Growing Destinations
Your go-to source for insightful discussions on destination development. The Growing Destinations podcast delves into the strategies, challenges, and successes that drive community growth. Each episode features in-depth conversations with local and national experts, uncovering universal themes and innovative practices that can be applied to any city or region.
Growing Destinations
Sweet Success: The Huxden Syrups Story with Erik Karow
Erik Karow is founder and owner of Huxden Syrups. Erik's passion for flavor and creativity turned a simple idea into a growing business. What started as a creative side project has evolved into a brand known for its small-batch, handcrafted syrups that elevate coffee, cocktails, and culinary creations.
In this episode, Erik shares the story behind launching Huxden Syrups, what it's like being an entrepreneur in today's challenging business climate, and how he's planning to scale and grow while staying true to his craft.
The Growing Destinations Podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Learn more about Minnesota's third largest city, which is home to Mayo Clinic and features wonderful recreational and entertainment opportunities by visiting Experienced Rochester MN dot com.
SPEAKER_00:It's still weird for me to have somebody like my product. Like every time I go to do a sampling and they take a drink, I'm kind of, you know, turn my face away a little bit in case they don't like it. But it's been such great feedback that I think that keeps me motivated.
SPEAKER_01:Welcome to the Growing Destinations Podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics from tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, Bill Von Bank. Today we're exploring the journey of Eric Carroll, founder and owner of Hugston Syrups in Rochester, Minnesota. Eric's passion for flavor and creativity turned a simple idea into a growing business. What started as a creative side project has evolved into a brand known for its small batch, handcrafted syrups that elevate coffee, cocktails, and culinary creations. In this episode, Eric shares the story behind launching Hugston Syrups, what it's like being an entrepreneur in today's challenging business climate, and how he's planning to scale and grow while staying true to his craft. Eric Carroll, welcome to the Growing Destinations Podcast. Thanks for having me. I've tried this syrup, it's awesome. Thank you. Take us to the beginning. What inspired you to start Hugston Syrups?
SPEAKER_00:I'm here from Rochester. Um, I owned Northern 19, which was a bar and grill out at uh Northern Hills Golf Course here in Rochester. And what we did, we we went through a lot of old fashions at the bar. And so when you're busy at a bar, the number one thing you don't want to do is take a long time to create a cocktail. So I started just dabbling and making my own syrups to make the uh production of uh old fashioned go faster. And um I had a guy come in and uh he goes, Hey, can you just batch me some of your syrup? And I said, Yeah, sure. Next week another guy comes in and he goes, Hey, I saw that so-and-so. You batched some old-fashioned syrup for him. Can you get me a bottle? Well, the next week after that, I had a guy come in that owned a liquor store and he goes, Hey, I'd love to carry your product on my shelves. And then I went, Oh, I have no clue what I'm doing. Um, I don't know if this is even legal for me to sell on somebody's shelves. I don't have the licensing or whatever, but you figure that out pretty fast. Week after week after week, there was just a new problem to solve. Yeah, and sales were trending upward, and you know, me and some of my employees said, Hey, we might be onto something here, so let's start bottling it, get a logo, and and go from there. What's behind the name Huxton? My daughter's name is Huxley, and my son's name is Camden, and so I just put them together and merged them together. Huxton syrups, and my cousin, who did a lot of the artwork and stuff, she did a name study on both of them, and the logo really incorporates their name, which Camden meaning winding valley and Huxley meaning meadow, she put into the logo, and then you have the orange as the staple of an old fashioned, she used that as a sunset. So I never would have thought of that. So thank God for family, who is very talented. Creative indeed. Yeah. How did your background or personal interest shape the concept? So I always like to include family in everything I do. Um, it was one thing I was taught growing up. If you can't depend on your family, who can you depend on? So I wanted to keep it family-oriented. When I was at the restaurant, I had my kids out there helping out, whether they're cleaning tables, washing windows, or even serving up not cocktails to people, but bringing out people's water or things like that. So everything I always want to do, I want to keep it family-based. Incorporating their names into the product meant a lot to me. What makes Huxton syrups unique? Just the fact that it's small batched. It's not done in a factory, uh, it's done in a community kitchen. I have my hand in absolutely everything that goes into it, whether it's putting the label on, you know, filling up the bottle, making the product itself, and even putting the security seal on it. So I have hands-on for every single uh step of the way. And I think when you get to a lot of larger products, they're going through a factory, you don't know who's touching it, you don't know the quality control, which you would think would be good, but you hear horror stories that you know you gotta throw at a whole batch because something got contaminated. Well, if I do that, that's on me. I can't blame anybody else. So I think that sets me apart from other people's that I have a hand in everything I do for this product. Can you walk us through the process of creating the old-fashioned syrup? There's four ingredients it's filtered water, bitters, and then I express the orange extract from the actual orange peel so there's a zest in it, and then sugar. Um, so we we make the the simple syrup, uh, boil that up 50-50, and then it's all about ratio for me, because if you get if you get a mix that has too much bitters in it, it can kind of taste like it's real cinnamon. And if you have too much simple syrup in it, it's a very, very sweet old fashioned. Um, I have found through different people that not a lot of people like the really cinnamon, not a lot of people like the uh sweet, simple syrup, so it's finding a balance and really working on the ratio.
SPEAKER_01:Consistency matters. Yep, for sure. How has customer feedback influenced your product evolution?
SPEAKER_00:It's funny. I was just talking about this at the whiskey experience the other night where I did a tasting, and um it's still weird for me to have somebody like my product. Like every time I go to do a sampling and they take a drink, I'm kind of, you know, turn my face away a little bit in case they don't like it. But it's been such great feedback that I think that keeps me motivated. You know, it's just it's it's an odd feeling knowing that you put everything out there and you're pretty much basing where you're at with the product based on other people's expressions or whether they like it or not. So it's just different.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, yeah, I was at a sampling event and that's how I met you and tasting your product, and here we are talking more about it. It it's it's fantastic. What has it been like being an entrepreneur in today's business climate?
SPEAKER_00:It's not that easy. Uh, I'm not gonna get into politics about a small business or whatever, but I feel like everybody is against you, you know, and that's kind of my drive to make it a lot better and for it to succeed. But you know, with the licensing, the licensing has been the hardest part. You know, go from owning your own bar where you have already a commercial kitchen and then selling that and going to commercial kitchen somewhere else, that you have to get new licensing. You have to have inspections all the time, and it's not just inspections of the kitchen, it's inspections of your your product itself. And then they ask, where did you get the product? Well, I get it from this place that ships here, and they walk you through every single process of okay, do you clean the bottles? Do you I mean, it's everything. So that's probably been the biggest problem of being an entrepreneur is finding all that licensing and just basically doing it all yourself because there's nobody else there to help you. So are you a one-man show? I'm a one-man show right now.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'm guessing that's part of your biggest challenge. I mean, you shared others. How about big wins?
SPEAKER_00:It's been nice to see it on shelves somewhere. So, my very first place I got into uh was Hive on West Circle Drive in Rochester. I talked with them and they were like, Yeah, we'll we'll get your product on the shelf. And just going into the store and even going in with my kids, they know exactly where it is. They go to the mixer aisle because they want to see the product that has their names on it on a shelf. And to see that, I mean, it's pride, it's very cool. It makes me want to keep this going longer. So it gives my kids the option if they want to get in the family business that they can. So it's it's it's been a huge win for me. It keeps me motivated.
SPEAKER_01:What lessons have you learned about resilience or adaptability as a small business owner?
SPEAKER_00:Just to keep going. You have to. If if this is your own business and you are solely doing this to pay your bills, you have to keep going. I mean, you can go bankrupt really fast if you don't keep pushing. So I I just remember like my first big sale, you know, where somebody bought three cases instead of one case. And I'm like, wow, like I I made it, you know, which to some people they're like, oh, that's three cases. It's what six hundred and some dollars. Well, to me, that's a big sale because that means somebody trusted me enough in the product to buy three cases to put it on their shelves. So keeps me going. I always want bigger sales, but you know, I gotta start somewhere. Right now, how do you define success? I would say just trying to add one more business, you know, maybe each month. It's it's really the growth, you know. But success for me is waking up every day and working on something to help the business. I don't think success is an actual definition that is going to be the same for everybody because you look at, I mean, Elon Musk, he's got everything you would think, but he still wakes up every day and pushes to make products better. I think that trickles down through small businesses. So I don't think there's a real definition on it, but it's just waking up every morning and trying to make your craft better. You've talked about growth.
SPEAKER_01:What does the next phase of growth look like for you?
SPEAKER_00:The hardest thing for me, it's one thing to go into a business and sell it, but for me it's distribution. I'm trying to do it all myself right now. Growth for me is going to be distribution, that's the next phase where I can get my product out there to a larger uh group of people and still have the time to make the syrup, bottle it, and then get it to my distributor. So that's probably my biggest thing right now for growth is just distribution and getting it out there. Because if you are out there pedaling it yourself and going into all these businesses all week long, you don't have time to do anything else, whether that's social media or actually making your product and more product.
SPEAKER_01:And right now your product is primarily in Rochester?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Rochester. I do actually have a bar in New England. Um that they I ship it to them. Uh they heard about it, they bought a case, and then we're we continue to ship it there. But shipping costs are not all that fun to pay.
SPEAKER_01:What kind of partnerships or collaborations could accelerate your growth, do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Right now it's it's getting it in the hands of people that could grow it for you, uh, whether that's a local person of interest that has a big fan base or getting it in, you know, a larger store that would promote it for you a little bit. But right now we are packaging, and really when I say we, I say I say me, but I like to we is more comfortable. I don't know. But just making like marketing boxes and sending it out to sending out free product to people that could potentially post it on their story or anything like that, but just getting it out there, getting it in the hands of the right people. When you think five years down the road, what's your vision for Huxton syrups? I would like it to be not all on me. I would like to to uh employ some people and getting it nationwide. I really think in the next five years that it could be nationwide. There are other syrups out there, and when I see them, they're still staying pretty local. So to have something nationwide where they can get it, yes, I'm on Amazon, you can buy it from my website too, but to have it in physical stores, that's a huge goal of mine. And honestly, I think it's very achievable in the next five years.
SPEAKER_01:What is the craft beverage scene like today? I mean, you hear a little bit that craft beer is softening. How about how about spirits?
SPEAKER_00:I feel like these types of spirits, especially whiskey drinkers, there's a lot of them, and a lot of people who were the craft beer drinkers, the THC drinks have really came into play, and they're actually a big factor. There's a lot less people actually drinking alcohol now than what there was, say, even two years ago. So it's just trying to find that right uh group that uh you know you can really try to get it out to. But I think is as long as these people, the whiskey drinkers, the people who want to just buy it for Christmas times or get togethers, I think those are the ones that are really keeping this product alive. But the the scene has definitely changed um in a downward trend just because there's studies out there about alcohol and then the introduction of THC making it legal, people are flip-flopping.
SPEAKER_01:What advice would you give to someone who's thinking about starting a small batch or craft business?
SPEAKER_00:Don't give up. Sleep on big decisions, don't be afraid to help ask for help or advice right away when I first started. It's your baby. You don't want to ask other people for help because you don't like being told what to do. But remember that only 10% of people are self-employed in the nation. So you wake up every day and you're self-employed, you're doing what 90% of the other people aren't doing. So I think that right there is motivation to keep going. Looking back, what's one decision you're most proud of in your journey so far? That I just took the first step. You know, I sold my bar. That to me was oh crap, what did I do? Um, but looking back, that gave me the opportunity to start something that really nobody around here has done. I don't know of another local place that does syrups like this. But um just to take a risk and do something different. I've always kind of been somebody that does my own thing, but to sell a bar after having it open for nine years and it's thriving, and people go, something really must have happened for him to sell this bar, it's like, no, I just took an opportunity and ran with it.
SPEAKER_01:How can people discover, taste, or connect with Huxton syrups?
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, you can go on huxton.com and it shows a list of every the every place that we're in. Uh, you can go on Amazon and then right here in town. Uh if you don't want to go on the website, uh you can go to Andy's Liquor, Apollo Liquor, High View West Circle, High View Liquor, Jack's Bottle Shop, and then Pine Island Liquor. Or New England. Or New England. If you want to go to New England, get an old-fashioned, go for it.
SPEAKER_01:Eric Harrow, thanks for sharing the Huxden syrup story and your entrepreneurial journey. And thank you for being our guest on the Growing Destinations Podcast. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations Podcast. And don't forget to subscribe. This podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Find out more about Rochester, Minnesota, and its growing arts and culture scene, its international culinary flavors, and award winning craft beer by visiting Experience Rochester Mn.com.
