When you started this business, you entered a category with plenty of competition. How did Buena Gave come about, and how do you convince someone to take a chance on an unfamiliar brand?

“It came to fruition in 2021. Yes, it’s a busy space with a lot of brands and competition, but it’s also a lot of everybody doing the same thing.

“We looked at the Spindrift soda model: Let’s take actual ingredients and ingredient transparency—real juice, tequila, tell you everything that’s in the can—and make pre-existing cocktails. At a premium, too, so more expensive than some of the other brands out there. And then leverage it in retail outlets like co-ops, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, where customers are shopping for something of better quality. People want better alternatives to the mainstream stuff.

“Getting people to take a chance on it is a whole other thing. Being in stores like co-ops, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods, there’s better consumer confidence in those outlets versus a general package store or retail store, where it’s kind of Russian roulette in our space.

“I think the major companies and suppliers have been eroding consumer confidence in canned cocktails in a pretty big way over the last couple of years. You spend $10, $12, $13, $14 on a four-pack, and in most instances, it’s not great. Whether it’s claiming zero sugar but it’s incredibly sweet because of sugar substitutes…or in our space, it’s a margarita that’s carbonated like a Polar Seltzer and it’s clear. A margarita is neither of those things.

“We invest a lot of money in retail tastings. Obviously, we can’t do that in Vermont, but in the rest of our markets, we spend a lot of money on that. And we designed a can that popped a little more than the standard blues and whites everybody else was using.”

When you're building a company like this, there must be a lot of things that you have to know that have nothing to do with the beverage industry. What are some lessons you learned, or some skills that you had to really develop to get into this space?

“I was fortunate enough to come in with an actual background in the space… decade in the industry. I thought it meant something…and then nothing!

“There are a lot of lessons to be learned. I think the first one is that you have to go slow. You can’t spend all your money. Everything costs money. Everybody will take your money. You’ve really got to be tight and let your velocity develop on its own.

“The other biggest thing—and I tell a lot of people this now—is just go make friends in the industry. It’s the best advice you’ll get for free nine times out of ten. Whether it’s figuring out where to get materials, getting contacts in new markets, or just understanding what to do and how to navigate it better from a business perspective.

“I preach it all the time to entrepreneurs and new people: Go make friends. Get to know each other. Talk to each other. You’re in it together, and there are a bunch of people from the outside who think they know better. But they’re not the ones with companies…you are.”

As you look towards the future, in a beverage industry that’s always evolving quickly, is there anything in particular that you think consumers will be looking for from beverage brands over the next few years?

“I don’t know. If you ask certain people, they’ll say NAs and mocktails, but I think we’ve hit a plateau as far as where that’s going. I’d like to say it’s more better-built, quote-unquote ‘better for you’ brands, but I don’t think the alcohol consumer cares as much about that as they do when they’re picking their meat, vegetables, or protein. They put the two in different hands.

“For us, we still see the trajectory of tequila booming. We don’t see it going anywhere, and we know RTDs are going to continue to surge.

“At the end of the day, we hope it fractures a little bit like craft beer did 10 or 15 years ago, where levels are created in the canned cocktail and RTD space. High Noon is basically the Bud Light of the RTD industry, and there’s an opportunity for people to trade up to different things. But those things have to be accessible, where price and quality align.

“I think that will be the biggest challenge in the space. But I don’t know where it’s going to go. The kids will determine it at the end of the day, I suppose.”

Bonus Question: Is there anything currently in your fridge, or freezer, that might surprise people?

“I’m pretty one-track when it comes to our own space. But there’s one thing…it’s not in Vermont yet, but it’s in our freezer, and it’s called Chica Chida. It’s a peanut butter tequila. It’s pretty awesome.”