Founder Feature: Maria of The Purple Drop

0:09We were drinking chicha every day. It's refreshing. Yes, it's dark and dense purple color, but it's actually pretty light. The color is deceiving. And it's a staple in every Peruvian household every single day with a meal. And it also makes a great cocktail or mocktail mixer for happy hours. And so we were really, really fully immersed in that. And we thought, you know what? Why not? Why not go back to the U.S. and figure out how to do this? But also, we wanted to do it right. And we wanted to pay homage and respect the traditional abuelita recipe without losing too much of that integrity when we commercialize it.

0:42And all that to say, there is an RTD version that comes actually from Peru. There's a Peruvian company that imports that into the U.S., but it's packed with sugar. It's got some additives, some coloring, and we wanted to do the opposite of that. So we're not trying to be the lowest sugar type beverage on the shelf. We're trying to go for the global flavor while maintaining the integrity of that OG recipe. Hey, everybody. This is Caitlin Bricker, Managing Editor at Startup CPG. We are back with another founder feature. Today, I'm sitting down with Maria Velasquez, founder of Purple Drop, a Peruvian super drink made from purple corn grown high in the Andes.

1:19Maria is bringing Chicha Morada, a staple in every Peruvian household, to the U.S. market for the first time as a Better For You RTD. We're talking about her journey from B2B cybersecurity marketing to launching a beverage brand, how her mother-in-law's recipe inspired the whole thing, and Purple Corn's health benefits. Marie is building community by winning the hearts of Peruvian Americans first and bringing global flavor to the shelves one Abuelita-approved sip at a time. As always, enjoy.

1:50Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin, and today I'm here with Maria Velasquez, founder of Purple Drop. Maria, welcome to the show. I am so excited. I'm a huge fan. I think I told you that the first time we chatted. You did, you did, but honestly, never gets old hearing it. I am also a big fan of Purple Drop, so I'm excited to get into it with you today. Before we start, can you tell us what Purple Drop is? Sure. Purple Drop is a Peruvian super drink made from purple corn that's grown high in the Andes. It's earthy. It's got a hint of spice, pineapple juice, lime juice, and it's well-loved in Peru.

2:27And we're trying to make it well-loved here in the U.S. I think you are onto something because when I saw you come across in our Slack group, I said, I have never seen RTD Chicha before. What is going on here? And I think I told you my introduction to Chicha was through one of the books I have in my library. I've got it here and I did bookmark a page to read. So if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to tell people how I got introduced to Chicha and then we can dive into your story and how you got into making the purple drop. Absolutely. I mean, this is audience research for me, essentially. I want to make sure I use that in my marketing.

3:10Okay, so my introduction to Chicha was through this book by Stephen Buhner. He's an herbalist. He has now has since passed away. But this book is called Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation. So when I saw that you were packaging up chicha, the biggest question in my mind was, what are the ingredients? And the reason why I asked that was because, just give me a moment while I read a passage from this book. It's going to be a good one. All right. It says, chicha, one form of corn beer, is one of the oldest of indigenous fermentations. It refers generally to beers made from corn, sorghum, millet, plantain, and manioc.

3:54But in the main, almost always refers now to those made from corn. Traditional chicha is made through a saliva conversion of cornstarch to sugar, which was my big question for you. traditional chicha is made through saliva conversion of cornstarch to sugar however a number of cultures also use germination to produce starch conversion the word itself is derived from the spanish chicha which i might be butchering that so please feel free to correct me meaning saliva or to spit and comes from the common indigenous method of converting starch in corn to sugars by using the enzyme hyaline in human saliva.

4:34And he goes on to talk about how that method is very traditional in Bolivia with Quechua people. So I know I just threw a lot out there, but I was just shocked to see chicha as an RTD because my introduction to chicha was through saliva fermented corn. All right. Now your introduction to Chicha Maria. Tell us. Well, I married a Peruvian and of course fell in love with the man, the culture, the cuisine, and everything that comes with that. I'm originally from Morocco, so I'm not even Peruvian myself, but obviously immersed myself in that over the last 10 years that we've been married and I learned to cook Peruvian.

5:17My mother-in-law actually is the one that taught me how to make chicha morada, the exact recipe that we're using and that we're putting in cans for American consumers to also experience. So there's definitely a lot of, I think, our personal story, the family story behind the brand, but then also just the pride in the culture and just wanting to share that with the world. We have two daughters who are growing up in a very mixed, very spicy household, right? I say that our fridge is probably the spiciest on the block. One side is Moroccan hot sauces and one side is Peruvian hot sauces. So we're just showing them that they can be proud of where their family comes from, their culture, and be proud to share it with the world.

5:57I think that's great. And I love that you are opening the doors, maybe refrigerator doors, maybe retail doors, who knows? You're opening the doors to so much flavor. Your product is unlike anything else I've tasted before, but it also has a very similar vibe. I think I shared this with you of like a dry red wine almost. It has this very unique feel when you drink it, but it makes me want to keep drinking more of it. And it's not overly sweet either. It's very subtle and delicious. So talk to us about your ingredient choices and how you landed on what ends up in the bottle. Totally. Well, there's no saliva, that's for sure.

6:39Can you imagine submitting that label to FDA for approval. You got me thinking that would be a great April Fool's post there. We've actually converted back to traditional ways. Let's see how many customers we lose. But yeah, so Chicha Morada traditionally is brewing the purple corn with spices, so cinnamon, cloves, pineapple peels, actually. Some even use fig leaves and some even use apples. So you brew all of that together, You extract that beautiful, vibrant, dark purple color, and then you chill it. And then you add your sugar of choice and lime juice. You can even add a little bit of pineapple juice too.

7:20When we had this kind of like light bulb moment, actually it was in Lima. We were in Lima for Christmas. And obviously we were drinking chicha every day. Like you said, it's refreshing. Yes, it's dark and dense purple color, but it's actually pretty light. The color is deceiving. And it's a staple in every Peruvian household, every single day with a meal. and then also makes a great cocktail or mocktail mixer for happy hours. And so we were really, really fully immersed in that. And we thought, you know what, why not? Why not go back to the U.S. and figure out how to do this? But also we wanted to do it right.

7:51And we wanted to pay homage and respect the traditional abuelita recipe without losing too much of that integrity when we commercialize it. And all that to say, there is an RTD version that comes actually from Peru. There's a Peruvian company that imports that into the U.S., but it's packed with sugar. It's got some additives, some coloring, and we wanted to do the opposite of that. We wanted to create something that I would pick up for my kids instead of having to make a big batch of it at home and boil for an hour and a half and go through that whole process. And in terms of taste, it is, you're right, it's earthy.

8:24You immediately get the hint of the cinnamon and the clove, but then also it's refreshing because of the citrus in it. And we use organic agave to sweeten it, and we're very intentional about how much agave too. So we're not trying to be the lowest sugar type beverage on the shelf. We're trying to go for the global flavor while maintaining the integrity of that OG recipe. And what would Abuelita say about your recipe? Oh, Abuelita definitely approves. We have it regularly, obviously, in the fridge. And so, yeah, it's definitely Abuelita approved for sure. I love that. That should be a new certification that you can put.

9:03That's a great idea. I love that. I'm going to make a Canva stamp, Abuelita approved. I want a sticker when you go out with it. Gotcha. So why now for Chicho? Why is the purple drop fitting into the market now? What do you think the consumer and retailer feedback has been so far? And why do you feel like this is a good fit for today's market? Yeah, and I think we're hitting on two very, very hot trends. The better for you functional chicha morada purple corn is naturally packed with antioxidants because of its dense natural purple color. In fact, there are studies by both U.S. and Peruvian institutions that show that it has 10 times more antioxidants than blackberries.

9:47And so there's that. But also there is this hot trend for the need for global flavors. I think American consumers want to take that trip to Peru in the first sip of sipping our drink. They want to experience other cultures right here at home without getting on a plane and traveling abroad. Or there is the need to reminisce about an experience, right? Somebody that's gone to Peru 10 years ago and had it and couldn't find it here. So there's definitely a lot of needs we're checking there. But also we're seeing some new brands that are also fitting into that global international flavors. We're seeing Tepache take center stage.

10:22We're seeing a lot of hibiscus, right? The juices from Mexico. We're seeing Vietnamese coffee take center stage. And so I think the time is now and the time is right. And nobody's doing it just yet from Peru. So we're going to hit the ground running and try to be the first. You really are hitting on so much. Like you said, the better for you. You're not going crazy with the sugar and it's agave versus cane sugar and not any fake sugars or sweeteners. And that authentic cultural experience is something I keep hearing from retailers that that's what their customers are looking for and that's what they're looking to introduce to their customers.

10:59So you really are nailing it. And also the hibiscus. I'm an herbalist, so I kind of nerd out about this stuff. I don't know. It's not like I casually just have that book laying around in my house. But the hibiscus, man, that ingredient is so good for your skin. It's basically like nature's Botox is how some people kind of spin it. When you drink just straight up hibiscus tea like a cold infusion, nothing else added to it. The next day, I am not, this is not an exaggeration. If I were to drink 8 to 12 ounces cold infusion hibiscus tea, the next day my skin is glowing. I have some highlighter on right now, but this would be the look that I would have without any makeup on.

11:45So the fact that you're able to brew that into your beverage, you also have these really great nourishing skin ingredients in there, too. Yeah, absolutely. And talking about the antioxidants that purple corn has, it's specifically the anthocyanins, which are very, very good for inflammation. And so our target audience is definitely dealing with some inflammation right now. So we're hoping that we can at least help a little bit with, I don't know, daily pain that you might be experiencing while also drinking something that's refreshing and culturally rich. For anybody that doesn't know what an anthocyanin is, if you know what granddaddy perp is, you know what anthocyanins are.

12:24It gives that like rich, purpley, bluish kind of color to plants. So you got this. Yes. I'm just like imagining all the merch that you could have right now and the possibilities are endless. Oh my gosh. We did a rebrand most recently, if you'll allow me to talk about that. Oh, yes. That was a really, really cool experience. We worked with an amazing team. Shout out Jane Miller and her team at Jane's house. They took our vision, our why. They took our silly stories, our crazy stories. I mean, we went through kind of like the full end-to-end branding process and they incorporated it into a look and feel that was just magical.

13:05And so ever since that, I've just been obsessed about, OK, what can I do with all of this? I want to order every possible merch and swag and stickers. And it's just so fun. It's so vibrant. A lot of colors, a lot of llamas. You can see that here. We have a brand new website, too, that we rolled out a couple of months ago, which I'm obsessed with. So, yeah, you're right. Definitely a lot of merch. We're planning our launch this spring. So I'm already thinking about PR boxes and how to create kind of like an experience and guide people on how to, I guess, experience Purple Drop, right? Step by step.

13:38So there's like a Palo Santo, which is the wood that you burn. So first turn that on, light it up, and then pour the drink on ice and take a bite of the alfajores cookies, which we're going to include in the PR box. So it'll be like a really cool kind of like sensory experience. And the idea is you open the box and you're immediately in Peru. Wow. We'll be right back. All right, people, listen up. Modern life demands a lot from our brains. People are juggling work, family, a social life, and never-ending to-do lists, all while trying to stay focused and mentally energized. Cognizant Cytacoline meets them in their daily routines to give them the comprehensive cognitive support they need.

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15:01Okay, I have to ask, what is your background? Because it sounds like you're getting lit up with the talk about swag, merch, marketing. So what world did you come from? It is marketing. Oh, shocker. Yeah, I've been in tech and B2B marketing for about a decade now, but particularly in the cybersecurity industry. And I think I was telling you before we started recording that cybersecurity is not as probably as fun as fashion or CPG or travel, but we're making some changes to it. There's definitely a lot of cybersecurity companies that are catching on the humor, the entertainment, which I'm super proud of.

15:37But, yes, CPG is kind of like my way to get refuge and do crazy things and experiment with creative ideas and hit on the emotion of the buyer and go beyond just the product. Right. There's definitely something deeper that we can hit on. So, yes, for sure. For sure. And I think a lot of consumers and retailers are looking for those heartstrings to be tugged on. They want that story that's either very new to them or very relatable. So I think you're hitting on a lot for consumers for sure. And what has been a challenge for you so far in this journey? You're very new into the journey. Seems like you crushed it at Winter Fancy Fair.

16:16We also had you at grocery runs and you seem to really enjoy yourself. And this was just like a natural space for you. So I know you have like a very good attitude right now, but any snags that you've run into so far? Definitely. Plenty. and I've gotten you know before we started in this I've gotten those warnings like are you sure you want to do this are you sure you want to get into CPG are you sure you want to launch a beverage like out of all other CPG products a beverage really and we were dead set on it we believed in it a year ago and it was just a crazy idea and we believe in it 10 times even more now definitely some snags I think our biggest challenge was that this is like completely new So coal packers had no idea what kind of machinery or process or, you know, where is this going to live?

17:04How is this going to be brewed? And we went back and forth. The first try of formulation was from a powder form, purple corn. So it's just pure purple corn, just grounded into a powder and then kind of like steeped in water. That didn't work. Then we turned to breweries, actually, which made a lot of sense because the equipment is made exactly for that. It's to brew, maybe not produce in a sense. but hops and wheat. And it's similar. And so that's what we're doing. Actually, we're at a co-packer that's a brewery. And yeah, there was definitely a lot of back and forth in terms of formulation and the process and heat we want.

17:39And it will be shelf stable. So we want the drink to be shelf stable. So there's the pasteurization process and the newness, or I guess because this is such a new product to American co-packers, it was just like a mystery of how this is going to work and how the heat, how the ingredients are going to respond to heat, how the ingredients are going to respond to the processing. And then also we wanted to stay as true as possible to, like I said, the abuelita recipe. So yes, there is some things that you have to change to commercialize this into a commercial formula. But we were dead set on like it has to taste exactly like this.

18:17It has to look exactly like this. The color is what sells it. And so there was definitely a lot of back and forth on that. But we're almost there. We have our pilot run in a couple of weeks, which I'm super excited about. And just in time for spring and summer and festivals and sampling and meeting buyers. And so I'm really, really excited for 2026. It's going to be a good one. I mean, this would be a great drink any time of year. But summer, the hibiscus, the purple color, it just like screams sunshine. Totally. Totally. In fact, in Peru, in cold months, they drink it warm. And in summer months, they drink it on ice.

18:51just because it has that, you know, hint of spice and it kind of gives you a little bit of that mold hot wine type flavor. So yeah, you can totally have it Christmas time. It's getting me thinking about like the simmer pots that I'll put on around the holidays and just throw like cinnamon, cloves. What else do I put in there? Anise and just put it in hot water, put it on the stove and just let it simmer all day. Yes. Yes. The best. You touched on this a little bit that this is a new flavor to American palates. How are you going about education and getting the consumer locked into what Purple Drop is doing?

19:28Yeah, I mean, social media is going to be a big driver for us to do that education. We are on the field as much as we can. I think your team already sees I apply for every possible opportunity. I encourage everyone to do the same, like never be shy with applying to opportunities. You never know what ones you're going to get. exactly exactly and we just want to be out there just talk to more people network i'm a big believer in networking i'm a big believer in building your community early on as a new brand and so and if you make them feel like they're part of your journey then they'll follow your journey and they'll be your super fan so we're definitely doing a lot of that we did a lot of that also last year here locally in connecticut we're here in fairfield county so we did a lot of local events sampling, food festivals.

20:14New York City is going to be a big focus for us too. So hopefully this year we'll do some more of that. But one tactic that I'm thinking about, and I think it could work, keep you posted, we can check in in six months. But I think also winning the hearts of Peruvians that live in the U.S., right? Or Peruvian Americans, Peruvians that were born here in the U.S., but still very much in touch with their Peruvian culture. There's a lot of them. I have a list. I'm already speaking to a few of them. And if we can win their hearts, then they have their network of American friends that they want to share their culture with, right?

20:44So they can be our champion in their local communities. And then obviously casting the wider net eventually when we have momentum and we can afford it and we can handle it. Of course, there's paid channels. There's definitely bigger things we can think about. I am itching at that because that's the marketer in me, but my budget is saying slow down and take it easy. So we're going to go slow and city as much as we can. But community is a big part of the strategy here. I do have some friends that own a restaurant in Somerville, Massachusetts called Celeste. It's a Peruvian restaurant. So Maria, Juanma, if you're listening right now, I think this would be a really good item to put on your menu.

21:25Just saying it would go really great in cocktails and mocktails. I love it. Yes. That's my name drop. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Food service. That's a good point. Food service is a big part of the launch strategy too. There's obviously a lot of Peruvian restaurants in the New York City tri-state area. We have our eyes on them. We're in talks with a few. A grab-and-go chicha morada with the pollo a la brasa, which is the Peruvian rotisserie chicken, is the perfect pair. It's literally like peanut butter and jelly in Peru. So it makes a lot of sense. So if you sell rotisserie chicken, hit us up.

21:54We'd love to have some purple drop cans at your restaurant. And I know right now you have the one SKU that you're focusing on. Do you have a dream or a plan for growing beyond that one SKU as you launch and scale? Yes. Yeah, we definitely have some flavors in mind. As you know, Peru, this is what makes Peru so unique. It has obviously access to the ocean, but then there's desert. There is the Amazon. There is the mountains. And so every part of Peru has a unique flavor and has unique fruits. that are native to that region. So we're definitely going to think about bringing in some unique flavors to that.

22:34We don't want to do the regular passion fruit tropical thing. We really want it to be really different. One example is there's a fruit called Lukuma, which is kind of like an apple custardy type tropical fruit, and it's delicious. Thinking about that. We're thinking about other SKUs that cover more of the health side of things, almost like in like concentrated shots of this. so you can get more of the antioxidant benefits. There's energy ideas. I don't know. The brain is really brewing and it's going crazy. But we're going to launch this one and see how it goes and get momentum. But there's definitely a lot of ideas that we want to put out there.

23:12I'm like, maybe one day you can have RTD ayahuasca. That's so funny because we had like an early landing page while our website was being built. And our agency, they're so cool. Our agency had these like little texts that were just floating across the page that says not ayahuasca, not ayahuasca. And it was so funny. I almost want to bring it back, but I don't want to get flagged for any legal issues. Hey, you never know. The decriminalization and legalization landscape is changing what seems like every single day. For sure. Might be in your future. Who knows? Well, this conversation has been amazing.

23:53but we need to get Purple Drop into more hands and on people's radar. So tell us, where can we find you online? What's your website? What's your handle? Yes. Yes. Thank you. So our website is thepurpledrop.com. You can get on the wait list. We're going to be launching a small amount on Shopify this spring. And then our Instagram handle is heypurpledrop. So hit us up and follow us. I am. For sure. You're definitely a big fan and we appreciate everything you've done so far in the community. Startup CPG literally has been my MBA into CPG world so far. And I'm grateful for you and your team. You heard it here first.

24:33We're grateful for you too. I say this to all the founders, but we would not be here if it wasn't for you. So thank you for everything that you are doing too. We love the diversity that you're bringing into the space and the differentiation with your products. I mean, it was unlike anything I had seen before. And that is what lights me up as a former buyer and an editor. Keep it coming. Thank you. Thank you, Caitlin. Thanks, Maria. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

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