112: From Peru to the Beverage Aisle: How Purple Drop Is Building a New Category

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: Hey, everyone.

Speaker C: Welcome to E Drink Social. My name is Courtney Sandora, and throughout this podcast series, you'll be hearing from myself and the Go Social team. Go Social is a PR and social media marketing firm with offices in Denver, Colorado and Louisville, Kentucky. We'll be discussing social media trends and influencer best practices in the food and beverage social media landscape. If you have any questions and want to reach out, you can find us on, um, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at thegosocial. Or you can visit our website@goforth be

Speaker B: social.com we're joined today with Maria Velasquez, founder of Purple Drop. Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker A: Thank you for having me.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's a really cool, interesting beverage. Um, but before we go into the drink itself, I would just love to hear your journey and how you got into the beverage world.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I've, uh, gosh, career wives. I've spent the last 10, 15 years in tech, B2B, uh, on the marketing and go to market side, um, and I've loved it and I do have a special place in my heart for that industry. But I've always known and had this whisper deep, deep inside that I wanted to go back to food and Bev. I spent the majority of my high school and college years, uh, working at restaurants, and it was probably, you know, the most fun part of my life, to be honest. I really enjoyed being in that environment. I loved food. I loved seeing food go from just being prepped as a fresh produce to this amazing artwork on a plate. I don't know, I just, uh, it really sparked a lot inside of me and I, I knew that I wanted to, uh, go that route eventually. Even though, uh, I had set my eyes on law school for a while and that didn't work, and then found myself in, you know, tech and B2B marketing. And I love this industry. It's taught me a lot. And when I had the opportunity and I guess felt like I had enough experience building a brand, building go to market strategies on the tech side, I felt ready enough to give it a try on a CPG side. Uh, of course it's a completely different world, but, uh, a lot of the things that I learned on the tech side definitely do apply. Uh, and so I'm bringing some of that experience into this and surrounding myself with experts on things that I don't know so we can build a really, really cool beverage brand.

Speaker B: That's awesome. And so tell us a little bit about the liquid. It has a, uh, tie to Peruvian culture. As well. Is that correct?

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So it's, it's basically chichamorada, which is a well loved drink in Peru. It's a ceremonial drink that's been around for centuries. Um, it's made from brewed purple corn. Uh, the corn grows naturally dense, dark purple color in the Andes. And it's brewed with spices and, um, it's got a nice citrus finish with pineapple and lime. And ours is sweetened with agave, so all natural sweeteners. And when, um, we set out to make this, um, of course I'll take a step back. My husband Roger grew up drinking this. He's Peruvian, he was born in Lima. And, uh, of course it took him, you know, straight back to his abuelita's kitchen. Right. Growing up as a little boy in Lima. And my mother in law makes it for us here. She makes it for our kids. And um, I don't know, we had a light bulb moment that I think this drink needs to be in every American household fridge and that American consumers, uh, are ready for such a unique ethnic and ancient recipe like this. Just because we're seeing the consumer trends, you know, call for more discovery, call for more authenticity, and then also global flavors. And we thought the timing is right. Um, and yeah, we, we set out to, uh, test and retest and retest and formulations and different routes and different ingredients until we landed on something that we're super proud of. It's as artisanal, as traditional a process as it gets. We didn't really cut corners with concentrates or powders. This is literally hundreds of pounds of corn brewed in a massive tank and, uh, brewed the exact same way the apuelitas make it at home.

Speaker B: So. Yeah. That's crazy. That's so cool. So now do you import the corn or can you find a source here?

Speaker A: We do import it from Peru. However, we have a supplier that already imports it into the U.S. uh, for, you know, other markets. You can buy it at a, uh, Hispanic food market in a small bag and you can brew it at home yourself. Um, so we are, you know, buying from them, but the corn comes from Peru.

Speaker B: Okay. And you said it's like a very traditional drink, but your can and your branding is kind of very modern and cool and hip, um, so that it's interesting. So like, are you the, are you the only one on the, in the US Market serving this this way or there?

Speaker A: So there are a few Peruvian brands that import it from Peru. Um, they, I would say, um, I'm not Sure. That they're as artisanal as we are in terms of the process and how we brew it. Uh, from what I know and from some of the, you know, competitive intel and research that we've done is that they use concentrates, they use coloring to add, you know, to the dense purple color. And it's really packed with sugar, refined sugar, that is. And so we knew that we did not want to do that, and we wanted to create something that fits how we. How we see kind of like food products actually entering our household for our family and our kids. And we thought we are basically our target market. Right. A lot of. Of course, definitely not the Gen Z. We're a little older than that. But we are the millennials that are catching up to better for you products, cleaner products in your. In your fridge, in your pantry. Um, and so we are one of the. One of the only ones that is doing it this way. As artisanal and traditional as it gets. And also clean ingredients, um, no additives, no preservatives, none of that.

Speaker B: So when you compare it to, like, a soda, would you argue that yours is healthier and that.

Speaker A: Absolutely, yeah. I mean, absolutely. We're. I mean, it's not carbonated, so it's almost kind of like a juice. Uh, and there are a lot of health benefits to the purple corn, uh, because of the dense purple color. Naturally, it's packed with, um, antioxidants and particularly anthocyanins. And there are studies out there published, uh, by both American and Peruvian institutions, that it shows it has 10 times more antioxidants than blackberries. So that's the functional, better for you part of the story. And, um, you know, it's all clean ingredients, no additives. All natural sweeteners, too. So none of the stevias and monk, uh, fruits and all of that. So I would say if we compare it to a soda, a Coca Cola or a Pepsi, yeah, definitely. It's healthier.

Speaker B: That's great. Um, so I know I come from the spirits world, and so obviously corn is a huge thing in bourbon. Um, and you're seeing more brands now kind of use the heirloom corn and red corn and kind of bringing back these different corn strains too. But I've also seen with the color, you know, there's a, ah, gin Empress gin that has a purple. They use, uh, butterfly, pea fly, something where it's. It's like a natural purple color. But your. Your drink obviously is purple too. Correct.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And. And how much do you think that plays into the Success of it?

Speaker A: Oh, totally. I mean, you know, early days, we really wanted like, a clear can just so people can see the inside of the color. And, you know, obviously there's pros and cons to that, and we, we landed on an aluminum can. Uh, we just brought the vibrant purple color to the branding and to the packaging, and so at least that helps, you know, stop people walking the aisles. But, uh, when we're doing events and we're sampling, we, we pour it and people really do stop for the color first and then take that first sip. Of course, they have this skeptical, very curious face. Like, you make this from corn and this is the color they don't understand. And they take the first sip and everything changes from there. Um, you know, the pleasant, surprising face of, wow, this is actually really good. It's very unique, and I could totally drink this every day. I think this, this is, uh, a quote that we, we gathered from somebody that met, uh, us at the recent summer fancy food show that we went to. So, um, yeah, the color definitely plays into, into the marketing for sure.

Speaker B: Does it have a strong corn flavor? Is that the primary kind of tasting note in it?

Speaker A: No, actually, surprisingly, the corn contributes to the earthiness of it and the texture. Uh, and the majority of the flavor is coming from the clove, cinnamon, lime juice, pineapple juice.

Speaker B: Oh, wow, that sounds so delicious. Do people mix it ever, or is it. How are they enjoying it?

Speaker A: Totally. I mean, in Peru you can enjoy it on a glass of ice with a meal. Uh, uh, it's very much a go to drink with a ceviche or with a pollobrasa, which is the rotisserie chicken, uh, that Peru is famous for. Otherwise great for happy hour. It makes a great cocktail mixer. Um, in Peru, they make a chicha sour, so with pisco, same as the pisco sour, except they use the chicha morada instead of the lime juice. And it's delicious. Um, they even burn like a cinnamon stick with it as a garnish. And it comes with this vibrant, um, cinnamon, uh, uh, taste and smell. Uh, and then there are a lot of even mocktail, you know, uh, variations that you can make. Uh, I've even seen it substituted, uh, uh, in a sangria instead of wine, you just use this. Uh, and since it already has a little bit of the, the cinnamon and the fruity flavors, it makes a great substitute for wine.

Speaker B: That does sound good. So when you're selling it, I mean, you, you mentioned being at the fancy food show, but then also it could be used in bars so where's your kind of primary retail spot that you're, you're selling right now? Where do you sit? On, um, shelf.

Speaker A: Yeah. So we just launched D2C on our Shopify Memorial Day and as of last week we sold out, which was, uh, crazy. We found out at Summer Fancy, somebody came to our table and said, I just tried to order a six pack and you're sold out on your website. I was like, okay, um, and then we're gonna be a pop up grocer as of next week in New York City. And now we're in talks with a few other independent markets in a tri state area and some, even some Peruvian restaurants that are interested in carrying us as a grab and go option.

Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, congratulations.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: That must have been exciting.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: Yeah. So I mean, what, what are your plans? Are you kind of like taking it slow and starting on the east coast and then building out? Is that kind of your strategy or.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Where we're really not in a rush to get into, you know, the, the, the big right. Without naming names, we are trying to, um, grow slow and steady and learn more and more about our customer by being on the shelf and getting feedback and just figuring out, you know, whether what we have today is our champion product or whether we need to continue learning more about what the American consumer would expect from a drink like this. And if we're meeting those needs and standards, if you will, or if we need to adapt as we go, uh, of course we're thinking about additional skus, additional flavors, um, innovating based uh, on the feedback again that we get from the field and from customers. And so yeah, the strategy is independent markets in the tri state area and then eventually regional in the east coast and then hopefully up and down the east coast in year two and then move on to, to the West. Even though we're getting some crazy, crazy, uh, um, how do I say, demand from the west coast right now that's pushing us to maybe look at it a little bit sooner than we had wanted. Um, but you know, if it, if the opportunity knocks and it really, really makes sense from a unit economics perspective, we'll take it. Otherwise we're focusing just the east coast for now.

Speaker B: So is there a big like consumer education hurdle, like you know, teaching people what this beverage is or do you feel like right now your main consumer base are people that already are familiar with the beverage?

Speaker A: No, for sure we have a lot of education to do. Um, there is a good amount of people that either went To Peru, had this in Peru, and they loved it and didn't know where to find it here in the US for, like, Americans that traveled to Peru. And then there is a lot of, um, also, you know, people that just know about it from going to Peruvian restaurants or having Peruvian friends that have made it for them and wanted to try it and didn't know where to get it. And then there is a massive subset of, like, I had no idea you can make this from purple corn. Where is this coming from? How is this made? And so we're. We're leaning a lot on social media to do a lot of that education. Um, at Summer Fancy, just last week, we had a bunch of, um, we hired a couple. A couple of influencers that are actually Peruvian Americans that live in the area, and they went on the street and just did tastings and filmed people in their reaction and just kind of educated them on that. And so we're planning on using some of that content to continue just, uh, raising awareness about. About the drink, about the. The purple corn itself. And, um, yeah, we. We have a lot of education to do, for sure.

Speaker B: Yeah. But super fun. So now if you did expand to other flavors, would you stick with Peruvian flavors? Is that going to be brand or would you expand to other cultures or.

Speaker A: I think we'd stick with Peruvian just because it. Peru has so much to offer from a culinary perspective and also for, you know, agriculturally, a, uh, lot of superfoods that come from that land. Magical land. Right. Um, Peru has a good amount of the Amazon, which houses some amazing, unique native fruits that are also superfoods, like, one of which is camu. Camu, which is super potent in vitamin C. And so we want to continue on that superfood story, uh, and adding on to the benefits of this drink. So most likely another superfood fruit. Uh, but we're trying to, um, create a little bit of balance between mainstream flavors that American consumers already are familiar with and then also, like, super unique. I've never heard of lucuma before. Right. Lucuma is another fruit that's considered a superfood. So we might do a mix, right? Like, I don't know, uh, passion fruit and camu. Camu, right. So passion fruit people know what it is. They. They're familiar with the taste, but maybe never had camu camu and are willing to try it because it's mixed. So we're still trying to figure it out.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, you just launched recently, so you got time. You got time for sure. So you mentioned Social media and influencer a little bit. Can you talk a little bit about. I know it's early on, but, like, what kind of importance does that, uh, does social media play in your marketing strategy?

Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. We're, we're leaning on earned media, for sure. We're leaning on building organically first before, you know, before buying views and clicks. I'm a firm believer in building a community around your brand as early as possible and, uh, creating those champions that believe in, in the product, but also believe in your story and who you are and what you stand for before going out there with massive amounts of marketing dollars behind ads and stuff like that. And that's what we've done. We're, you know, quote unquote, hashtag building in public. And. And I know that works. And people like to see behind the scenes the good, bad and ugly. And we are showing everything and we're being vulnerable. And I think people are responding really well to that. And we're doing a lot of hustling. Every pitch competition, we apply to, every event that we can sample and be there, uh, and meet potential investors that we would need in a few years or potential retailers or whatever. We're schlepping hundreds of cans and sometimes even our kids in the back, and we're driving around and just hustling. And it's part of the journey and we like that. And so, uh, we're documenting all of that on social media and sharing it. And, um, we're also doubling down on pr. Uh, we took advantage of our launch of like, you know, summer launch, if you will, and went hard on the media. We got some placements. We were named the best in show from Summer Fancy by Food Network, which was absolutely insane. And, um, we're. We're trying to use that and continue the momentum. Um, and yeah, I think, I think growing organically is super, super important when it comes to a CPG brand because, you know, I think it's. I think it's super intimate when somebody buys your product that you poured your heart into and made yourself. And so we, uh, we don't want that intimacy and that relationship to become transactional. We want it to continue being authentic and as genuine as possible. And hopefully our, our social media and our strategy, uh, reflects that.

Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, I was going to ask you, are you uncomfortable at all? I know a lot of people I talk to, they're like, oh, I don't want to get in front of the camera. But, you know, did you. How did you kind of Overcome that or was it ever an issue? Were you totally comfortable?

Speaker A: Oh, gosh. I, I credit my very early years in theater to, to this, to what I'm doing now. Um, I have, I have a middle schooler also that's doing theater right now. And I keep telling her, listen, and I know you love performing arts, and whether you continue in performing arts as a career or not, this is going to serve you so, so well in life. Whether you go corporate or wherever you go. Theater skills are amazing. Uh, um, I just, I never had a problem. I was always just very outgoing. Uh, I was always very comfortable on stage. I was always very comfortable in front of the camera or mic. I, uh, find a talk track, I practice it and comfortable with it. And as long as I'm casual and authentic and speak the way I speak normally to my friends, then it just comes naturally. It's not stiff, it's not scripted. Um, and I found that that's like, that's the best way. Especially if you're nervous in front of a camera. Just write something down in your own words and memorize it and just go in front of a camera and hey, if you make a mistake. Most people are very forgiving and they do give you a lot of patience.

Speaker B: No, that is positive. So in your own personal life, are you a fan of social? Do you have, like, a social media channel that you spend more time on?

Speaker A: Uh, yeah, I like a little bit of your Millennial. I'm still on Facebook, but I like Facebook Marketplace. And, uh, Instagram is my go to. Even though, like, my, my personal account remains private just because it's more for friends and family and I share my kids and stuff like that. Uh, I don't know that I'll ever go public with that. And then, uh, tick tock, not so much. Gosh, I'm really, really trying. I am really trying. But TikTok is one of those, like, I don't know, I don't know. I will figure it out one day or I'll hire somebody that knows it really well and can get us there. But yeah, TikTok is a struggle and LinkedIn is definitely my place to be. I love being on LinkedIn. I've been able to, you know, create a good amount of following and, uh, became a thought leader, especially on the cyber security marketing side. And now trying to do the same thing on the CPG side. Um, and sometimes I marry even both together and try to find commonalities between both worlds, which is also like a really cool angle.

Speaker B: Very nice. Yeah, you have to try give TikTok a chance at least. Sucked into the Love Island TikTok. Like, I don't even watch it on tv, but, like, it's way too much in my life. But so, you know, in the beverage world, obviously you were somewhat new to an extent, uh, new to launching a brand. What surprised you the most, launching it? Like, were there any, like, big hurdles or something that you thought, Oh, I didn't expect that.

Speaker A: Couple things. Yeah. I mean, early on, I think I was naive enough to think things will move fast and then realized, oh, yeah, things move a lot slower on a CPG side than they do on intact. Even though I feel like in tech a sales cycle is like six to nine months, and that to me is long. Uh, obviously it doesn't take six to nine months for somebody to buy a six stack of Chicha Morada, but the production, the formulation, the back and forth and all of that just takes a while. So that I was naive, you know, walking into it. Um, I remember I had established LLC like, in March and then started working with a CPG consultant in April. And I was like, so we can be live by July. And he laughed at me and he was like, no, that's good.

Speaker B: Not gonna happen.

Speaker A: Um, and so that. But then also, like, the. The nice surprise was that, um, CPG is also very much relationship based. Uh, and I was very, very pleased to see that because I am a people's person and I like working with people that I enjoy working with and I don't want to work with, you know, unpleasant people. And so it's good to find the right ones and build a good relationship and build the trust and. And, um, yeah, that. I found that, like, really, really cool.

Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, I really appreciate hearing your story and like, where could people find you if they want to buy? Are you back in stock now? Soon?

Speaker A: We're working on our next drop. Probably like about four or five weeks out. Um, and so, yeah, the Purple drop dot com. So the, the Purple drop dot com, uh, is our website and our online store. Otherwise we're super active on Instagram, like I said. So our Instagram handle is. Hey, PurpleDrop. H E Y Purple Drop, uh, and hit me up on LinkedIn. I'm very active on LinkedIn. Add me, send a message. Um, I'd love to chat if you're early in your. In your CPG journey and want to hear more about our story and some mistakes we've made. I am always an open book. I love helping others and paying it forward because We've had people help us also very early on in our. In our journey. And so, yeah, hit me up.

Speaker B: That's awesome. I wish you all the best of luck, and I can't wait to try your product.

Speaker A: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on the show. This was really, really fun.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker C: All right, everybody, that wraps up today's episode of Eat, Drink Social. Thanks for listening. If you have a story to share or know somebody that does, feel free

Speaker B: to reach out to us.