Getting Into Your First 100 Retail Stores with Drea Groeschel of Better Than Booze

This episode of the Shopify Happy Hour features Drea Groeschel, founder of Better Than Booze, an award winning beverage brand that duplicates craft cocktail flavors for consumers seeking non-alcoholic options.

Drea shared TONS of insights and lessons learned from launching and growing Better Than Booze including:

• why early-stage brands need to KISS
• how she got into her first hundred retailers
• the value of face to face interactions and consumer feedback
• how to choose between marketing strategies
• why product quality matters
• what she would do if starting her beverage brand all over again

Plus, lots more! 

Products mentioned during this podcast include:

• Better Than Booze
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
• Dafu Sauce

Transcript

Dan (00:01)
Welcome to the Shopify Happy Hour. Each episode of the Shopify Happy Hour, you will hear from Shopify founders, operators, and experts on growth marketing strategies, lessons learned from the trenches, and other nuggets of e-commerce wisdom shared over a different drink each episode. Today, I'd like to welcome Drea Groeschel, founder of Better Than Booze, which is an award-winning beverage brand that duplicates craft cocktail flavors for consumers seeking non-

alcoholic options. Drea, welcome.

Drea (00:34)
Thank you for having me.

Dan (00:36)
Awesome. Thanks so much for being here. I'm excited to have a chat with you, go through your background, talk about the brand and also crack open some of these beverages that have been sitting in my fridge for a little bit. And I've been staring at it be like, all right, one of these days we're gonna get this podcast going. I got to taste them. maybe we start with, if you can just talk about, let's say the different varietals you have, the different types of beverages you have.

Drea (00:52)
Yes.

Dan (01:03)
and then I'll share the ones that I've picked out. And if you can just kind of walk through what each of these are, that would be awesome.

Drea (01:08)
Love it, love it. Yeah, so we actually have two different product lines. And one of the product lines is a fully sober mocktail. Okay, so it's a water based carbonated beverage with some wonderful flavors added to taste like the cocktail flavors. We use real juices. We've, you know, selected varieties of mint to put within the beverage that really give it an exceptional muddled mint flavor. And then on the other side of our product line, we have a low dose THC infused derived from hemp.

which requires a hemp emulsion that is also infused into the beverage that of course gives a nice light sort of floaty buzz. So we really have those two options in the product lines. And we try to keep it simple in terms of the flavor profiles that we have put to the market because I am someone who really enjoys a great craft cocktail. And so for me seeking alcohol alternatives, I was like, man, they're just, non-elks just like weren't doing it for me.

And I really wanted to have something that satisfied my psyche through flavor. I'm a little bit of a foodie. Everybody knows that knows me well. I'm a little bit of a food snob. So when I went forward to formulate these products, I was like, my gosh, they have got to taste like a dead on duplication. And I think we nailed it.

Dan (02:29)
That's awesome, that's awesome. We were just talking before we jumped on and started recording that you are in Nashville and Nashville is a great foodie town. I know it's also a great party town from going there many years ago. So that's great, that's great. Well, let's dig into these beverages. So what I've got here, I've got, let's see, I've got the Elderberry G &T. This is the entry level sort of non-inducing, any sort of psychotic chill vibe.

Drea (02:38)
Ha

Yes!

Dan (02:58)
This is just purely a mocktail, correct?

Drea (03:01)
Yes, that

was purely a mocktail. And just so you know, the GT flavor happens to be my absolute favorite. I love a gin and tonic. And so we were able to develop something with this amazing elderberry piece to it. And it just elevated the whole gin and tonic experience. And it is just awesome.

Dan (03:19)
Awesome, well I'm gonna crack this guy open. While I'm doing this, I've got two other versions. One is the grapefruit paloma and then the ginger mule. Can you talk about what these are?

Drea (03:21)
Yes.

Yes?

Yeah, the grapefruit paloma is probably our front runner in terms of bestseller. It's also our most highly awarded flavor. That paloma converts people like they're like, I don't know if I really like a paloma or, know, I'm not really big on grapefruit. I'm like, just taste this and I'll knock your socks off. You will forever believe actually you are into grapefruit. We will convert you and that paloma does exactly that. So it's like it's just it's so forward and tangy and

and fresh, people just love it. And then you have the mint mojito, do you have that one as well? You probably have the mojito kicking around.

Dan (04:09)
So I do, but it's not on my desk right now. It's in the fridge. Yep.

Drea (04:11)
Okay, gotcha.

And that moquito, I mean, look, I went through over 100 varieties of mint to really get like this muddled mint flavor. And that was really important to again, developing something that truly tastes like a fresh craft cocktail like you were at a cocktail bar. So you just had the gin and gin and tonic, right? You just sip that.

Dan (04:27)
So yes,

well first, well, yes, just, well, this is the Elderberry G &T. First thing, so when you first crack it, scentful, like really nice aromas, which are great. And it's delicious. Effervescent, bubbly, very, very much a fun party drink. Cheers, cheers much, cheers, cheers.

Drea (04:33)
Yes. Yes.

Yes, yes.

Cheers. I'm

actually drinking the two milligram THC version. And I will tell you that the gin and tonic is my favorite. And it's my favorite, I think, because it has a little bit of that, that tonic bitter note to the back of it. But it really has the burst of sort of this botanical and berry front notes, right? Which kind of hits you in the upfront. That's what you're getting sort of, you know, the nose first, and then you kind of sip it and you're like, Ooh, it's berry, it's lush.

but then it kind of follows with a little bit of the bitter tones, which is really sort of that cocktail piece that elevates it.

Dan (05:25)
Nice, well yeah, in terms of a, so I typically, if I'm going out or drinking at home and drinking cocktails, I'm usually not doing mocktails, usually not, but this G &T would be a very good mocktail. It is very reminiscent of a nice, clean gin and tonic. So yeah, for any G &T fans out there, this is a very nice option if you want to enjoy the flavor and experience of one without.

Drea (05:31)
Mm-hmm.

Dan (05:52)
having to worry about driving or not feeling so great the next morning.

Drea (05:55)
Now I noticed you put it in a glass, which I love because we always tell people like, again, like you want to sort of, you know, have a, have an experience like you're having at a bar, you put in a highball, you put it in a wine glass, you just really, really can make it feel special. But I will also say that we, our products are all in 12 ounce leaks and these are those like thinner cans. So they're kind of nice because you can like carry them around a, you know, a family barbecue or at a party or something. And you're just, you're feeling like you're a part of it, even though you might be drinking a non-alcoholic.

Dan (06:25)
Nice. Well, next up, I'll be doing the one of the THC ones or CBD ones. so you mentioned something that I want to nerd out on a little bit. You said you went through a hundred different varieties of mint. Can you talk more about that?

Drea (06:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So during the flavoring process, there are just so many variations of all sorts of ingredients out there that you didn't even know existed. And as I was learning about this and going, cause I am not a food science, I do not have food science background. I am not a formulator by trade. So I of course had to hire someone to help me with these formulations. And I really got to learn so much about

how our palette perceives flavor and how salt and acidity and sweetness and tart and sour is sour the same as tart. No, they're different and why? And so when you get into all these flavor variations and you want your product to be lovely and balanced, you really have to go through and blend a lot of different components to nail it.

It's a tedious process. It's not really a one and done. It's not like, it's not like at home where like, you know, I might mix up a little something at home, be like, yeah, that's pretty good. Let's roll with it. It's far more in depth. I mean, it took me over a year to develop these formulations to really nail them and get them. And we were tweaking it, just tweaking it and tweaking it and tweaking it. And there were moments when, of course, my palate is my palate, but someone else tasting this might get a completely different thing and be like, it's too sweet. it's too sour. you know.

and you have to determine are you going for something that you want or are you going for something that your consumer is going to love and where is that line with your product which can be challenging to figure out because you want to love your product too but you also want everyone else to love it.

Dan (08:19)
Nice. Yep. Yep.

Got it. Got it. Well, the the GNT is very well balanced. So you did a did an excellent job there. Alright, so next up, what would you recommend I go with? I've got the sounds like the Paloma. Great for you. You to do it. All right.

Drea (08:32)
yeah, yeah, you gotta go with the paloma.

Now it looks like that paloma is the no sugar paloma that you have in your hand. there's a no sugar paloma and then we also have our regular paloma, which does have sugar in it. So for those out there with the no sugar, you know, junkies, we've got no sugar versions available too.

Dan (08:39)
Okay.

Okay. And then.

Awesome. And then for the ginger mule, what's the difference with this guy? Because I see some of them are CBD plus THC and others are just THC. Can you talk to me about that?

Drea (08:58)
Yes. Yeah.

So the CBD really helps to balance out the THC effect. OK? And this is something that a lot of people are just getting educated on at this point. And we're learning as we go as a new category of alcohol alternatives, this sort of low dose THC, CBD, functional beverages, what is it. So we have a combination of 2 milligrams THC, 6 milligrams of CBD, which

really makes the buzz or the head effect very, very mild, very, very light. Matter of fact, a name that most people would know would be the Grand Old Opry. We're based in Nashville. We are the THC beverage that is carried at the Grand Old Opry. And you can tell by a conservative outfit like the Opry carrying our product that it's very mild. They feel confident that almost anybody can drink one of these beverages.

and still be very within themselves. You don't have to be afraid of the effect that it's going to have on you. It might be like a half a glass of wine. Whereas a five milligram fully THC product that we also have and you have in front of you has a little bit different onset and a little bit of a different head high because not only is it higher in the THC milligrams, but it also does not have CBD, which the CBD fights for the receptors with the THC within your body. And it sort of slows the THC

process that your body is processing the THC because it fights for the same receptors. Whereas if you just have THC, all the THC is going to those receptors immediately and will give you a little bit more of a head high and a little bit quicker. Yeah.

Dan (10:37)
That's cool, you're giving me quite the

education in this stuff now. So I am going in the right order, because I started with the Elderberry GNT, and then I went with the Ginger Mule, because as you know, I the label CBD plus THC, and I was like, there's more stuff in it. I want this now. What I actually want is this is kind of the mid level version.

Drea (10:51)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, I mean...

Yeah, this is the low version. I mean, actually we are one of the lowest THC products on the market. And I'll tell you that came from yours truly. So I cannot handle like in general, I'm not a cannabis user and I don't do well on THC. So like I am someone who likes to stay within myself. I'm a bit of a control freak and I don't want to feel too high. I don't like it. So for me, the two milligram with the six of CBD,

is like the perfect, just like light, buzzy feeling. Like I can be very much within myself and have a couple of those beverages and I am good to go. And I think that that is, I really want people to know that if you're looking to try and you're curious, start with that really low THC contact, like three milligrams or under, because that's where you'd wanna start to feel out how it will affect your personal body, right?

Dan (11:55)
Perfect, perfect. Well, the ginger mule also is very well done. I don't know if I've ever had a mule in a can, but it works really well. Yeah, it's really, really nicely done. This is also, so far the, you know, from the two first drinks, both are very well balanced, very effervescent, clean. Neither are cloying, which I found can be the case with some other non-alcs out there.

Drea (12:01)
Yeah, it's unusual. Yeah.

Dan (12:23)
or like too far in one direction, too sweet, too sour. So very nice job with a product. I'm gonna crack this other one in a little bit, especially after this morning. So I'll give it a few. But should we dig into some marketing stuff? What do you think? Let's do it, let's do it. Awesome. So tell us a story about Better Than Booze. Why'd you start it and how'd you get into it?

Drea (12:30)
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Sounds good. Sounds good.

Let's do it. Yes.

Yeah, so Better Than Booze really began with the idea of, you know, I didn't want to invite my girlfriends over to hang out at the lake and offer them gummies. I would much prefer to invite guests over and offer them a beverage. And this was THC forward at the time. And I was like, you know, can we, can we put a THC emulsion in a beverage? Now this is only like three years ago, three, four years ago. But yet at the time there were so few

canned beverages with any type of THC emulsions, the technology really wasn't there at the time. However, a very good friend of mine, an entrepreneur, had started another company that was really all about cannabis. And he said, we actually have something that might work for that. And so we really joined forces and started to look at avenues by which we could create a beverage with this low dose hemp derived.

THC component. I was again, like I'm not a big THC person. So I was like, I don't know, I don't know if this is gonna work. I don't know if I really want to drink that. Would I truly choose that instead of my glass of wine at night? Turns out the answer is yes. I do actually because I feel much better on it, right? I don't have any hangover. I don't get headaches. So it cleared up a bit. Hey people, I'm over 40.

things change when you get over 40. And so I had to cut back my alcohol intake and we were all moving towards this wellness movement. And so three, four years ago, it was like, hey, let's try to develop this. But I wanted my cocktail flavors. I wanted to feel like I was sitting on my back deck sipping a cocktail, even though it didn't have alcohol. And that was really the beginning was to create some kind of a social beverage that was a cut above the non-alcoholic.

category would still give us a light relaxing feeling because everyone wants to relax. But like don't want to put the gin in the gin and tonic anymore or as much right. So that's really where it came from. And it's just snowballed from there to the point of we are growing so fast. You know, we've only been in the market for about two years and our growth is just skyrocketing. It is wild. The whole

non-alcoholic along with the THC products and functional beverages is just like, it's a hot topic right now. And I'm excited to see where the movement goes, because I don't think it's just a quick trend. I think it's here to stay. I think it's societal, cultural shift.

Dan (15:29)
That makes sense.

As younger generations grow up and kind of the older generations who were more anti CBD marijuana all that stuff THC as they sort of move on I think you know there's just a lot more acceptance for this kind of stuff and why not right because it's just it's a much more chill way to be like I've never been much into THC marijuana growing up really it's more like hey maybe my buddies would go drink beers or go to the bar you know anything like that right but recently I've

Drea (15:40)
Yeah.

Dan (16:01)
trying different beverages that have no tropics, others that have more...

know, THC in it and it's really nice because the day after drinking even a couple cocktails, you get a little headache, it's harder to wake up early and get that workout in. So it's nice to be able to have that chill, relaxed experience without having any bad repercussions the next day. So that's great that your business is growing so quickly. So what do you attribute that to? So it sounds like...

right place, right time, right? So you built this product, you latched onto something where there's growing demand for, but what else?

Drea (16:43)
So of course, I'm a CPG entrepreneur of two decades. So my experience has always been start with your product first. Your product has to be exceptional. And what that means in today's day, 20 years ago, you could create something that was pretty good. And you could have a pretty good website. You could have a pretty good manufacturer. And you could get by and get a business going. 2024 into 2025?

everything has to be great. You have to have a great product with great packaging, with a great website, right? And it's just the bar is set so much higher. So our success early on was truly from a product focal point and saying, we want to make sure that when people taste this beverage, they're like, holy beep. And it's really exciting to them.

And it's unexpected, right? And I think that that's also very important is to be the little unexpected piece to their day that they're like, wow, that was interesting. Then they remember who you are. Then they remember the name and they keep coming back. start, you know, I like to say really start with your product first. Doesn't mean your product has to be perfect. If it's perfect, you'll never get to market, right? If you want it to be perfect, but it still has to be, it does have to be really great.

Dan (18:10)
That's a great point. know, when I chat with brand owners, know, in digital marketing e-commerce, it's easier than ever to launch a product, right? Because there's more manufacturers, there's more packaging companies, there's more distributors, 3PLs. But.

With that ease of use and ease of marketing and being able to get in front of everybody by getting, you know, Facebook ads, TikTok ads, Google ads, Pinterest, name your platform. You can get across basically anybody in the world, right, if you've got enough money for it or you've got some crazy good content. But with that ease of getting to market means there is a ton more competition. So, you know, we'll chat with brand owners sometimes who have got not a great product.

or a, what I call like a me too product, or it's the same product, they're drop shipping something that a thousand other vendors are selling. And sort of like, okay, maybe you can have some quick success, but it's going to be pretty hard because you've got crazy competition. Even if you don't launch a drop ship product that tons of other people are selling. If you just are selling a product, that's just okay. There's just too many options. So you really need to have a banger product from the beginning where people will say, holy shit. And I think we can say that. I'm kind of, you know, this is like podcast.

Drea (19:28)
I wasn't sure.

Dan (19:29)
is

gonna shut us down for saying that. I think we're good. You know what's called the Shopify happy hour. So people aren't okay with that. Maybe not the right podcast for you. So

Drea (19:33)
Yeah

Ha ha!

Dan (19:38)
So yeah, product first, I love that you're saying that because anybody listening to this, if you're considering starting a brand or if you're early on with your brand, get your product right. That's the most important thing, right? Because if you just have a product that you think is like, it's pretty good, at some point either you're gonna get bad reviews, you're not gonna get word of mouth, you're not gonna get engagement on your ads because people are gonna realize you're not living up to its expectations.

Drea (20:03)
Yeah, and you have to keep working on it. Don't think that the product you put out today is gonna be the product that you're gonna be putting out a year from now. You have to take the feedback and continue to iterate. know, SaaS companies are conditioned to iterate. They know they're gonna be constantly iterating. I think CPG product people, because it's expensive and because there's stock involved, it's a little bit more challenging to iterate, but it has to be still a constant mindset.

we're gonna be doing a new production run in three months. Well, guess what? My labels are gonna change again for like the 20th time because I've learned more. Now I've learned gluten-free is important. So that needs to go on the front. Or I've learned that maybe, you know, people desire to know sugar. I need to put out a new product to carry a different segment of consumer. So really listening is also a big important piece to...

understanding your consumer and your channel and your market and how you want to approach it from the product side and your iterations that will continue thereafter. But also, I do want to stress that a lot of people ask me about competition. with in beverage, it's very saturated. There's so many beverage out there. mean, go to your liquor store, go to your grocery store. The amount of beverages on the shelf is like overwhelming. I'm a firm believer to in

Analyze your competition, but leave it there. So we do competitor analysis every quarter or so. We're looking at the market. What are they priced at? What flavors are they putting out? Who's their target consumer? Has that shifted? What channels are they going into? Where are they gaining ground? And then I leave it there. Once I have that analysis and I've gained information from it, I continue on and I never think about them again. And the reason for that is it can get overwhelming.

I'm a big advocate of put your blinders on, focus on you, focus on your brand. You keep chiseling away at what you believe is right, what your feedback is from your consumers, and make your iterations and go to the market. You don't have to look at what everyone else is doing. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing because what will work for some brands will not necessarily work for yours.

Dan (22:22)
I love it. That's a great way to avoid being a copycat, right? Because otherwise, know, brands will just try to copy everything a leader in the market is doing and they might have success, but you might not doing the same exact stuff because they might have been there first or they might have some type of advantage or moat that you don't have. So you could try to do the exact same thing and it might not work. So I love that where you're saying to kind of stick to what you believe is right. So can we go back to, you mentioned you've...

updated the product a bit where you've learned that, okay, maybe some consumers are looking for a product without sugar. Gluten-free is also important. How are you learning that? Like, is the, how are you getting those consumer insights? And what does that process look like?

Drea (23:01)
Yeah, sure.

So we do it in a variety of ways, really. So we've been building an email list. And so we will literally send out a survey to our email list. And it doesn't matter if you have a 200-person email list or a 10,000-person email list. See if you can get your consumers to respond and tell them and ask them, you know, would you? I tend to do it something like, hey, we're looking at developing new products. What is important to you as a brand fan?

what's important to you? And you know, is that no sugar? Is that a different flavor? Is that a different THC content for us? Is that right? So is that is that a some consumer might write in and say, well, I've seen you in a lot of stores. How come I can buy a four pack online, but I can't buy it in the store or I'd rather see this four pack in stores more convenient for me to purchase it or I wish you would do more no no shipping fees or

Listen, listen to what the consumer is saying. So by email, right, survey, we also literally just boots on the ground. Go out and if you're at a farmer's market or you're at a festival and you're presenting your product for sale there or even just for sampling, grab your iPad, have a Google doc, a Google forum ready to go with like five questions that are real fast that you can just ask people on the fly.

you'd be surprised everyone loves sharing their opinion. They'll give it to you. Take it, consolidate it and sort of understand what direction because I here's the thing. I think early on it's hard because you do have to kind of stick to your guns. You have to go to market and get going, right? You to get going. have to start getting the wheel turning your online side. Maybe you're going wholesale as well and you want to get the wholesale wheel turning. It's probably about six months in before you're going to start to get

feedback that is meaningful from enough people. You know, ideally you're you're able to get 500 as a minimum from feedback on something. But if you start hearing it over and over again, don't deny it. Like, I love my sugar. I'm like, don't fuck with my sugar. I'm okay with a little sugar. Some people are not. And so I kept hearing that over and over again. I thought, okay, we need to address this. And we have a consumer that enjoys our product and our profiles.

Dan (25:07)
you

Drea (25:24)
but is really seeking a no sugar option. So we went ahead and put one out.

Dan (25:30)
Fantastic. Very much appreciate you saying, talking about getting in-person feedback because I think a lot of people start e-commerce brands and they think, okay, cool, so I can sell online, I can work online from anywhere. Yes, I've got to figure out, you know, building a product and distribution, all that, all the physical stuff.

But the digital side, they're like, I can run emails through Klaviyo and I can run Google ads, Facebook ads, and I can create all these TikTok videos and people are gonna buy my stuff and I don't have to really interact with them. I can just promote all this stuff online. But.

The feedback you can get in person from somebody is, I don't know, like 100 times as valuable as a random comment. Yeah, you wanna consolidate all the digital learning somehow. if people are saying the same thing over and over again, like, we'd love a no sugar version or sugar free version. That's great. But the stuff you can just get in person, I found especially if people don't necessarily...

If it's more agnostic feedback where you just say hey, we're representing the brand and maybe they don't know exactly You're the brand owner because some people don't hurt your feelings, right? So I want to say hey, we're just taking feedback for the brand. What do you think? That can go a long way because then people open up, right?

Drea (26:41)
my gosh, 100%. I literally never tell anybody who I am. So like I was at a bar recently at like a restaurant here in Nashville for work. I was at a bar for work and I ordered a better than booze and I'm sitting there drinking it and this gentleman sat down next to me and he was like, you know.

Dan (26:48)
For work, course, for work. I was at a bar for work.

Drea (27:00)
What do you think about that beverage? Well, I said, well, have you had it? And so we started this conversation about it. He didn't know who I was and know I'm the brand founder, but I gained some insight there. And what was also interesting, and I've heard this over and over again, just by being out in the field, people will also tell you things that obviously are not necessarily on your survey because you're going to get into conversation. And one of the pieces of feedback we get all the time is people like the feel of the can. It's something I never aimed for. It's something I never thought was a thing.

But like literally we will be out at events. People are like, my God, just love how your can feels in my hand. Like it's got a nice feel to the label. And of course we were recently presented with, you know, some folks trying to take the business from that label or to another label, right? And I'm like, sorry, man, I can't switch. Like people love the feel of this can. So now I guard against it, even though it's something I never even, you know, considered from a feedback standpoint that that was important.

Dan (27:58)
That's, so I never would have thought about the tactile, you know, feeling of a can as a brand differentiator, but it's a little bit of like a matte finish. So it's a little stickier, less glossy. So probably less likely to slip. So I get it. That's cool. And that's a really cool differentiator that is just so subtle that I wasn't even thinking about that.

Drea (28:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's kind of wild.

here's a good one.

So this also goes to show you like how a consumer or someone not in your business will perceive something. We had a box, a variety pack box that had a big 2X and then the flavor name 2X Elderberry Gin and Tonic, 2X Mojito, 2X Paloma. And our point on the box was that is two cans, right? You get two of these, two of these and two of these. But what came forward out of that?

was they were like, is it two times like the poloma flavor? Is it two times the mojito? Like you guys are aggressively like, we're putting in double the mojito flavor. No, that is not what we were doing. We were expressing that there are two cans of each within the pack. So it's funny because sometimes what you think is you're in the business and you're so entrenched and you're, you got your blinders on, you're doing your thing.

when you take it out to people that are not in your business and don't see your stuff every day, sometimes they'll give you feedback that you're like, wow, that wasn't so obvious. You know, yeah.

Dan (29:30)
Love it, love it.

Try, say the Ginger Mule effects are taking over a little bit and feeling nice and chill, nice chill vibes, which is wonderful. I'm gonna move over to the Paloma in a few, yeah, the Ginger Mule, and so this is the CBD plus THC. And it's just like a very chill vibe, still super focused, you know, I some green tea earlier and I'm still riding those, that focus wave, but.

Drea (29:37)
good. Love, love.

Yes.

Dan (29:56)
Who knows, might also be some of the CBD, it's like a very, very subtle chill. Super nice. Super nice, good stuff. All right, well, let's talk.

Drea (29:58)
Yep.

Yes. Good. Good, good. Love it.

Dan (30:07)
marketing, everything we did was somewhat marketing, right? Because product is marketing, especially nowadays as a differentiator. Your packaging is marketing, having a matte finish on a can is marketing. But can you talk about some strategies? What strategies have you used to get the word out about your brand? What have you done that's worked? What have you done that has not worked?

Drea (30:08)
Yes.

Sure.

You know, I think a lot of that comes down to budget. And I will say to most people,

really keep your keep everything simple in the beginning when you're small and by that by that I mean if you're under a million in revenue Keep it simple. You don't have to Complexify things to gain revenue. So for example, we started out with a very simple website Didn't have a lot of bells and whistles didn't have the fancy You know 3d stuff happening. We decided to ditch video now. There'll be a lot of you'll be out there reading all the latest like

video converts better or this converts better, you know, but like what resources do you actually have that you can utilize to get things going? And so I like to tell everybody it's the old kiss keep it simple, stupid analogy and you don't need all of the plugins at first. So start simple and get a website that is functional.

can take orders, you understand how it tracks all the way through on shipping. And then down the road, when you start gaining enough customer basis, hey, I want to upsell a product at cart level. OK, well, that's a plug-in. OK, what does that mean? Because as soon as you start layering all of these plug-ins in, you start to have some more technical system aspects that often will require maybe outsource management or for you to learn a lot very quickly.

So I like to really stair step things. I don't necessarily think you need to put subscription in immediately. I like to know that my customers have positive feedback and are going to be interested in subscription before I put the subscription module in place. So I like to keep it simple and slow grow it. How we get the word out is done in various ways, but I will say we are not a direct to consumer brand first. We are a wholesale brand first. So

From Better Than Boo's standpoint, we really like to marry the physical world with the digital world. And my favorite thing to see is we do a lot of events. We are really big on street teaming. We're big on setting up a booth at a craft fair. We'll set up a booth at a food and wine festival. So we put a lot of our effort there because what we have seen is that when people are

walking by, maybe they're in the line, maybe they did a taste test and they just loved the product and they walked away, they will go online and look for it. And we see these spikes happen, okay, during these events. So not only can I usually cover my costs at events by way of how much I'm selling, so it's sort of a zero sum there, but then on the online side, we know who our consumers are looking at us, they're placing in cart, now it's a matter of can we capture that all the way through the funnel?

So I like to blend the two. find it very effective. Of course, running ads, but in my opinion, again, ads, really have to be ready for a reasonable ad budget. Today, the costs are so high to convert consumers that that is a, you know, it's a strategy. You to be willing to play ball in for quite some time and do a lot of maneuvering and a lot of spend to get where it's actually growing your business in a way that is meaningful.

and continues to have enough margin to support the business going forward.

Dan (34:00)
What advertising have you tried?

Drea (34:03)
we have done it all, Dan. You know, I'm going to speak broadly from all of the other companies I've been a part of as well. I mean, I've done everything from billboards to mailers. We've done influencers. We've done, of course, Google ads, meta ads. We have done, of course, the event side of it, running tastings. We've done street teaming.

We have a van with our logo on it that we have parked in front of certain things at certain times to capture that audience of visibility onto the brand. We've done a hot air balloon. you can really let your mind go to crazy places when you think about what you can do from a marketing standpoint to get the brand in front of people. And if you have a strong brand and you have a good product.

Dan (34:47)
Nice

Drea (35:02)
usually the consumer will follow through.

Dan (35:06)
Fantastic. Let's talk retail. I like that you're saying that you've got a, it's kind of a retail first or wholesale first. That's first priority followed up with D to C. So how are you finding new retailers to get into?

Drea (35:24)
So we were fortunate to garner the attention of a distributor early on. So my first year, we were able to get into distribution through an alcohol distributor in Tennessee. And I will tell you, you just have to be relentless about calling people. And you have to not feel badly that you are going to persist and pursue the conversation to

all ends to where you just wear the person down to where they finally respond and they're like, okay, sorry, I haven't responded to you for the past six months of your emails coming through. However, let me send you to someone who actually handles this category. And you're like, yes, I finally got a lead in. And then of course you have to be prepared for that conversation. Make sure you have a pitch deck. Tell them about your brand and why they need to carry your brand. And, and

of what value do you bring to their portfolio that maybe they don't have already from a portfolio standpoint. So what makes you different? And then from there, of course, that's only one piece of the puzzle because that might get your product onto shelf. But if you want to get more and more retailers and push that retail chain, you have to literally go knock on the doors. And that might be you doing it yourself to start. I did when I first started Better Than Booze.

I went and I literally went to the liquor stores and said, hey, hi, you don't know me, you don't know my brand. Actually, I've never even been in the beverage business before. So I don't even really know how you guys work, but I think I have a cool product for you. And I'll tell you 90 % of the time, I got turned away and told over my dead body, well, I carry your product. Some people can be very rude. Don't let it bother you. Just roll it off the shoulder and be like, cool, I'll see you in another 30 days. And then circle back with them again, be like, remember me.

I'm the annoying person that saw you 30 days ago. My beverage is now in X, Y, and Z stores and they're doing well with it. I think you should consider it. No, no, it's not for us. Okay, I'll see you another 30 days. Come back in another 30 days. Every 30 days, you should be building more and more case study at whatever retailers you can get. Your local mom and pop, if it's a snack food, see if you can get into delis. See if you can get...

into your local bakery. See where you can try to get any case studies possible that will then help you bring forward the story of success and how and why that retailer that you're talking to should carry your product. Margin's a big thing. You want to make sure that retailer is going to get the margin that they need. And if you don't know what a retailer margin is or what that... There's plenty of times when I'm like, I don't...

actually have any idea as to what margin this retailer has to make on my product. So I'll just ask them. No question is off limits, folks. Like, you just ask. Do not be afraid to ask. People will want to help you. And so I literally will say, I don't know what kind of margin you guys get. What is it? And they'll be like, we tend to see 25 % to 30%. And I go, OK. I'm in the pocket. Through my distributor and this, this, you'll make a 26 % margin. And they're like, OK. That's a good start.

Just ask if you don't know. People will tell you. But persistence. Persistence.

Dan (38:49)
Love it, so persistence,

tenacity, direct outreach, going there directly. It looks like you've got distribution northeast, southeast, so are those all through direct contact or has there been other strategies to get into places a little bit farther out from where you are?

Drea (39:07)
Yep, we've done a little bit of both. for us, again, early on, we were actually reaching out to, you know, I have family in different states. Some of my employees have friends and family in other places and be like, hey, what's your local commune store look like? What's your local retailer look like? Do you think that they would carry our products? And can you get a name of the manager for me? And it starts there and then it's a cold call, right? And it's a, hey, just want to let you know about my brand. Can I send you some samples?

sending samples in. Once we started getting a little bit of more and more traction that way, and of course, locally and regionally, we're knocking on doors, then you start getting again that distribution piece to put in place. And you're saying, hey, distributor in New York, I already have 50 accounts in the Hudson Valley region. It's time for me to have a distributor. Would you be interested in this book of business? And that's what the distributors want to hear. They want to hear you're already there. You've already gained a little bit of traction.

already understand who your account is and what your price points are and then they'll pick you up.

Dan (40:12)
think so much of consumer psychology or just human psychology is going back to high school or middle school or elementary school and it's all the cool kids are doing it, right? So like all the cool kids are doing something, like you wanna be there. And when you're approaching retailers and just saying, hey, I've got this new product and nobody's carrying it, but we want you to test it. People are gonna be like,

if nobody else is doing it, But when you can approach somebody and say, hey, all your competitors in the region are carrying this thing and it's sound like gangbusters, you're missing out. Are you ready to get this going? That's a whole different conversation.

Drea (40:49)
Your first 100 retail accounts are the most difficult to get. Once you've gotten some traction going, and you've got some case studies you can speak to, you can get the rest happening for sure. And now, of course, we have sales reps that we can hire people for commission. You can hire people that rep various products in different categories. And they might have some additional network connections that they can utilize to get you into some small chains. Then you go to regional chains. Then you build out to national chains.

And so there really is a progression. I always tell people don't expect to see incredible velocity and a high rate of product sales and Walmart knocking at your door in like the first year. It's so unusual. And the stories we all hear of this company, like a liquid death or, you know, there's lots of products out there, Prime, they're either celebrity backed, they're venture backed.

Or someone had a little bit of a stroke of luck, a viral, and they went viral and it's just like, it's massive. Well, if going viral was that easy and we could all plan it and schedule it and figure it out, like everybody would be doing it. It is the Holy Grail, but there's a lot of, it's a combination of brilliance and luck, I feel like sometimes that coincides at the right time and it works.

But the rest of us, if you have not gone viral or you don't have a celebrity to back your company, you really do have to look at it as growing a solid business. One step, one foot in front of the other, step by step, you can get it there. It's just a lot of hard work, a lot of hours put in.

Dan (42:34)
Awesome, so you've shared lots of lessons on your journey. You started Better Booze a couple years ago, is that right? 2022, yeah, yeah. So even though it's only been a couple years, let's pretend you were starting over knowing everything you know now and you wanted to build a new business from zero to your first million dollars in revenue. Let's say it's another beverage brand and you wanted to do that on a shoestring budget. How would you do it and what would you do differently?

Drea (42:41)
Yep.

I wouldn't do it. How sad. Beverage in particular is extremely difficult to bootstrap by way of the necessary minimum co-packer runs. Unlike barbecue sauce or cookies, you can utilize commercial kitchens and smaller co-pack opportunities to small batch.

and grow your company. Beverage in particular, your small batch is like, know, X amount of thousands of cans. And so it's a little tricky that way from a scale standpoint, it's very hard. But from a bootstrap standpoint, I think, you know, if I were really to give advice on that, I would say the same thing I said before, which is keep it simple. You really don't have to, if you have a good product,

and you speak well to the brand and you know who your consumer is, you don't really have to buy in to all of the glitz and the glamour and the billboards and the signs that are at the big stores or people wearing aprons with your brand on it. You don't have to do that. You can show up in your t-shirt with a crappy tablecloth that hasn't been ironed and like make a run at it and still do very well if you have a good product. So I would say just.

Keep it simple, don't get sucked in. Don't get sucked into, I have to pay influencers. Don't get sucked into that because it is, those types of strategies, if you're gonna put money towards something, make sure that money is going to convert. So if you are going to, if you only have a few hundred dollars to spend, you know, I would spend it where I know it's going to convert versus where I think maybe we might have a stroke of luck and something might happen.

And by that I mean, and we talk about this in my company all the time, if I have a couple of thousand bucks, I'm going, well, we can spend it over here at this music festival and really hope that our name gets out there and hope that something cool happens and hope that our can makes it backstage and the celebrity drinks in it. my gosh, it's gonna be big. Or I can spend that thousand bucks and run seven tastings at local retailers that help that consumer that frequents that store every Tuesday.

Now they know who we are, they've tasted our beverage, they love it, they bought it for trial, and they'll come back and remember the brand. Early on, I would place my bets there if you have limited budgets in your bootstrapping. Things that you can do yourself, right?

Dan (45:40)
Great, all right, so we just have a few minutes left, so let's move on to the speed round. So each answer for the next few questions in like 30 or 60 seconds or less. So what is one of your most recommended books?

Drea (45:55)
into thin air.

Dan (45:57)
Into thin air, I haven't heard of that, what's that?

Drea (45:59)
That's a Mountaineering book about Everest. It's amazing story.

Dan (46:04)
Okay, awesome, fantastic. I will check that one out. What is an under the radar product or brand you've used and like, but most people don't know about?

Drea (46:14)
I have it right here on my desk. It's called dafu sauce. Daffu sauces. The most amazing Asian sauces made by a local natural family of all time. I hope they go big.

Dan (46:28)
Nice, awesome, awesome. Another thing to check out. You're giving me some good tips here. And what is one thing in life that you do better than most people and how do you do it?

Drea (46:38)
I cook a amazing salmon wellington. Likely that's not what you're talking about. All kidding aside, one thing I do I think best in life is mentor young people, mentor young people that are looking to get into business or are looking to start a CPG company. I love helping people learn from the mistakes I've made.

Dan (47:03)
Awesome, what's your trick with seven below and 10, because that is not easy to make.

Drea (47:06)
It's not easy to make. Leeks and cream cheese as the base, it's like to die for it. And it keeps the moisture within the pocket of the filo layer.

Dan (47:20)
Perfect, Dre,

where can people connect with you to learn more, either about yourself or about your brand?

Drea (47:26)
Sure, absolutely. Drinkbetterthanboos.com is a great place to view us, betterthanboos.com on all socials. Reach out to us, DM us. I'm an open book, so if you ever want to get in touch with me, same thing, find me on LinkedIn or just DM the company and you will get to me.

Dan (47:45)
Awesome. Drea, thank you so much for bringing Better Than Booze to market and providing non-alcoholic options for all of us who want some different options and not feel so bad the next day after getting some chill vibes. Thanks also for sharing your expertise and insights with our audience and for joining us on this episode of the Shopify Happy Hour.

Drea (48:06)
Thank you so much, Dan, I appreciate it.