Elevator Talk: No Cap!, Lua Coffee, Tizz, The Purple Drop

28:22I write comedy things, and that's what I usually do. I have nothing to do with beverage, but I loved orangina as a kid, and I suddenly had this tangerine tree in my backyard, and every morning I would eat a tangerine and go get a coffee, and then in the middle of last winter, this little old Mexican lady came banging on the door of my office, and I opened up the door, and she was screaming at me. She goes, We gotta get all the tangerines off this tree right now. They're tart and tangy and fresh and delicious right now! And I was like, who are you how'd you get into my house and she goes I'm your neighbor and I planted that tree 40 years ago and this is the week that they're so good and I said great so you picked all these tangerines together and I gave her a bunch and I was like what am I gonna do with all these fucking tangerines I had like 400 of them and she goes you do what we all do in the community you juice the tangerines you freeze the juice it's so delicious you could add it to tequila you can make ice cream with it you could even make orange soda and I thought huh I love orange soda And so I kind of got a little bit obsessed with doing this throughout that entire winter.

29:19I was posting about it. All my creative friends that make movies and they're actors and stuff like, what the fuck are you doing? Have you lost your mind? But they all sort of pooled their resources and helped me figure this out. It was all kind of a joke that spiraled out of control. And after four months, I made a small batch of this and bottled it and came up with the name and the branding and did that on myself. And we sold out immediately. And I thought, well, that's the end of this hilarious bit. But instead, everyone started to hook me up with people that were in CPG. And enough of them looked at what I had done as a joke and said, maybe it's not a joke.

29:56Maybe this is a good idea to do a modern, cool orange soda that is juice forward and has this sort of branding strategy. And I thought the insight, I thought, how come orange soda doesn't have orange in it? Like, why is every orange soda has no oranges in it? It doesn't make any sense. And so we thought, why don't we try to do that? And we're not probiotic. We think that all that stuff's pretentious. I don't think that stuff tastes good. I don't like Love Stevia. We just want it to be a fun, funny, modern soda that just tastes good and it's not going to give you diabetes. And it's like 33 % juice in it.

30:33And that's kind of the short pitch. That was a great pitch. And I failed to mention that you guys are going to be pitching on stage at BevNet Live as part of our new beverage showdown. Congratulations on getting into the semifinals. I just want to note to our audience that we did check that mark on Apple Podcasts to let you know that there could be some cursing on this episode. So you shouldn't be surprised. You always check those things. You should anyway, before you start listening. You know, I love this concept. I was just talking about Orangina on the show and how Orangina isn't Orangina anymore.

31:09Okay, folks from Orangina are not going to come to BevNet Live. I'm sorry. It just doesn't. It just doesn't. And so it's incumbent upon entrepreneurs to fill that gap and give consumers what they've been missing for all these years, which is what they used to love with Orangina. There's just so much to break down about this brand. Wade, I know you have a million questions. I know you have a million thoughts. Let's just go right to you. No, I think it's one of the things I like. I got these samples as well. Thank you for sending them. And I like the artwork. I like the label. I felt it was very clear on what you were doing.

31:46And I think there certainly is, at least from my perception, making things from our younger days. And again, I'm dating ourselves here. But healthier and new versions, right? And you see it across multiple categories through the store. And I think this is another example of, you know, Todd's referencing that, you know, he loved orange soda, you know, and now here we are all these years later and orange soda isn't orange soda anymore. Or if there is orange soda out there, it's not what you remember. And so here's a little bit of a playful attempt at coming back with something that has stays true to its roots, but at the same time, you know, is better for you.

32:26And so I like what they're doing. I think there's a lot of opportunity there. I tasted every orange soda that I could get my hands on. Once I sort of fell into this psychosis, I guess you could call it, I was like, well, I better make sure that I'm right about this. And I went, I drank, I mean, Orangina and the Oranchiatas and the ones from Italy and the Sunkiss, all of them. And the Japanese ones. And I will tell you, I'm not just saying this to be like founder guy. Like they suck. They're way too sweet. They're like cloyingly sweet. They don't taste like orange. Like Sunkist is good and Fanta, you like you love that, but I can't drink that.

33:07Like it's going to kill me. And also our can is a little eight ounce stubby can. Look at these cute little, cute little boys. And we just, for me, when I get like a 12 ounce can of soda, it's way too much stuff to drink. I don't want all that. So we have these cute little things that look like a clementine, look like a tangerine. and um and we just thought we there was a weirdly a big avenue that there really isn't a good one what if we made the best orange soda on the market yeah well i enjoyed what i tasted abe what's been the customer response i mean have you you never know right i mean you you typically you fall in love with your product before you go to market and make sure okay we really think people are going to like this, but what's been the feedback that you guys have gotten about Tiz?

33:57Yeah. So the feedback has been pretty fantastic, actually. We launched basically just three months ago. Todd told you the story and then we formulated and we launched three months ago. And the feedback has been incredible from adults, from people my parents' age, people our age, kids, their eight-year-old that are going into stores and they see the can and they pick it up And because it brings them right in and their parents look at it and it's 33 % juice and it's healthy and they taste it and they love it. So we've gotten a ton of great feedback. Everyone's been loving it. And it's been really shown in the fact that our distribution so far, we're in 50 plus stores in 15 states, all direct sales.

34:38We're not working with distributors. We're starting slow. Todd and I are both not beverage people. I came from the entertainment world as well. I was at Netflix for nearly a decade. I was a producer. I was a distributor of movies and things like that. So we are new at this. We are just kind of learning on the fly. But first, we were like, let's make a great product, these two SKUs, which we love the taste. And then we've been going to stores, we're dropping samples, we're meeting these independent owners and these premium markets in LA that people that people love, Juista, Wine and Eggs, Tropicana, Just What I Needed, bakeries, cafes, coffee shops, we're talking to the owners, we drop samples, they put them in their cases.

35:14and they're calling us every week. Be like, guys, we sold out over the weekend. We need five or six more cases. So the feedback's been great. People are loving the product. We actually just sold out of our first production run. We did a small-ish run because it costs a lot of money and we're new at this. We sold out, we cleaned, sold out. So we're doing another production run next week. We opened up Lassen's as our first supermarket. The velocity there has been sort of incredible. We've been doing demos there and people taste it and they go buy three or four when they put them in their cart. So it's been really great.

35:46People have been loving the product, kids, adults, kind of exactly what we were going for. It's for everybody. It's not for just adults. It's not supposed to help you or be functional. And it's not just kind of a kid's drink that's juice. It's kind of for this wide swath of people so everybody can kind of enjoy Tiz. Before we get back to Wade, what's the price point real quick on each can? So right now the price point is$350. It's a premium product in line with Orangina and things like that. I would say eventually, once we really scale, probably it'd be great to get that down to around$2.99,$3, just to be kind of more available and like in bigger, larger format stores.

36:24But it's been selling at$3.50 quite well at these premium stores in LA. Wade, Abe talked about the opportunity for Tiz to be loved by people of all ages and all backgrounds, or at least of all ages. Because, you know, in our industry, oftentimes people say you don't want to be, you know, everything to everyone. But soda is pretty ubiquitous. You know, soda can go in a lot of places and can be appealing to a lot of folks. But if you were to dial it down and say, you know, you guys should really target on this particular consumer, who would that be? Good question. There's certainly the nostalgia play, right?

37:00We've kind of talked about. So I think, but I think the packaging, just what I feel is kind of the go-to-market right now, just is going to be very appealing to the younger generation, you know, from a standpoint of, you know, it's not too much liquid. It's got 33 % juice. It's just going to be something that I, as a parent, am going to be comfortable giving to my kid as opposed to some of the alternatives that are out there. So I feel like that's a great potential. You're going to want to take a sip of it yourself also. Well, yeah, I already have, Todd. I already have. I like it. And I think they're in lies, you know, and I'm sure you guys have already thought about this, but, you know, multi-packs, right?

37:40I mean, right now, eight ounce, you know, it's great to trial especially. But as you look to scale, where can I put this and, you know, take it home and, you know, I'm taking it to my kid's baseball game or I'm taking it to, you know, an event like that where, you know, it's going to be, I'm going to get more than just that one pop, you know, no pun intended. But, you know, I think to me that's kind of where my mind is, Ray. But I think, you know, speaking for myself and our family, my wife, it's not uncommon for her to buy. There's a reason why, aside from price, that the big boys are making smaller packages because, one, it's cost effective, you know, from a retail perspective.

38:15But two, a lot of people don't want 16 ounces or 12 ounces. They want eight or 10. So that's why you see all these packages out there, aside from price points. And so I think the appeal crosses multiple demographics. I like the kids play personally, because if you get them hooked now, you know, 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now, they're still a consumer. So I think there's a lot of runway there for you. I will say just another quick point. I know we're out of time, but to your point about the size, the big feedback and the big part of the reception we've got, people love the taste, love the look. Everyone loves the size.

38:53Everyone says, we don't see this can size. It's so cute. It's so fun. And that's been kind of the biggest note that we've gotten. People are loving the size and the actual can itself. It's in your pocket, fits in your purse. There you go. Are you guys an Erwan yet? Not yet. We'll probably, probably after the second production run, top of the new year, we'll join that whole racket. Well, you know what? I'll stop there because I think we could go on for another three, four hours. We can talk about it, Marina Del Rey, about it. We will do that. Abe, Todd, this has been probably one of the most entertaining interviews that we've done on Elevator Talk.

39:28Thank you so much for joining us today. Really excited to see you guys on stage at BevNet Live. Thanks, Ray. 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 tasteradio.com slash insider to learn more.

39:49Great stuff. All right. Our final participant for this episode of Elevator Talk is Maria Velasquez, who is the founder of the Purple Drop. Maria, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for your professional setup. Look at you. I love it. Well done. Do you do a lot of podcasting? I do. So by day, aside from my new adventure in CPG, by day, I work in tech and cybersecurity marketing. And I run a community for marketing professionals that work in cybersecurity. And we have a podcast where we highlight stories of amazing marketers doing amazing campaigns. I love it. I love it.

40:25By the way, incognito mode, does that actually work on your phone? Not really. Not really. Those advertisers still find a way to track you and cookie you and all of that. Okay. Well, we need to talk after the show about my browsing habits because every single time I could type in our word and the next thing you know, I get 24 advertisements or if I say something, somehow it ends up popping up on my phone. I could say the word coffee and then I get coffee showing up in my Instagram posts left and right. Absolutely. I have ideas for you. I have the advice. Okay, good. Well, I'm going to add another minute to this because I was wasting your time.

41:04I apologize. apologize the purple drop very cool brand tell us about what you do thank you so yeah my name is maria velasquez i'm the founder of the purple drop alongside my husband roger um we uh are not your typical cpg founders like i said i'm in tech he's in advertising but we are massive foodies he's peruvian he's from lima and uh we drink this at home all the time my mother-in-law taught me how to make it even though i'm not peruvian and uh on a recent trip to peru we had that light bulb moment that everybody should be drinking this so the purple drop is a new beverage brand it's inspired by the peruvian chicha morada which we consider a peruvian super drink because it's made from purple corn that's grown high in the andes and it's packed with antioxidants so we don't make that claim just yet uh we we kind of went through that and i know wade you're you're nodding and smiling and you know what i'm talking about uh it's earthy it's citrusy it's got a hint of spice.

42:04It's very refreshing. In Peru, they drink it in cold months, warm. And then in summer months, cold, it's loved by everyone. And so we thought, you know what, we should bring it to the American consumer. Everyone should have one of these in their fridge. So that's the origin story. We are super early stage. We're launching in January officially. We're currently working with a co-packer. Actually, it's a brewery. We went back and forth in the process of trying to find the right coatbacker that will accommodate the process of brewing and extracting the juice from the purple corn and staying as close as possible and true to that abuelita recipe and so essentially we found that making beer is as close as possible from a process perspective to getting a really good product out of this and we're basically gearing up for winter fancy fair which we got into as a startup.

42:57We're super excited and we're nervous, but we're going to go out there and just be ourselves and show off what we've come up with and really share the Peruvian culture with everyone. I'm thrilled that you're going to be there in San Diego for Winter Fancy Fair. It's a good show. And I just want to taste your product. I think that was my number one question. Wade, is that your biggest question as well? It's not, Ray, because I've tried it. Oh, sorry. I sent him. She sent some to me. This is, I think this is the first time that this has ever happened that I've tried something that you haven't. It's been the reverse, but yeah, I can go into a little bit.

43:33I've got questions, but it was, I won't even say pleasantly surprised because I had no expectations going into it. I thought purple corn, what is this? And my mind rolled to beer. I'm glad she mentioned the Copacker piece because I thought, is this going to have, you know, what is this going to taste like? And from my perspective and my taste buds, and believe me, they're anything but refined, but I thought, I thought, I had this last night. I told my wife, I said, it almost tastes like a spiced applesauce, like a very, you know, I got an apple taste out of it. And, you know, I kept looking at the greens.

44:06I'm like, purple corn? Where's the, you know, but I think when you, with the spices and everything together, that's kind of what I took out of it. So the first question I had on the taste is, well, I guess backing up from a supply chain, does it have to be refrigerated from production all the way through? No. So the samples I sent you are samples that I make here at a shared license kitchen. So that one does need to be refrigerated, but we're working to make sure the end product is pasteurized and shelf stable. And that's the reason why also we've been working on this since early this year, probably like March.

44:40And so it was really hard to find that facility that's going to accommodate the retort or pasteurization to make sure that it's shelf stable. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, Ray, I think you'd like it. I have to dig a little bit only because this has never happened before. I'm glad you got to try it because it does look so interesting. Ironically, this is the second purple corn product I've seen this year. I met someone at Expo West who's also launching a purple corn beverage, which is pretty interesting. But what's the occasion? What's the drinking occasion? When should you be consuming a product like this?

45:20Gosh, every day. Every day you'll find Chicha Morada on a dinner table at a Peruvian family's house. It goes really well with pollo a la brasa, which is that rotisserie chicken that Peru is very famous for, but really every day. And even in Peru, there are these almost like breweries, but they call them chicheria. And you go there and that's, you know, the main drink is chicha morada and you can have some, you know, Peruvian bar food and that sort of thing. But also it makes a great cocktail mixer. You can make a chicha sour from it, which is a very famous also cocktail in Peru. What else? I mean, like I said, in winter months, you can drink it warm to keep you warm, but then in summer months at the beach, on ice, really anywhere.

46:07I often talk about point of reference as being really important when it comes to education and an education strategy. You want people to say, oh yeah, I know this ingredient or I understand this particular product because I have a point of reference. I know there's just something similar out there. When we heard from the Tiz guys, they talked about orangina and orange soda. How would you advise Maria as to the basis for an education strategy? How do you get people to understand what it is pretty quickly? I know it's going to require at least 10 seconds or more, but how do you get them to really understand and appreciate what she's doing, what she's selling?

46:46Right. And just for full disclosure, what she sent me, as she mentioned, was more of a production sample. So it's not finished packaging by any means. So I think packaging is going to be super important, telling the story. And you have a great story to tell, right? There's a lot of history. you know, and backgrounds of the ethnic piece comes in. I think, especially now, there's so much appetite for cultural, you know, and, you know, the melting pot that we are, but we, the foodie culture, everything. So I think people are more receptive to trying new things and not being shied away by, I don't know what this is or what, but I think that educational part from a labeling, packaging standpoint is going to be super important.

47:27I think your socials are going to be super important as far as getting those up and going. And then when you first get your first couple of stores, just getting some early traction with the store personnel, shaking hands, kissing babies, handing samples out, getting them to try it. Because I talk about this all the time that those store people, especially in a smaller store, they can be your biggest advocates as far as telling people about this brand. And they're working those shelves and registers and everything every day. And they can say, hey, oh, have you tried this? You need to. It's fantastic.

48:04And so word of mouth, I think, is going to be super important. So the more of that that you can do and networking, I think, are going to help that educational component and then hopefully create some buzz that you can build on. Thank you. I love that you said the social part. We are definitely tapping into that abuelita recipe. In fact, I had my mother-in-law in the kitchen and we filmed her talking through what Chicha Morada means to her and how it reminds her of growing up in Lima, having these house parties. And it actually did really well. And we saw that people want to connect with the brand that way.

48:38Definitely tapping into that. Moria, I just I'm on your Instagram page right now. You were here at an event here at BevNet headquarters. I missed you. I was out of town that day. And my goodness, it looks great. Yeah, I can't believe this. Yes, we still all of our leftovers. We stuffed all the mini fridges everywhere. And we're like, please, please, please try it and let us know what you think. And, you know, Wade, you mentioned word of mouth and just getting feedback. That's exactly what we've been doing throughout summer. Farmers markets, food festivals, any sampling events that I can get my hands into.

49:12I make a couple of hundred bottles. I schlep them in a little, you know, roll away cooler. And I go and talk to people and get feedback about the taste so we can understand how, what kind of a, what kind of a road we're going to have in educating the consumer about this drink, but then also winning their hearts. So I love that you both touched on that. And we missed you. I'm going to send you a box. I'm going to reach out to you after this. I need your address. I'd love to send you some. Well, I would say that when you're ready to send products, please do. You don't have to rush it. I'll taste it eventually for sure.

49:43And at the fancy food show or the fancy winter fancy fair, I got to get that right. One other thing I wanted to touch on is, you know, this seems like a product. It seems like a beverage that goes well with food. You know, food service is a big opportunity, but, you know, it's you're not going to see the same velocities typically. Wade, what do you think about the food service opportunity for for the purple drop? I think there's some definite tie-ins there. Certainly, the ethnic component comes back up where there's some obvious tie-ins there. I think, to your point, though, it's not my experience.

50:13I know word of mouth as far as it can be a tough channel to break into. And typically, outside of some local and some accounts that you can touch on yourself personally and hand deliver and things like that, it's hard to break into until you have a little bit more of a buzz going as far as awareness to the brand and or the product itself. So I think it's a channel that probably makes sense down the road. It just might take a little bit more elbow grease to get it going. sure sure we actually did participate in a um third year anniversary with a peruvian restaurant in new york city recently and we gave away sample bottles in the swag bags and there there might even be interest for our drink to be their go-to because they do serve chicha morada but they make it and you have to make it in these big pots and it takes time so it may be more of a convenience thing for a peruvian restaurant to get from us than to make it in-house so yeah we're definitely open-minded.

51:11Well, Maria, I am really excited for the purple drop and for you and Roger. I feel like this has got some legs for sure. And you're based in Danbury, is that right? Yes, Connecticut, yeah. Well, hopefully you can join us at our BevNet Live New York event in 2026 and join us on stage as part of the New Beverage Showdown as well. I really think that it would be awesome for you to be there. I would love that. I'm signed up. Well, let's work toward that. In the meantime, please stay in touch. If there's anything we can help with as you continue to build your brand, please let us know. Thank you so much.

51:46I connected with you both on LinkedIn. I'll keep in touch. I just connected with you as well. That was fantastic. Well, everyone should do that. Maria is right on top of things, as she should be for a cybersecurity expert. Thank you both so much. I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Wade, another great show. I love Elevator Talk so much. We get to meet really cool people who are doing really cool things. And, you know, two soda brands, a coffee brand, an ethnic beverage brand. But everyone came to the table, I think, with something new and interesting. I think that if there's one takeaway that you could share, you know, in terms of positives or potential challenges that these folks are facing, what would it be?

52:27Well, potential challenges. And obviously, we know this category, right? Just loosely speaking, beverages, it's one of the most challenging categories in the store, but it also high risk, high reward. It has incredible velocity. So I think that's the challenge is understanding that this is a category that typically Rome wasn't built in a day and a big beverage brand wasn't either. So that's a challenge. I think what I liked about everyone we talked to today is the push for innovation, the push for new. Because I talk about this all the time. Innovation is this buzzword. What does it mean? What is it?

53:02But truly, I think with everyone we spoke to today, you can see some. I keep going back to that white space that they're filling. And there's there's there's something here. Right. There's something that, you know, isn't already existing on the shelf. It's not me, too. It's, you know, uniqueness to the category. So I think if there's a light at the end of the tunnel on this one, it's simply that they're bringing some things to the table that aren't out there. And it's going to be really exciting to see, you know, in Marina Del Rey, how these folks perform, you know, and what the reaction is. But then more importantly, as they get product in front of the decision makers in a retail environment, what that feedback is on, you know, these items that they're bringing.

53:44Yeah, all great points. And you've always made great points. And you continue to make them on this show, on your own show, which is called CPG Vibes. vibes. Folks, if you haven't been tuning in on LinkedIn, you should definitely check it out. What episodes? You're up to episode 187. Is that right? I was going to say we're pushing 200 real quickly this week. Well, I'm not going to share this week because we're going to have a little bit of delay when we post this, but we've been talking to, you know, if you haven't tuned in, you know, Gavin Conklin is my co-host. We talk to brands, we talk to brokers, we talk to sales, you name it, we talk to it and just really just trying to give back and educate and bring value to the community outside of just, you know, the day-to-day stuff that you read, you know, it's just an hour of informal chat live on LinkedIn, but also uploaded to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

54:33So yeah, great show, great show. And of course, V Driven, a great partner to so many emerging brands. For folks who want to get in touch with you or your team at V Driven, what's the best way to do so? Anyway, LinkedIn, just search for me, Wade Yenny, you can go to vdriven.com, schedule a call. You'll see, you know, it'll pop up and ask you to reach out. So any way that's convenient for you, I'll be at Marina Del Rey for NOSH. I think we're still talking about BevNet that I might be there that too. So I might be in LA for a week, who knows? But yeah, looking forward to connecting with people, however they choose to reach out.

55:10Could be worse things than being in LA for a week. In December, in December, especially. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Wade, I hope you come to BevNet Live. I'm glad you're coming to Nosh Live. Best in class events in both cases. And for folks listening or watching, it's definitely a place or those are places you definitely want to be if you're building a brand because you're going to meet the people that you need to meet if you want to scale your businesses. That includes retailers, investors, and folks like Wade, who just know these industries inside and out. So that's my pitch. And I know, Wade, you've been to our events in the past, so you could probably concur as well.

55:46But in the meantime, we need to do one more thing, which is change the monogram on your luggage. I don't know what your mental name is, but we need to put a G in there for GOAT. Wade, GOAT, Yenny. So W-G-Y. I think that's appropriate at this point. Well, Ray, I always appreciate it. It's always a pleasure to connect with you. We don't do it often enough. I think when you sent the invite, I did the first show this year, 2025. And this is, I think, going to be the last show of 2025. So I'm looking forward to 2026 and beyond. At the best bookend we could possibly ask for. We got, on the one hand, Wade Yenny to kick off the year.

56:22On the other, to finish the year. But I'll be knocking on your door for sure in 2026 asking you to come back. Always a pleasure. I'll be there. Thank you so much, Wade. And thank you to everyone who joined us on the show today. Thanks to everyone who tuned in on their podcast app or their computer, as it were. And thanks to our amazing team at BevNet, Nosh, and Taste Radio, the best in the business. Signing off for everyone, I'm Ray Lateef, and we'll talk to you next time.