The Future of Social Drinking is Here | Karan Raina | The BIG Brand Show

What if you could have the social experience of alcohol, without the hangover?!

In this episode of The BIG Brand Show, Kevin Harrington and Brandon T. Adams sit down with Karan Raina, co-founder and CEO of Gorilla Lifestyle, to explore how he's building a premium hemp-derived THC beverage brand in one of the fastest-growing industries in the country.

Karan breaks down why he spent 18 months perfecting his formula, how education and sampling are driving explosive growth (nearly $6M last year and on track to double or triple), what it takes to navigate a complex regulatory landscape state by state, and why Gorilla Lifestyle is positioned to be one of the top five THC beverage brands in the next few years. 🚀

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Big Brand Show. I'm Kevin Harrington, original Shark from Shark Tank, and co-founder of Big Brand Ventures.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

And I'm Brennan C. Adams, co-CEO of Big Brand Ventures. On this show, we sit down with high-level CEOs, founders, and investors who are building and scaling real businesses.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

In each episode, we will uncover the real stories, strategies, and mindset behind success. What worked, what didn't, and the lessons that actually moved the needle.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

If you're building, scaling, or investing in the next big brand, you're in the right place. Welcome to the Big Brand Show. Our guest today is Karin Reina, co-founder and CEO of Gorilla Lifestyle, a premium hemp drive THC beverage company. Gorilla is rethinking how people socialize and building a brand position to lead a rapidly evolving industry. Karin, welcome to the show, buddy. Appreciate it. Good to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Hey, good to have you. And so from a founder's perspective, when you launch a business is very important. And what was it that made this time the right time for you to launch Gorilla?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Yeah, so we, you know, we we noticed a shift in the market, uh, a massive decline in alcohol consumption across all age groups, right? Yes. But what we found was that the social aspect didn't change. People still want to go out and enjoy themselves at night, go hang out with friends and socialize. And so what we wanted to do was bridge the gap in that space, right? And so the thought was that people wanted a healthier alternative to alcohol. And so we wanted to create a product that fit that niche, which in turn has actually turned into a mass scale business now because, you know, the conversion of the adoption of THC drinks has expanded drastically. And people are open to the idea of uh kind of dabbling in the space and dipping their toes in it.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

You know, I stopped drinking 18 months ago, and one of the things I started drinking is THC infused drinks, and I've tried different versions, and there's a lot of them there where I get a headache the next day. Yeah, yours doesn't do that. Can you talk about what you did to make it taste so good? Yeah, make it like the perfect kind of formula.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yeah, so I mean that that was a big part of it. We took somewhere around 18 months to RD this product. Um, we I actually have a graveyard at home of all of our RD versions. Yeah, I want to mount it one day. But but a big part of it was so we we we think about three things, right? So formulation is really important, flavoring is really important, right? And the onset's really, really important, right? And so we want people to have a good experience when they and then we want them to have a consistent experience. So making sure that this was this is a water-based soluble, it's a nanomulsification so that it's a clean drink, it doesn't have a lot of additives, we've kept it, you know, no sugar, no calories. Ingredients was a big part of it, and we have a team behind us uh of of uh PhDs who work with us and create this formulation, but we wanted to do and create this product at the same level of a high-end spirit, right? We didn't want this niche business idea to be that long term, and so we've really focused on making this as high quality as possible.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Yeah, yeah, and so there's other THC drinks out there in the market. Um, you've said a few things about differentiation, yeah, um unique positioning, but let's hit it nail on the head. Yeah. What what what why is this better and different than the others that are out there?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yeah, so I think I think part of it is what I mentioned earlier, is in terms of of the quality of the product. I think a lot of folks uh dove into this space really quickly and they didn't take the time to test it, RD it, and ensure that the this lifestability of the product lasts for a long time. And and the the flavor profile lingers, right? You don't want that that product to taste like uh a product that has marijuana in it. So RD was really important. We've separated ourselves. Uh my wholehearted belief is on flavor profile. I think we've done a really good job that it tastes like something that you want to drink more and more of, right? And so uh we call it like dangerously delicious, right? Like you get you get a little bit. I know that from first experience. We had that experience together, right? Like it's you you get too comfortable with this idea that, oh, this is just like a like a simple drink, but yeah, it's got you know it's potency in it. So so flavor profile is really important. I think that separates us from any other uh competitor in in the space. The onset time is really important for us, like I mentioned earlier, right? And we've done a really good job of ensuring that you feel it because we want you to create a baseline in this, in this, uh, in this product category. We want you to know, like, okay, this is where I feel comfortable. We've all grown up drinking alcohol and we know what our levels are. Okay, if I have two beers, this is how I'm gonna feel. If I have two glasses of Scotch, same thing, or or wine. So we're creating that educational piece uh associated with that.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

So obviously, because it tastes so well, your sales are showing for. I think last year you did close to six million. This year you're on track to potentially double or even triple. What do you think is the key to your success with this rapid growth with your brand?

SPEAKER_00 4:49

So I think it all leads with education, right? So working with our distribution and retail partners is really important. And that comes from educating the retailers, the distributors. And at the end of the day, it ends up being at the bars and restaurants and the grocery stores that we have. And so we've put a lot of effort into education. And I think long term that's what needs to happen, right? Is education by explaining what the product is. And then the second piece is sampling. Our conversion rate on products being purchased after sample is extremely high. Yeah. Um, and and I think for us, that's where our biggest focus is get it in front of in front of as many people and get as many people to try it.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Yeah, as as entrepreneurs uh go, they they they oftentimes can lose focus uh and go in different directions. But what what is your focus here in the future? And I and what I really love about what you've done, you you've got different kinds of product. You've got the big bottle, you've got the seltzer, you got the shots. Um, but how do you focus in the process with with various products in the in the in the process?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Yeah, so I think for us it's we wanted to create three different products for three different use cases, right? And so we have the the larger bottles, which we focus on for more of a uh elevated experience, right? Drink over ice, a little bit of soda water, or turn it into a cocktail, right? And then the the seltzer we created more for uh you know on-the-go RTD functionality and the shots similarly, right? On-the-go energy shots. But for us, it's it's the the biggest part of it is that ensuring that you're creating um a scenario that every single person can kind of adopt into their lifestyle. We're not replacing alcohol, we're looking for replacing a specific experience. And so we're very experiential focused. Yeah, uh, and that's kind of what we're leading with.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

How how do you navigate with all the regulations with marketing and other things like that? How have you navigated that?

SPEAKER_00 6:35

We, you know, on a on a monthly basis, it's it's the space that we're in and the timing of the space we're in, we have to be really versatile, right? And so that means with labels, with bottling, with staffing and educating and being on top of all of our folks. So on a monthly basis, we're tracking state by state. We're ensuring that we're adhering to all the requirements, our COAs are up to date. Um, we put a lot of emphasis on the legality side of it, ensuring that if something changes in the state, it's no big deal. We'll just we'll just bob and weave, right? Um, you can't control, you can only control what you can control, right? That's the saying. So we just focus on what we can control and everything else is out of our hands. Hey, what's the future look like for Gorilla? Yeah, so we we want to be the go-to premium THC beverage. That's our goal. We want to be the best partner we can be for distributors and retailers. And I think that all leads with us putting in the effort to help educate the masses, uh, both to through through sampling, but also through, you know, educational campaigns. And that's one of the things we we look forward to working with you guys on, is we think we could do a really good job working, you know, together to to educate folks on what is this? You know, what is this product? What's it gonna do to me? How's it gonna make me feel?

SPEAKER_01 7:40

So looking in the future of this industry, I feel like there's gonna be probably five leaders here in the next two, three years. And I see gorilla being one of them. What do you think is gonna need to happen in that differentiation and and stand up from the rest? Because a lot of them are gonna go away.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, I think consistency, right? So I think um, similar to uh spirits, wines, and seltzers, the the customer's experience has to be consistent every time they try a product. So that includes onset, flavor profile, and potency, right? And so for us, it's continuing to develop a high quality product uh and making sure that we're leaders when it comes to that. And then the rest of it is really going back to the educational piece. And I think that our team is focused on that and we have a really clear directive of what we want to do.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Where can people find more about the brand?

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Where can they try some? So Gorilla Lifestyle, we have our portfolio of products uh across uh, you know, the country we can ship to all states. Um, and we're also available in stores in New Jersey and Wisconsin, Delaware, Florida. Uh, we're about to launch in Tennessee. Uh, and we have about four or five states that we're in the process of in Q1 and Q2 of this year to launch into.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Hey, we love Kevin and I, we love the product.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

We love the product. I haven't had alcohol in many years. And so this is our drink. This this this is our go-to now.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

So yeah, so so I highly suggest I'm I'm gonna be trying this flavor later, but uh check out everything he's doing. Thank you guys for watching today. And until next time, we'll see you later.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Take care.