How A Veteran VC Sizes Up Five Early-Stage CPG Brands

31:15Sometimes we see it for bad, but in this case, it could be for good. And if I could just get across people what maple water actually is, I'm confident when they try it, they'll like it, they'll feel better after drinking it, and it has a real place in the market. I know for a fact that Dayton has a lot of questions and insights to share. I just want to quickly go to your store count. Again, according to my notes, you're in 15 stores or 15 stores or so in New York and New Jersey. Is that right? That might have been old. We're in up to 50 locations in the New York City and New Jersey area. Outstanding.

31:46Are you in mostly bodegas or are you just an independent retailers? Where are you sold right now? It's mostly independents. We're in a few bodegas, but mostly like independent specialty grocers, cafes, mostly places like that. Dayton, Maple Water and just Tree Water in general seems to be having a little bit of a resurgence. What's your take on Ample? First of all, Noah, just sincere congrats on getting something going when you're 20 years old. I think it's awesome. I think the experience you're getting here, regardless of what ultimately happens with the company, is just unlike anything else you can get anywhere.

32:24So really admire how young you're doing it and the way you're going after the opportunity. Yeah, you alluded to this. When I first saw the URL, I was reminded of, I think it was called SAP and then another one called Maple Water. I think there are no bigger, perhaps between energy and hydration. It's kind of what everybody is talking about in beverage right now. This is obviously going after the hydration side. I think there's been some others that have kind of come on onto the market recently, too, like banana water and things that are trying to go after somewhat of the same opportunity. But it never ceases to amaze me how much consumers are interested in hydration.

33:13I think you're right. It's kind of the messaging. And to me, it comes down to kind of messaging of the value proposition and then the taste. And so, you know, how much feedback have you gotten on from that limited distribution that you're in? Like, have you been able to educate consumers? Is it really resonating or is it something that kind of folks are buying because it's there, but maybe not necessarily seeking out? um yeah i think that people from what i understand have liked it that was my biggest fear right because i honestly this sounds kind of silly i believe that this could succeed if it was a four out of ten product right just in terms of when people know that they're doing something good for themselves people like to drink it but based on taste and based on feedback it's like the actual taste is a lot closer to a seven eight and when you're going with no artificial sweeteners all natural sugar.

34:07It's only eight grams. I feel like that's pretty good. People like it. It's light. It's different. So if they're not ready for it, they may be a little taken aback. But the overall feedback has been pretty positive. And in terms of education, we've been on social media trying to do that ourselves, but we're about to start doing a big UGC push and influencer marketing. But what we have been doing this summer in and around the New York City area, which has actually been able to make a dent because of how congested the city is obviously um we've been doing multiple samplings every single day like right now there are members of the team who are sampling and just in stores that we're in so then they like a sample they can go buy it that obviously helps us with velocity and like the stores that take a chance on us as a new brand they really appreciate it because we're giving out free stuff in their store we're driving sales i guess the one question i add to and kind of thinking about some of the prior brands as you're thinking about scaling.

35:04I mean, to me, the kind of question is there's no or maybe there's not a question of whether there's an opportunity. It's a question of how big the opportunity is. And so to the extent you're able to kind of scale methodically and in a very targeted way and not get too far over your out of your skis. And, you know, maybe this is a 10 million dollar brand. Does it have to be 100 million brand or does it have a have a right to be a hundred million dollar brand i think i'd focus on making sure getting to the 10 in a responsible uh kind of efficient way um and then let the market kind of develop around you because there's only so hard so much and so hard you can kind of push on this stuff um at the end of the day like the the education does take a little bit of time and i don't think you want it out there everywhere and then not get the turns you need in order to stay on shelf.

35:56Yeah, I appreciate that. I mean, I think that education definitely does take a little bit, but it also could happen quickly if we hit on a couple of the right influencers and people feel really passionate about the product. I just think about some other consumer products like colostrum, which blew up overnight, beef tallow everywhere, raw unfiltered honey became this huge thing, right? And then obviously protein craze, fiber craze, like creatine, a lot of things have just blown up practically overnight. So there's definitely is an opportunity. And in terms of how big the opportunity is, I mean, I just saw a study that the coconut water industry is projected to be worth 12 billion by 2030.

36:34And to me, I love coconut water, honestly, full transparency, but this is half the calories, half the sugar, less polarizing taste, in my opinion, better taste. So I think that there is definitely a big opportunity here. From a supply chain standpoint, Are you worried about the supply of maple water and how much maple sap is actually available at scale? So actually, not a concern at all. We source everything from the U.S. So we source from farms in upstate New York and Vermont. So don't have to deal with any potential tariff issues or any of that. But it takes 40 gallons of maple water of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

37:14So I don't see that ever being a problem. And just now that I've learned more about the maple industry, like when you think maple in the U.S., you're probably thinking about Vermont, New Hampshire, right? Like New England. Ohio used to be the biggest maple state. Like there are so much, no pun intended, untapped maple trees and maple ability in the U.S. So, no, I don't believe it's a problem or going to be a problem. Are you finishing school or is school done at University of Maryland? Are you is this a senior project? School is continuing. I'm going into my sophomore year there. No plans of dropping out.

37:46Love Maryland. Love school. Had a couple investors turn me down last week because I wasn't dropping out, but that happens. That's great. Good for you. Yeah. You heard about investors, at least on the tech side, encourage folks to drop out. I don't know if that's such a good idea because the college experience is pretty awesome. Dayton, Noah referenced coconut water a number of times. And I think when we heard about maple water companies launching in the past, they also referenced or used coconut water. water as a point of reference. How impactful do you think that is? How useful do you think that is for Ample in terms of their marketing and communication?

38:24Honestly, I think it's really useful. I think you want to be on shelf as long as you have a strong point of differentiation, whether it's kind of taste, nutrition profile, caloric content, sugar, whatever it may be. Look, I like coconut water as well, but you do want an alternative occasionally. And so So if you can be there and you're providing something in a similar value proposition from a one ingredient ready to drink standpoint, I think that that's valuable. I guess the question would be if you're taking a high usage occasion coconut water drinker and like what is their reaction when they have ample?

39:07um is it uh is it you know how many of those folks want to repeat purchase and really get into that because like you might end up be trying fishing in the wrong pond so to speak if those consumers like that kind of more flavor intense more sugar uh etc experience um uh so it's really a matter of kind of who are you getting your consumers from interesting i appreciate that thank you yeah like definitely trying to target the coconut water market because I feel like it's very adjacent. It's just what kept on popping into my mind as a consumer. Like I've looked at this entire company project as a consumer, which I feel like has been able to be beneficial.

39:48But also obviously new more, you know, like we are building out a team. We're also, I'm very excited to announce, we're launching in the get curious set at Rayleigh's September 9th. So we're going to be in 50 of their locations there. and if you want to find us as well, you can find us at 50 locations across New York City. Check out our website on drinkample.com. You can order online as well. Nice and good package. Great job, Noah. I'm excited for you and I think your passion and enthusiasm for this industry is just so palpable and I'm so happy that you're starting a company like this because you're right.

40:26There is an opportunity here. How far you can go with Ample as Dayton pointed out, it's really bad execution. So if there's anything that we can do to help, you know, along your journey, it's a tough business, but, you know, just reach out anytime. We'll try to answer your question or connect you to someone who has an answer for you. Ray, Dayton, so nice to meet you guys. Thank you. And I'll definitely reach out. Not going to be shy. Outstanding. Thanks so much, Noah. Thank you. All right. Great stuff. All right. Up next, we have Taylor Grasso. She's one of the co-founders of Pache. Taylor, it's great to see you.

41:03Good to see you guys as well. Thanks for having me. Pache, what a great name. It feels very sophisticated. What do you guys do? Yeah, so Pache is a functional mocktail brand. Basically, we wanted to take the alcohol out but put benefit back in. So I stopped drinking a little over two and a half years ago. And then the same year that I stopped drinking, my husband actually got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. So he also had to significantly cut back on his alcohol intake. I'm a registered dietitian by trade, so we're already very health-conscious individuals. But we were going to bars and restaurants and all of these things with our friends and family still and trying to find alternatives that weren't still super high in calories.

41:38And then also for my husband, really high in sugar as well, because that was obviously negatively impacting his blood sugar. So the idea for Pesce came about where we would create drinks, where we use my dietitian background to create sensations and add benefit back into the beverages. So each one has a trio of different functional ingredients. to create the sensation that they're named after. So we have Lift, which is a peach mango margarita flavor. It has ginseng, green tea extract for a little bit of caffeine, and then lion's mane mushroom. We have Unwind, which is meant to help you to sleep, relax, and recover, and it's a tart cherry Shirley flavor.

42:12That one has magnesium glyconate. It has reishi mushroom, and then it also has tart cherry extract. Then the last one is Kickback. It's meant to help you to decompress, chill, and rejuvenate. And that one has Rhodiola. It has Cordyceps mushroom, and then it also has Ashwagandha. So basically, we just wanted to, like I said, take the alcohol out, but add beneficial ingredients back in. Outstanding. Well done, Taylor. I have in my notes here that you're launching in a Midwest grocery chain pretty soon. Can you make any announcements about that? We can. We're launching in Hy-Vee. I don't know if anyone on this call is from the Midwest at all or has heard of Hy-Vee.

42:48I feel like Midwest founders is not exactly as typical as maybe like Los Angeles or New York. But we're based in Des Moines, Iowa, so good old land of corn. But yeah, we're launching in Hy-Vee grocery stores across the Midwest region. So we're going to be in about 200 stores. And that launch is actually on September 1st. So it's coming up real quick. Outstanding. That's great news. And congratulations on that launch. I've heard of Hy-Vee, but I'm in the industry. I'm sure Dayton has heard of Hy-Vee. Probably sold products in Hy-Vee way back in the day as well. You know, functional cocktails, functional mocktails.

43:24I feel like there's so many that come to market, and it's always interesting to try to find that point of differentiation. Based on what you heard, Dayton, what makes you interested in this brand? What really caught your attention? Yeah, I mean, I think they're doing a good job leaning into it, but just really Taylor's background as a dietician and having that kind of authentic story as well as kind of strong founder product market fit. I think that plus kind of the personal connection to alcohol avoidance resonates with a lot of folks. I think the packaging is really nice looking. It looks tasty, but also kind of functional, but consumer friendly.

44:11Like it doesn't kind of strike me as functional, but until you kind of look at it a little bit more closely and you see kind of the mushroom doing various things. You know, I guess the, but to your point, like I do think about all of the other products that are out there and just the, you know, the number that are kind of going after the number of NAs going after that either kind of mocktail or kind of functional sensation around unwinding and other things. I think that's the trickier thing. So breaking through that noise is what I'd be really focused on. Yeah, Taylor, what's resonating with consumers or at least, you know, people who are finding your brand for the first time?

45:03Because I'm on your Instagram page right now and you've got a little over 4 ,000 followers. So great work on that. But what's catching their eye? What's making them interested in your brand? Yeah, I would say one of the biggest things is the dietitian formulation. So we do lean into that a lot. We use that founder story as part of what we talk about with the brand. I think that increases the credibility of the functional ingredients that can be found in the beverage too. That was another thing when I was looking at the functional beverage category and the different beverages that already existed.

45:32That was where I was also finding a lack of beverages that I personally wanted to drink just based on the formulations and the ingredients that were found in them. Not that any of them are necessarily bad, but like, for example, we don't use any sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners. I do think that has been a really big resounding point that people have really liked. We do use a little bit of cane sugar. So, you know, you can get some kickback with that. However, we keep the sugar really low. So it only has all of our drinks are under 70 calories and then under seven grams of added sugar. So there is a little bit of natural sugars because we use fruit purees to help kind of up that sweet level.

46:07But no artificial sweeteners and no sugar alcohols. And a lot of that came from the research that I've looked into and how those affect the gut microbiome and wanting to create something that was overall a very beneficially healthy drink. So I think that was something that we've really leaned into and also heard back from consumers is they like the taste of it because it doesn't have those artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols. And then specifically with our unwind, the coolest thing about that one is we've been able to get objective data because of all of these really nice fitness trackers that exist now.

46:37So things like Oura Rings or Whoops, people have actually sent us screenshots of their sleep score significantly increasing when they drink unwind before bed. So that's been really great to kind of build that credibility surrounding that beverage. I would say lift and kickback, it's a little bit harder to get something as concrete as a sleep score, obviously, but that has been something that's also kind of helped to build that credibility as well. I think you nailed it and Dayton talked about this. It's really about how authentic that messaging is. And if you are someone who actually lives that lifestyle, you actually drink your own product, it goes a long way.

47:15I think taste for me is always going to be first and foremost. And how you break through on that taste messaging on that taste front is also got to be really important as well. Dayton, based on your experience, I mean, and, you know, with this, in this category of non-alcoholic cocktails or mocktails in particular, is there a way, or how would you advise Taylor to talk about that taste standpoint, to talk about that taste messaging? Yeah, I mean, I think the tricky thing is kind of doing it in a scalable way, right? Obviously, sampling and that kind of thing is always effective. Really, where we're seeing a lot of success is in some of these services that allow user-generated content to post.

48:03And, you know, you have these micro influencers now are folks that have, you know, single digit thousands of followers and, you know, just allowing them to spread the word. So, you know, I think that that does drive a lot of repeat. Right. And it sounds like you've done a good job kind of getting people to feel the effects, which was another question of mind, especially on kind of the unwind side. So if you're able to kind of maybe remove the question marks in the consumer's eyes as to whether this actually works, I think the next question is just going to be, well, then how does it taste and price point and things along those lines.

48:43But taste is really the biggest thing, I think. So if you can kind of get those two together, I think you might have something. Taylor, let's talk price for a second. How are you selling this? Is it in four packs, single serve, and what's the price point? We sell it in a variety of different ways. So on our website, we sell four packs and then 12 packs. We sell for$19.99 on our website. However, the pricing is going to be shifting a little bit with the transition into Hy-Vee. We have a very unique partnership with Hy-Vee, actually. They're also our manufacturer. So we're partnered with them on not only the retail side, but then also the manufacturing side as well.

49:17That was a recent switch this past year, which is why our launch actually ended up getting a little delayed. but all that to say that we're going to be selling in single cans at Hy-Vee stores and those are going to retail for$3.99 in the Hy-Vee stores so the pricing is going to shift just a little bit and then when we're at farmers markets or in-person events different things like that we typically sell for five dollars a can and we do mix and match as people would like so as little as one can or as many as they would like in a pack sometimes we'll do you know little discounts or things like that if they buy a certain amount.

49:49But yeah, so kind of from single cans to four packs and 12 packs. And the positioning is very much a mocktail as opposed to like a functional drink or a supplement or... So yeah, okay. Yeah, we really dive into more of that mocktail language. And when we first started some of our marketing efforts, we were kind of leaning into like sobriety just because I am completely sober from alcohol. My husband is not though. He still drinks, just not nearly as much as he used to with his type 1 diabetes diagnosis. And what we realized as we were looking at the market is that while, yes, there are almost 50 % of Americans that are not drinking, there's a lot more Americans that are just cutting back on their alcohol intake.

50:29And so we've kind of shifted our messaging to go more towards that sober curiosity movement that you hear about, just telling people, this doesn't necessarily have to be something that replaces alcohol. It can be something that's in addition to whether you want to mix it into your alcohol or whether, you know, maybe those three drinks is what sends you over the edge into a hangover the next morning. So instead of having three, have an unwind pache before you go to bed, instead of that third cocktail. So kind of leaning into more of that sober curiosity and limiting their alcohol intake rather than just straight up sobriety.

51:03Taylor, we're out of time about two minutes ago. I don't know if people saw this, my head exploded when you said that Hy-Vee makes your product for you. I didn't know they did that. And I don't know if you could, in 30 seconds, how did that come together? Yeah, we were actually approached by Hy-Vee, which is, I think, a really unique situation. We were actually, I love to tell this story. I'll try to tell it really quick. We were supposed to meet with the CEO the day I went into labor. So we had gotten contacted by Hy-Vee. I actually worked as a dietician there for many years. So I had quite a few connections to corporate level individuals.

51:36And they had seen our product via social media. And they were like, we want this in our stores. We'd love to get you set up with the meeting with the CEO. I jokingly said the week we had the meeting, I told my husband, I was like, I think I'm going to have this baby this week. And he goes, okay, we'll just don't have it Thursday, had him Wednesday night. So we didn't end up having to delay the meeting. But yeah, we walked into that meeting expecting to have to pitch the brand. And they were like, we want this in our stores. What do we have to do to make that happen? And then it ended up evolving into more of a strategic partnership.

52:04So we're not just partners with them on that retail side of things, but then yeah, also the manufacturing side of things, which has been super, super helpful because they obviously have a lot more resources than a small brand does. So it's been, it's been a great partnership. We're really excited to work with them. Yeah, I would assume so that that is a fantastic partnership. Taylor, thank you so much for taking the time. Congratulations on the launch. It sounds like things are going pretty well. And if there's anything we can do to help along your along the way. Just reach out anytime. Thank you guys so much for having me.

52:35It was so nice to meet both of you. Thank you, Jolly.

52:40On to our final guest for this episode of Elevator Talk. That is Megan Silk. She's the co-founder and chief of brand of Ginger Bug. Megan, it's great to see you again. Yeah, I know. It's been a couple months, but we're back in Canada after the big BevNet extravaganza. That was awesome, right? Yes. Megan joined us for BevNet Live as part of the new beverage showdown, or at least that was one part of your experience at the show. Was the rest of the show good for you? It was fantastic, actually. We loved it. It was really, really well run. And, you know, I'm from Canada, right? So when I go to shows, I know everybody in industry now, I feel.

53:16So it was really, I really felt like a fish out of water to have so many new people to meet and connections to make. But it was fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. And you were fantastic. I heard a lot of people talk about ginger bug and I got to try your product and it's delicious. Tell us all about your brand. Awesome. Thanks so much, Ray. Yeah, so Gingerbug, we produce a lineup of certified organic, non-GMO ginger sodas. And we kind of stumbled, well, totally stumbled into CPG by accident. We were taking on this project as a family to build an off-grid homestead to teach our kids about where their food comes from.

53:53And we really tried to make a go of it as first-generation farmers. And it was really tough. uh one week we had a low harvest of vegetables and i just brought some mason jars of our beverage and it sold really well and you know neither bren or i are really my husband um who i run gingerbug with are adverse that much to risk we like to to go all in on things and we sat down as a family and we said you know what i think that this product could there is a space in the market for it and if we're going to build a beverage brand we're going to go all in and think as big as possible and so that's that's what we did um here in canada we went right away onto canada's shark tank which is cbc dragon's den and that was really really fun and from there we were um had national distribution within um about eight months from when we started the brand so it went pretty quick wouldn't recommend that we've made every mistake in the book over the last couple of years.

54:46But we did just celebrate our fourth birthday with the brand. And we celebrated it also that same week last week when we rolled out nationwide at Loblaws across Canada, which is a huge win for us. So we are at about 1000 retailers across Canada right now, and moving into the States launching with Thrive Market in the US in three weeks. And then we also last week just got a yes from Sprouts to roll out nationwide in their innovation set, which is also going to get us with KHE. So that's great. We've just been grinding it out, showing up as many times as we can to build the brand and learning as fast as we possibly can.

55:27So that's a bit of the background. I have a question, if that's okay. First of all, I love the brand and the packaging, but But are you putting it on shelf next to what a lot of folks call kind of modern soda or functional soda? Or are you putting it on shelf next to ginger beer? Yeah, it's typically positioned with like poppy, all the pop. Sometimes retailers, we have a chain here, Healthy Planet in Canada, and they'll put it in the cooler for grab and go. But typically it's not positioned with ginger beer. Although, you know, fever tree, it will find its way into the organic section here in Canada as well.

56:07So sometimes with that, but it's more seen as a functional, like the ginger ale Canada dry for the next generation, right? That's kind of the idea. It's a healthy ginger soda. So we have a lineup of three ginger beers. And then we just launched our cranberry ginger ale. This is our brand new one. It's going to be, oh, it doesn't really show with my background thing, but it's a silver can. And it's our ginger ale, which is trying to get sort of as close to the nostalgic experience of a Canada Dry, but with added health benefits. And, you know, I mean, our brand is Gingerbug. And so ginger is, I mean, the most important thing to us.

56:47We don't even use natural flavors. All of our ginger flavor comes from actual organic ginger juice that is in every single can. So when somebody is drinking one of these, depending on what skew it is, they're getting between one and three teaspoons of ginger juice into their bodies. And as you know, a former farmer, that's something I'm really proud of. Yeah, to me, to me as the kind of consumer and full disclosure, we're investors in Olipop. But to me, it's I almost feel like there's a bigger opportunity kind of escaping some of that noise around the whole prebiotic, probiotic soda set. and really kind of, you know, I don't know if it's under Ginger Shots, like there's a Ginger Shot company that's done pretty well.

57:30But the more you can kind of make that point of difference, and obviously the name is part of it. But I would just try to be a little bit cautious of getting thrown into that kind of modern soda set because there's so many companies in there and they're all trying to kind of, you know, fight for that kind of prebiotic, probiotic consumer. But to me, or you're delivering on the ginger. And so the easier it is for consumers to know that, the better. Yeah, I totally agree. And we do really try to lean into that. And we are a premium product. I mean, our cans are going to be retailing for$2.99. So that's so true.

58:14We didn't want to be a Me Too product. And we're still learning as we go here. But the ginger and the real food is what we really lean into as a brand because our product is literally made with food. There's nothing weird in it. Don't use Stevia even because I don't really like Stevia that much. And yeah, no natural flavors. It's just almost I'm almost embarrassed. I say to people how simple a recipe is and how easy it would be to knock it off. Well, you know, the other thing I'd say is like being in a thousand stores in Canada. I think that's awesome. We love finding brands that maybe incubate in one market and then kind of come to the U.S.

58:52because, you know, you're able to take all of those learnings. What's the price point? Where does it need to be on shelf? Which SKUs do you go with? And then you can take those learnings as you expand into Sprouts and other places. Yeah, for sure. And actually, I will credit the buyer from Sprouts because we did used to use natural flavors in our product. because so many people do. And he actually really pushed back and challenged us on it. And when we did more research, we decided to take it out of all of our SKUs. And so I think that those conversations, especially when you're an industry outsider, I think something that served us well is just being okay to be wrong and listening and always trying to innovate and learn from other people who've done it before.

59:41Megan, I love that you described it as a modern-day Canada drive because I had a Canada Dry the other day, or at least a sip of one, and it just did not meet what I expected. It was really saccharine in terms of flavor, syrupy almost, and your product is definitely not that. So I think really finding those consumers who are looking for a ginger ale or ginger beer-type product but aren't getting what they want, which was literally me the other day, is a great way to go. But I asked this to one of our other founders. what is what's really getting people to buy this product consistently is it the flavor is it the functional benefit is the packaging i mean what's really getting them out of their seats and and screaming to the to heavens about gingerbug do you know what i wish i had an answer for you because i still feel we're at such an early stage that we're trying to figure out why people are buying the product and what is exactly working i mean in the beginning we really did a lot of like street campaigns so we did in when we started we did I think 1500 farmers markets we hired 20 university students to get the product out there so we could make sure the flavor was right the price point was on par and to just get the brand out there before we went into retail so I think that even just developing that consumer base and telling our story over and over in Canada has proven to be successful you know what I'm not sure we're starting to invest in serious UGC investment.

1:01:11We just hired a full-time marketing person on our staff. We have three industry experts who run our ops department, who I think we have the best ops department in Canada now. So we've kind of built a machine and now marketing and figuring out exactly who our target consumer is, is really what we're focused on. We've also just last week, we've signed with LA Libations to help us in the US so that, you know, I don't know what I don't know. So I'm just, we're trying to bring and everybody who knows what they're doing. Well, I think that's music to Dayton's ear is that you're willing to say you don't know, but also willing to take advice, at least good advice.

1:01:48And I think getting good advice is sometimes the hardest part of all this is identifying people who can point you in the right direction. Dayton, just based on what you heard in terms of the marketing aspect and trying to get the word out about Gingerbug while also trying to figure out who your target consumer is. I mean, it sounds like Megan's on the right path here. Yeah. And, you know, what I would say is like, there's, there's a lot of advice out there. And, but I think it's important to remember that there's more than one way to win. And, and you got to do what's kind of, you know, the best for, for your, you and your business.

1:02:24And there's so many folks out there that try to take like the playbook that already happened and repeat it. And in our minds, that's a really tricky, dangerous game to play, because if it doesn't work, then you're kind of stuck. And so the like I love the ginger side of it. I think the brand is fun. It has some personality, which is cool that you can kind of play into a bit more. And then it's just a matter of, in my opinion, kind of educating consumers about Gingerbug without getting kind of thrown into that same competitive herd of all of the other modern sodas. Because if you do that, then your message will just get kind of diluted and drowned out by all these brands that are a lot bigger that are spending a bunch of money.

1:03:14Yeah, I agree. I'm so glad that we had this time to chat. But, you know, it's funny how at BevNet Live you have like these little mini chats here and here and here. And, you know, just to have this opportunity to sit down with you for an extended period of time, even though it's only 10 or 11 minutes, was really, really great. Thank you so much for joining us on Elevator Talk today. I love what you're doing with Gingerbug, and I think you've got a great runway in the United States and beyond. Thanks so much. Thank you to you both. I really appreciate it. Thank you. just a great example dayton i think of just the the variety of founders that are out there and you know it different concepts in you know new and legacy categories both i i this it's why i love doing this show because you see the passion you see the enthusiasm you see the the legwork before you know they launch and and now really as you pointed out it's really about execution I ask this of our co-hosts pretty much every episode, but just based on what you heard today, what's one thing that these founders need to look out for as they continue to grow based on what you heard today?

1:04:27I don't know, maybe false positives or something along those lines, like kind of just be really brutally honest with what the market is telling you. And so, you know, it's one thing to have a nice tasting product. It's another to have something that everyone or that folks are going to reach for and grab for when you're in the set of 100 other options. And then just being kind of grounded and realistic about what the opportunity is that's maybe attainable and then get to that before trying to conquer the world. You can always conquer the world, but you should do so after you have kind of a strong foundation.

1:05:07otherwise you'll never get beyond that point. Yeah, very well said. I know your inbox is probably going to get swamped sometime in the near future, but for folks who want to get in touch with you and the team at BFG, what's the best way to do so? Yeah, please do. Please do reach out. So my email is dayton.bfgpartners.com and then we also have dealteam.bfgpartners.com which might even be a faster way to get a response sometimes, but either works great. Deal time at BFG partners.com. Deal team. Deal team, excuse me, deal team. It could be deal time at some point, but for the moment, it's deal team at BFG partners.com.

1:05:50I can't thank you enough. Really? Thank you so much for being with us today on Elevator Talk. I'm going to bug you again sometime in the near future, but you really add so much to this show and give such great advice to our entrepreneurs. And I really, really appreciate it. No, well, thank you for all that you guys do for the community, both digitally and in person. And hopefully I'll see you in December. Absolutely. We'd love to see everyone at BevNet Live in December. Once again, December 8th and 8th through the 10th. Head to BevNet Live for more information. In the meantime, I'd just love to thank all of our entrepreneurs who joined us today.

1:06:23Of course, thank you so much, Dayton. And thanks to everyone watching or listening here at Taste Radio. Signing off for our incredible team at BevNet Nosh and Taste Radio, the best in the business. I'm Ray Lateef and we'll talk to you next time