BevNET's Cocktail Showdown 2 - Troop

Speaker 1 [00:02] Time really does fly cause we are down to our final contestant for this edition of BevNET's Cocktail Showdown. Those are Cece Derosier and Reed Derosier. Come on up to the stage.

CC [00:19] Hello. with us. I'm CC and this is Reed. We are the married couple behind Troop Beverage Co.

Speaker 3 [00:26] Before we get started, just wanted to say a big thank you to the judges who've sat through all this, the audience, um, most of whom is over at the bar right now that you guys can't see online, but we all trust Ray to save the best for last, right? So we're in good shape.

CC [00:39] OK, so this probably isn't the best way to start off at a pitch competition entitled Cocktail Showdown, especially coming last after 9 incredible cocktail brands, but 2 years ago prior to starting Troop, Reed and I were complete cocktail amateurs. We had very boring desk jobs and like most. People with boring desk jobs, we spent every waking moment thinking about our social lives and how we could get together with our friends. For us as the go to host, we quickly learned that to change an everyday occasion into a celebration, you had to have the best cocktails in town to keep your friends at your place other than the bar. So we figured we had to learn how to do that. We started reading books on the science of cocktails.

Speaker 3 [01:18] Thank you, Dave Arnold.

CC [01:19] Uh, we subscribed to newsletters like Mark Brown. We talked to bartenders, but most importantly, we started making a lot of cocktails, um, and we bought a mini keg named Kevin who you can see proudly featured in our slide. So, um, then,

Speaker 3 [01:36] We, uh, we started making drinks for our friends and our friends of friends who we started to call our troop, and, uh, we're a married couple. It's not everyone's idea of a honeymoon, but we, we put in the hard work to figure out exactly what our troop wanted from our cocktails. And we learned a couple of things along the way. We learned that the troop loved drinks that were spirit forward and packed with flavor not only from the spirits, but the real ingredients that goes into those drinks. And we believe, as you can see from our can right here, a cocktail should be small, because it's a special occasion, and when there's some scarcity in that liquid that you're consuming, that makes each sip one to savor. And most importantly, you gotta be sharing it with your troop, right? And when you can focus on sharing that great drink and the moments that go into it rather than mixing the drink, that's even better.

CC [02:18] And we wanted to share this time with our troop. We were in the other room making cocktails, so we thought, well, I guess we're just going to do this ourselves a little bit naively and as a newly married couple, but we're still together, so I think things are going OK. And then Troop was born, so we make full flavor, full strength cocktails that level up your libation. We craft these drinks for a new class of drinker, those who care more about belly laughs and quality time versus tastemaker bars or drinking games. And we have a, a list of five spirit-based cocktails that we're gonna walk you through tonight starting. With the vodka lemonade

Speaker 3 [02:53] with tart lemon and basil, the tequila palama, a taste of Jalisco, the sprinkle of salt,

CC [02:59] the

Speaker 3 [02:59] rum mojito, bubbly, dry, zesty, you might find yourself dancing in the streets. The

CC [03:04] gin spritz,

Speaker 3 [03:05] our take on a sparkling negroni,

CC [03:07] and the bourbon smash,

Speaker 3 [03:08] the love child between Arnold Palmer, the drink, not the man, and a mint julep. All of our cocktails are made with real spirits, like we said, fresh squeezed citrus juices, herbs, botanicals, homemade amaro, simple syrups, just the good stuff, no chemical flavors and no preservatives go into these. They're lightly sweetened to give you that bit of sweetness that you're looking for in a cocktail, but they're about 125 calories, so they kind of check the boxes for consumers. And on the format, why did we pick this 200 mL can here? Well, it's 10% ABV in a 6.8 ounce can. That's a shot and then some of spirits, but it's properly diluted and perfectly balanced to consume right from the can. There's no need to pour it out and pour it over ice. And that's what helps us stand out from the competition. It's a crowded field. On the one side, we've got the hard seltzer competitors of the world that are at 5% ABV. On the other side, we've got, uh, the higher ABV cocktails that require pouring, prep, or sharing. We're the Goldilocks of canned cocktails. We're just right. That's right, because they're balanced. You can consume them right out of the can, and they maintain that in-hand occasion that's really important for customers. And at $3 to $4 for each individual cocktail or $13.99 for the four-pack, there are premium accessible options, so you can have these damn good cocktails without breaking the bank.

CC [04:24] And we've seen this prove out in the market. We're currently sold in two states, California and Texas. We're in over 500 accounts ranging from stores like Whole Foods all the way to Total Wine and everywhere in between. In hospitality, we're upgrading the pool areas in minibars in the room from those airplane bottles and Coke cans to a perfectly portable and premium cocktail. Reed and I, Troop has always been about how we can bring our group of friends together and create a better social environment, and our troop agrees. Across the hundreds of dinner parties, living room happy hours, and backyard barbecues, Troop has elevated these everyday occasions into celebrations, and we're excited to celebrate with you all tonight. So cheers. Thank you.

Speaker 1 [05:09] Nicely done. Uh, Carlton, let's start with you. Uh, Troop Beverage Company, what are your thoughts on the presentation?

Speaker 4 [05:14] Um, really well done, uh, really polished both in the product and the presentation. Um, really kind of narrow question though, how is it doing at, um, at some of the larger accounts you mentioned like Total and like, um, Whole Foods, for example?

CC [05:28] Yes, so Whole Foods is actually that's a good one to start with. It's our best account. They found us pretty early on because of the ingredient quality. They're very strict on the type of products that can come into their store, and we've really developed a great relationship. With their Northern California buyer who's now taking over all of California and SOPAC, um, so for us we've seen great velocities, growing velocities. Um, we just came out with two new SKUs, the vodka lemonade and tequila Paloma, so we're launching those in there in January, and so we'll have 5 SKUs across all of California as we grow sort of towards the south and southeast.

Speaker 1 [06:02] Yeah. So did you get to try everything and uh what are your thoughts on,

Speaker 3 [06:07] was great. Uh, I was thrown off by the bourbon smash. I wasn't anticipating tea because when I think smash, I wasn't thinking of the tea, so that tea was, uh, threw me for a loop. Do you mean my favorite drink? Yeah. It was good, don't get me wrong, but, and I was like, I just was like when I'm, when I'm, when I see something and it says smash, I already have this kind of like, kind of connotation in my head knowing that I'm gonna, what I'm gonna get, and when I sipped it, I was like, oh. Interesting. Yeah, well, thank you for the feedback. We developed these drinks with feedback from, uh, that troop that we talked about, hundreds of interviews with people and trying those drinks, and you're part of that now that you've tried it. So thank you for the feedback. Well, we totally take the note. With all of our drinks, we try and take a relatively classic drink like a bourbon smash, which has lemon, mint, usually bourbon, sometimes sparkling, sometimes not, and then add a little bit of a. So the vodka lemonade, there's a bit of basil in there, bourbon smash, throw that tea in there, which adds a really nice with the bourbon and that's, that's how we each of the drinks that we work on that. Thank you. Can I say how much of a boss

Speaker 1 [07:11] that was, you know, you mean my favorite drink? Crack that open.

Speaker 3 [07:13] I had to keep it in the back pocket in case I was getting nervous or you know, a frog in the throat.

Speaker 1 [07:18] Very nice, very nice packaging and presentation in terms of the 4 pack and the cans. Tiffany, what are your thoughts?

Speaker 5 [07:23] I love the can presentation especially uh I think the only thing that I would say is the word troop is really hard for me to see. It's big, bigger than so big that I, I don't know that it's troop almost that's the only downside because you don't know how to call for it or you don't know what it is as long as you see the package you're good, um, love the, the branding. I love that it's clear it's a vodka lemonade and it's super clear and, and that's, uh, that's unique. So your packaging, everything's nailed it just. The name brands a little harder, um, to see and then, um, sugar and carb on the pack, the pack I got, I don't know if it's on the pack, the sugar and carb, but I saw on the pack on the can it was, so I don't know if that's just a, a, a different version, but having that on the pack too because it's a strength, you'll want to make sure that you show that strength on the actual outside packaging.

CC [08:14] Yeah, that's great feedback. Not trying to hide anything when we've heard that customers are always searching for it. So, uh, we're doing some upgrades on packaging now. Great.

Speaker 1 [08:23] Sebastian, you get the last word on troop and the last word for the showdown.

Speaker 6 [08:26] Um, for real boss move, the can should be empty by now. I just wanna, I just wanted to add that right now. Um, look, I, I would love, like the, the packaging is amazing and also the, the shipper it comes in, you know. The the shipper it comes in is is also great optimized. You open it up, like the audience can see it. Also the home page is all very polished, it all looks great. It looks like a cocktail, so that's all awesome and um yeah, the last word for the showdown, it's a big burden to take right here. I think we saw a variety of products and um like it's like this these are all very good and um yeah, well

Speaker 1 [08:59] done. Well done indeed. Thank you so much. All right. Uh, this is our 2nd time doing it, and, you know, it's just incredible to see the variety that's happening, the, the excitement, the passion that we're seeing in this emerging category of ready to drink cocktails. Congratulations to all of the contestants. Really, really well done. As my microphone is about to roll off the bar, uh, we're going to go and convene. We, as in the judges and I, uh, they are going to pick a winner and that winner is going to be announced at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time for folks in the audience. Please be back in here by 5:25 or 5:20 or just stay in the room. There's plenty of cocktails because it's going to be a really great announcement. I also just wanna say real quick, thanks so much once again to the judges. This is an outstanding judging panel right here. Fantastic. All right, 5:30. Be back online watching us at 5:30, be back in this room at 5:30. Thank you.