come in there and buy it, having not tried it for the first time. I mean, I know this product that I'm holding in my hand is amazing. I know it's much spicier. It has a much different profile than what we typically see on the market. But I wouldn't know that unless I tried it. Yeah, I think when it comes to when we first launched, obviously, as I mentioned, we launched during COVID. And we launched as a self-distributor, like self-distributing our product across New York City.

42:26So we didn't go necessarily to the distributor right away. We literally packed my minivan with the ginger shots. I had friends of ours who actually invested in our company. They became salespeople. Oh, wow. They never sold any product before. So, yeah, I think the beauty and difficulty of New York market, because New York market, there's a lot of independent stores, a lot of independent accounts, which is good and also not good because you have 1 ,000 doors. You have to manage 1 ,000. It's almost like a thousand relationships. But at the same time, you don't have to submit to the buyer somewhere in Texas.

43:07And you have to wait for a month, sometimes years, to get approved. In New York, you literally go from store to store to store to offer your product. And then if they like your product, they will purchase it. And obviously, I think a few things helped us. COVID, it was just really explosive error in terms of immunity beverages. So there was a lot of demand. Obviously, people were grabbing product faster than they might not buy as much if there wasn't COVID. So that definitely helped. But then also having three, four people on the ground single day, every single day going out there, trying to push our product, offering free fills and whatnot.

43:48And And I think that's really kind of helped us to get on the market. And then obviously we moved to the larger distributor. But I think timing is also important, very important. Probably now I wouldn't be able to convince my friends to sell junior shots. It was just the perfect time and perfect situation to launch. So the two words I keep hearing are timing and luck. But luck in particular when it comes to the people that work with you and your partners. But that's great for year one, maybe year two, especially, you know, again, given the situation that you were in when you launched with COVID.

44:26Once you get to year two and a half, three, how do you keep that momentum going? How do you make sure that you're not just maintaining the status quo, but that you're continuing to expand beyond New York and get more brand awareness and get more shots in people's hands? Yeah, I think, you know, I'm a true entrepreneur, right? I always have thousands of different ideas for products and whatnot. And I think what really helped to get the brand going, you know, when we first started, we had one skew for almost a year and a half, just one single shot. And as we started expanding, we just realized that, you know, we have to adjust.

45:00We have to adjust the packaging. We have to adjust the bottle. We had this little square bottle when we first started. And then, obviously, we wanted to add more and more skews, more and more product. But in the same time, we're trying to create a product that's not going to just cannibalize another product. So there should be enough differentiation between products. So, you know, you kind of dip into a new category, almost. Not the category, but kind of like a subcategory for the shots. And I think just adding new innovative product that really help us to continue to expand our business and continue doubling our business year over year.

45:39As we start expanding nationwide, right now we've unified, we're in the central market. We have a few other states also outside of New York City. And having our core product, obviously, it's a main business, right? But just adding new innovative, trying something new and see what's going to work, what's not going to work. I think that's what really makes any beverage brand successful. And you're also in one of my favorite retailers of all time. That's Wegmans. Yeah. Your national Wegmans. Congratulations. Earlier this year, that was announced. How's that going? And how do you enhance that relationship with a key retailer like that?

46:17Yeah, it's been amazing working with those guys. You know, in the beauty, it's a direct business, right? There's not many billbacks, which I love. When you get your check, it's just one check without any billbacks. Can we dive into that a little bit? Because billbacks and some of the added costs that are associated with the beverage industry and CPG in general is something that I think early-stage entrepreneurs are not familiar with. Just if you could tell us what's the difference, and you don't have to mention any other retailers' names, but what you mean by they're a good partner to have because of things like that versus potentially some other retailers out there.

46:56Of course. So, for example, when you work with Distributor, Distributor, it's almost like third-party or the additional hump that you have to go over, right, in order to get your product to the retail. So they take their 30 % margins. And then obviously, as you go into promotion, you do different discounts to the retailer. So your product goes into promotion. You have to absorb all that, right? And then when it comes to New York Independent, obviously, you create different incentives for the stores, for salespeople in order to move your product or sell more product, right? Obviously, you would have to absorb that.

47:35When it comes to New York, for, I would say, like a mid-sized beverage brand, you have to spend anywhere from$500 ,000 to a million dollar a year on a billback salon. And it's not something very, you know, exaggerated in a way, right? That's just in New York City? Just in New York City. And that's because, again, for free fill or? Free fills, incentives, billbacks from different retail accounts, like a small chain. Wow. And when it comes to Vegments, for example, they have one price. So it's a DLP. It's one price across the whole year. So you don't really run any promotions. And they have everyday low cost, technically.

48:19So when it comes to that, you negotiate price once. You send it to distributor. They deliver. They pay you. So this is our first ever account that we don't get any billbacks, which is very exciting. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, again, you want to keep that relationship great. You want to make sure that they're benefiting, Wes and Wegmans, as much as you're benefiting. But I've seen the one that's local to me, a lot of the juice shots are near the medicine aisle in the store. And sometimes they're kind of away from where you would expect them to be with some of the other juices and fresh fruits and things like that.

49:02So in that case, yes, it's still great to be in the store, but how do you move product? How do you move product? Maybe not as much as you do in New York City at a local bodega, but how do you make sure that customers are aware of where it is and pulling it off shelf? Right. So again, I guess one thing about Vegments, that you get that benefit of not getting a lot of billbacks, but at the same time, there is not a lot of things you can do in terms of you can do, You can go to your store, do a little merchandising, but you cannot do anything more than that. With other retailers, obviously merchandising, it's one of the most important things.

49:39Especially even here in New York, because when your product sells, sometimes your product could be in the back. It might not have enough tasting. So I think just having merchandising, it's going to increase your sales 30 to 40%. right? Just having team on the ground who constantly going back into the retail, merchandising, make sure all the sales materials are placed, and obviously going on sale, right? You do two for six, two for five, whatever promotion you have. Those things definitely help to increase your sales and especially get the new customers try your product. Yeah, we've been talking about your shots for the entire time pretty much but you also have ready to drink products as well or or larger format canned products that still have your key ingredients in them initially the one i recall is the one that came in a wider uh bodied can it was your ginger lemonade spelled lemon aid correct and a vitamin c product as well um i don't think those are still on the market or if i'm not correct?

50:43Yes, so we essentially we had those two products that was a first launch. What we have done, this year we redeveloped those cans. So unfortunately we don't have vitamin C here but we just launched two SKUs. Vitamin C should be somewhere on the floor also and it comes in more sleek format as you can see here. We just decided to keep the same design across all our product portfolio just having this wide drop and the vertical exactly yeah what were on the previous cans which was correct and just also there is a few other reason why we decided to move into slick ends it's just from the retail so for example 7-eleven they do not carry any small format those like a smoke kind of a coca-cola cans right okay yeah it's just they just don't carry them and there's a few other channels as well they don't work with a small so it has either has to be 16 ounce big can or has to be sleeve so that's another reason we decided to move back into this new format and we just released two skews so vitamin c it's an orange immunity beverage and this is our new can which is energy you're doing well with the two shots though so i understand why the cans and these drinks might open up new channels, new opportunities for you, but it could also be a distraction for what you're doing.

52:10How do you walk that line? How do you navigate the potential for innovation that can help grow the company versus perhaps be a distraction or weigh you down from your primary product, which are these juice shots? Yeah, so when it comes to that, since we already know New York market, we know how to navigate New York market, And luckily, we have a great partner distributor, Dora Naturals, which they were very patient with us with our product. They help us launch some of the products, take them off the market. And I think just having that ability to get the product quick on the market, test it and see if it works, if it doesn't work, allow us to actually test some of the product.

52:52Obviously, with the new cans, we're not going to Walmart right away. Right. We're not going to Whole Foods right away. We're trying to get this product on the streets. We do have a brand presence, and we think this can help us to continue to expand our business. I'm an entrepreneur. I look at things from like five to ten years in advance, and I'm like, okay, what's going to happen in five years? So I think we want to plant some seeds today so tomorrow we can have a product that's already ready to scale. Well, how did you apply the learnings from the previous iteration of the cans to these new products?

53:27I know you talked briefly about it in terms of the package design, but what did you learn from how customers perceived the old products and incorporated those learnings into the new cans? Yeah, obviously, when we first started doing cans, it was completely new territory for me. And, you know, when it comes to shots, it's easy to formulate. When it comes to cans, it's a shelf-sable product. It's really hard to get the right formula. And especially when it comes to energy, right? There's sugar, there's sugar, there's no sugar, there's a sucralose, there's natural flavor. And then when you start adding all these ingredients, you drink your product.

54:07It doesn't taste great, right? So to formulate the product that tastes great, has great benefits, and it looks great too, right? It's not easy. And I think when we first started, obviously, I learned a lot how to develop formulas for the cans. And I think this time we were able to actually deliver a product that tastes amazing, has great benefits to it. It's clean. There is nothing artificial in this particular product or any other product. So I think that was kind of the main lesson that I learned in terms of product formula. And I was able to add or remove things that not necessarily were good.

54:49And yeah, so that was kind of my main lesson. How do you know you have an audience? for these products? And how can you best reach that audience via merchandising? So the way we look at the RTDs, it's more as an extension of the brand, right? When it comes to shots, obviously there is a lot of limitation when you can sell this product. It's a refrigerated product, it's small, and you might not be able to reach same consumers, right? That they might be at the office. Unfortunately, the office, they won't carry shots or they might be in the hospital or they might be in the gas stations, right? So the way we think about this product as an extension or, for example, let's say gas stations, right?

55:34The middle of Texas, for example, right? Obviously, it's going to be extremely hard to get the ginger shots in there, but they can use benefits of ginger in a different format. Right. So even just looking at the New York City, for example, obviously we have close to 2 ,000 doors here, but there is 25 ,000 doors, right? And there are some stores that would never carry Ginger Shots. So we see that as an opportunity to expand our brand and just have more doors. What's been the most challenging part of this journey? And let's just talk about the last five years when you launched the Shots. what have you felt like you would have benefited from knowing prior to these last five years i mean you have a ton of experience now but is there anything where you you can say now we could have saved ourselves a lot of time headache and money if we had just done this well uh to be honest i feel like the every like for the past five years every year it was kind of like a we are like a new level and it almost feels like we're playing the game that we never lost a level.

56:45We're like, we went from one level to second, third and fifth level. And obviously there's the lessons that we shouldn't work with some people, some of the brokers, for example, that we kind of wasted time there. But it's just one of those things that you never know, right? You have to try things and And sometimes it's going to work, sometimes it's not going to work. But luckily, we just had, everything was going very smooth. We got our seed round investment right on time when we needed it. And that gave us a little cushion to kind of really push forward. But luckily, we just, things kind of been happening organically on our end.

57:23Obviously, we want to expand faster than we can. But that also comes with, you know, you have to spend more. You have to spend more. You have to hire more people, which also opens you up to more exposure, more risk. Looking back, were there any red flags that might have been associated with the broker that didn't work out that you could have said, hey, we should watch out for these guys because of the red flags that you identified after the fact? Like I said, it's probably very hard to tell because obviously when you're interviewing people at the beginning, they all kind of like, you know, they tell you what they can do.

57:59but it's just one of those things you never know, right? So I have learned something that if you see three months, four months, nothing happening, just you got to move on faster. And obviously that's very expensive. You know, those contracts, they come with$20 ,000,$30 ,000 termination fees, which sometimes you have to take a risk. And beverage business, it's all about the risk. It's all about taking the risk and see what's going to work, what's not going to work. Taking the risk, but also mitigating that risk, making sure you're not taking too many big leaps, that you're not putting all your eggs in one basket.

58:34How do you think about sort of managing risk as it relates to this industry? Yeah, I think when it comes to employees, right, or just hiring people, I think that's the biggest issue for anyone. It's not just us, right? Just to find the right person and to find the right person that's affordable, it's extremely difficult, right? Because sometimes you think it's the right person, you can hire the person. but then you won't see results as well. So for us, we've been very patient in terms of hiring more and more people. We rely on ourselves in some way, and then we work with some of the consultants or third-party people.

59:12And that's really helped us to really have less pressure on our balance sheet. And just kind of, we see the way I run the business, if we have upcoming purchase order, or we see, okay, this is chain coming true, we're going to generate an extra$50 ,000 a month. So now it's time to hire people. So I never went ahead and tried to hire a lot of people right in advance, which I know a lot of people do, and they get excited about the product. To me, it's more like, okay, let's test the ground first before we make a move. Yeah. I think also what I know from you, Namik, is that you work a lot. You're a hard worker.

59:51I don't know if you're working 24-7, but it might seem like that. Is that really important? I mean, beverage entrepreneurs and CPG professionals need to know that this is a business where you have to work. For the last five years, actually, for almost four years, I had no vacation. So I took my first vacation last year, July. So that was my first, I think, well-deserved vacation. But to me, it's also I do enjoy what I do. You know, I do enjoy beverages. I do enjoy creating new things. Obviously, there's a lot of things I have to do that I do not enjoy. but I think for me it's more like I work all the time you know we come to the office at nine leave at eight sometimes sometimes at ten sometimes I can leave at 3 p.m you know so obviously you really have to love what you do if you don't love what you do it's just gonna feel like a job right but if you enjoy what you're doing you can spend 14 hours at the office doing something and it doesn't feel like a word.

1:00:51And for us, we did a lot of things ourselves, including packaging and design and all that stuff. We saved so much money on that. But obviously not everyone can do that. But yeah, I think when you start a beverage brand, you should expect anywhere from five to 10 years to really work really hard and don't see a lot of income or don't see a lot of vacations. But that's the only way. You know, there's no magic bullet. There's no magic formula that, you know, you create a product and all of a sudden it's going to be everywhere and it's going to sell like crazy. You really have to put some work and effort and sacrifice to make something work.

1:01:33Well, I know how busy you are, and I really appreciate you coming out to sit down with me today. I love Ginger Labs. In our office, we are fiends for Ginger Labs. Anytime a shot comes into the office, there's a fight, there's a brawl, because people want to get it and they want to stash it, because you make an extremely high-quality product. Congratulations on everything. I'm excited to see how the next five years unfold, and I'm expecting to see some amazing things to happen with you and your company. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Thank you.

1:02:08That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNet.com Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cratchy. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt. And our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smirlinski. And our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram.

1:02:43Our handle is BevNetTasteRadio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at tasteradio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.