Hey everyone,
Just want some general opinions about starting a bev company. Im really passionate about drinks and feel like I could have a product that fills a niche or might just be a good beverage in general.
I read previous post about needing capital because of production/distribution/marketing. Most people saying you’ll just fail and waste money.
My plan would be to spend around 50k for formula creation and the first assortment/marketing. Think this is enough? I’d also do local events/festivals with booths and check local stores to see if they’d carry my product.
Its a very though but also fulfilling industry. I am/was new to it and have a marketing background. At least marketing is a major pillar of any F&B brand. I also know where I am weak (sales, distribution, supply chain) and hired a consultant to fill those gaps.
It can be a pretty long process too. For instance, I signed a formulation agreement with Flavorman to formulate 3 carbonated sodas in December 2022 and finished in August 2023. Typical costs are about $5-$8k per flavor.
During that time, starting working on brand, trademark, some legal reviews of claims and nutrition facts, certifications, sourcing suppliers, website, SEO, found co-packer, UPC codes, can printing. Also got setup on Amazon so it’s ready when I have production.
Recruited a small panel for feedback and also did a small run to start with user generated content and photos. Also created a nice branded sample box and booklet for sending to distributors and retailers when I go live.
I am super excited as my very first pilot run will be on 12/13. Producing 500 gallons of each flavor so about 15k cans. This is considered a very low volume and most co-packers won’t even work with you. I am starting with D2C through my website and Amazon.
With all that, I am in about $60k.
Then in spring, the expectation is that I will land at least one decent distributor (I have a target list with about a dozen in NE) and maybe a retailer. If that happens, I will need to do another production run and likely about 2000-5000 gallons per flavor. That is a much bigger investment. I am holding off on investor money as long as I can.
This is a bit long but I’m living it right now. Lots of tasks but just take it one step at a time.
I have a strong family history of diabetes and hate diet soda. Wanted to create a great tasting zero sugar soda and discovered allulose. Thrilled with how our final formulation came out and excited to bring this to market. Wish you the best of success as well.
Amazing comment. Congrats on your progress! I have an interest in developing a product in the F&B space but am having difficulty figuring out where to start. What kind sources did you use for research purposes to determine what steps you needed to take?
First, wow! Congrats on taking the leap! The soda sounds awesome. When it comes out let me know, I’ll try to pick up a case.
Thanks for all the information! The price per flavor is also super good info. I’d probably start with three as-well!
Yeah I’m actually starting the process of creating the “brand” before getting the drink so I know what more of a directions I’m going and also get started more on the business side first(trademarking and creating a logo/website; all still new to me).
Also dang, i didn’t realize 15k cans wouldn’t even be close to enough haha. Investor money would suck(eating your profits directly) but its grow the biz and also get you more money in the long run too(which im sure you know).
Best of luck to you! Would it be okay to reach out during the process if I have questions?
Feel free to reach out. I am happy to share from my journey. 15,000 cans is basically 5000 per flavor. Or about 420 cases per sku. Margins get way better with volume. Normal MOQ’s of real production runs are about 200,000 per sku! That is basically a full truck. So when you print cans normally, that is the volume you deal with. You could order the 200k cans and do a couple production runs to help. The cost per can for 15,000 for me is about $1.30/can. (I will lose money on each case i initially). At full ramp production, cost drips to about $0.55-$0.60 for me. For instance, regular offset printed cans like a Coke can might cost $0.10. But with low volume, you have to use shrink wrap cans or digital printed cans. Those are closer to $0.35. Oh… I learned all about can lids too such as 202 LOE vs CDL. I wanted gold lids which turned into a hassle. One nice thing about this business is due to the timeframe, you can sort of pace yourself especially if you work full time. Ince you go live, it will likely take more time. But for now, website, branding, formulation, are less time dependent.