Brewbound Pitch Slam 12: Semi-Finals

Ray Latif [00:08] Hey folks, I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Bevnet's Taste Radio podcast, the #1 podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm also the host of Brewbound's Pitch Slam 12 competition, semi-final round of which you're watching right now, presented by Brewers Collective, the craft business unit of Anheuser-Busch. The Brewbound Pitch Slam is a one of a kind pitch Slam competition. It gives entrepreneurs behind the beer industry's next breakout brands an opportunity to sample their innovative products and showcase their business plans to a panel of expert judges and the audience watching on our video stream. We're kicking off, we're kicking off the pitch slam with a semi-final round of what you're watching right now in which 12 entrepreneurs from different brands will have 2 minutes to present their best elevator pitch. Our judges will provide approximately 2 to 3 minutes of feedback following each pitch. After all of the brands have presented, the judges will pick 5 brands to move on to the final round, which takes place on Thursday. The 6 finalists will be chosen by audience vote at the end of today's semi-final round. We're going to show a list of all the participants and a number next to the brand name. Viewers will have an opportunity to vote by texting the number corresponding to their favorite brand to a phone number that we'll provide later on. You can also call that number to vote. The winning brewery will receive a $10,000 digital advertising package on Brewbound.com. Additionally, Brewers Collective will provide the winner with multiple opportunities to connect with craft founders, as well as industry veterans and specialists across different functions, gaining access to invaluable insights and state of the art resources to support their growth. They'll also receive lab testing and quality assurance support through EleviteQA, a new initiative launched by Brewers Collective that provides free lab access and assistance to craft brewers. Let's meet our fantastic judging panel. Start out with Ryan Lake, who's a principal with Arlington Capital Advisors. Ryan has 20 years of investment banking and commercial banking experience and has sourced structured and negotiated debt and equity transactions for beverage and restaurant companies. Next is Jason Murphy. Jason is the beverage product and program innovation manager for Buffalo Wild Wings and leads the strategy for the largest draft beer program in the country, overseeing 1200 sports bars in the US and Canada, over 36,000 draft lines, and over 3300 active brands. Next is Oceania Eagan, who is the founder and creative director of Blind Tiger Design, a Seattle-based creative and strategy, creative strategy and marketing agency specializing in the unique needs of the craft food and beverage industry. Last but certainly not least is Day Bracey, who is the co-host of the popular Drinking Partners podcast and the co-founder of Fresh Fest, America's first black brewery festival. Uh, really excited to have this judging panel. I know they're going to offer some great feedback and advice to our semi-finalists. Speaking of our semi-finalists, let's get to our first one of the afternoon. That is Justin Collins, who is the CEO and brewmaster for Warcloud Brewing Company. Justin, how are you? Good, sir. You? Great, great. You ready to present?

Speaker 2 [03:20] Yes sir,

Ray Latif [03:21] Rock and roll. Fantastic. Your 2 minutes will begin now.

Speaker 2 [03:25] Everybody, Justin Collins, Warcloud Brewing Company. Uh, it's a 10-man team just east of Los Angeles. Our, our motto and our, our philosophy is absolutely to stay unconventional. We're true students of the game. Uh, we learn anytime, anywhere, uh, by any means necessary. That allows us to be more adaptable, um, and allows us to be malleable when we see things happen. Uh, it also allows us to keep our fingers on the pulse. Um. Right now we're gypsy brewing, but we're making our transition to professional. We have a location set. Uh, this is the beer that actually brought us to that point. The Irish Gorrilla is an Irish cream pie stout with lactose, Madagascar vanilla, marshmallow graham cracker pie crust with a hot roster of Centennial and Mosaic. Uh, judges, it's 11.5, so take your time with it. It was actually a barrel aged in rum barrels. Uh, right now, it is 895 on singles alone. Um, for us, the, the real concept behind our beers is, uh, the artwork and also talking points. Uh, we believe that our demographic is vast, so we can have a human connection with people. Um, this artwork is really, uh, the backstory. The lots of guys are Irish, and then we knew that Hannibal of Carthage, one of the great war generals who marched on Rome back in 212 BC, definitely had the unconventional mindset. So it's all about learning history. We try to take it worldwide by word of mouth, and for us having this beer and making this beer is something special because now we have a home. So contestants, judges, thank you.

Ray Latif [05:13] Well done, Justin. All right, so let's get to the judge's feedback. Uh, Oceania, let's start with you. Justin talked about uh the artwork of Warcloud as differentiating, uh, the brand from other brands out there. Did you see it that way?

Speaker 3 [05:28] I do see it as a unique brand, but it also has a lot of aggression to it. So the beer tasted a lot of intense flavors, so it did match with the branding, but I'd say that there's some polarizing effects of the brand and that it really is only targeted in one direction in terms of what audience would want to be attracted to that.

Ray Latif [05:49] Yeah, Oceania, you mentioned the taste. You know, I think this is the first time I've ever heard of an Irish cream pie stout, which sounds incredible. A lot of. Yeah, indeed. Day, did you get to try this product, and if so, what do you think of it?

Speaker 4 [06:04] Um, yeah, no, I mean, I, uh, I thought the, I thought the beer was amazing, it, um, you know. Experienced Warcloud in the past and it's right in line with their branding. Um, they do not hold back on the flavor and the punch, um, and I'm a big stout guy, so, you know, I was kind of privy to that. Um, the, uh, you know, I like the, the originality of the can with the, you know, the Irish flag with the gorilla and whatnot. Um, yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, it's market ready. It was, it was one of my favorites that, uh, that, that came in, um, came in the pack.

Ray Latif [06:37] Ryan, uh, Justin explained that, uh, the brewery at this point is still Gypsy Brewing. Um, you know, how does that factor into your mindset when you're considering investment in a brewery? Yeah, we're sort of agnostic and most of our, most of our clients, if they're on the sell side, the buy side are agnostic too towards whether they're uh brewing in their own facility, gypsy brewing, contract brewing. It's really about the quality of the product, um, how scalable it is, what the margins are. So gypsy brewing can be a great way to get started and can be a great way for some breweries to run for a long time at pretty low cost. So it can be a really good model. And in terms of the presentation, uh, did anything stand out to you in terms of sort of the approach to marketing and general business strategy that Workload is going forward with? I mean, I like taking a stance, even if the stance is aggressive, I think you have to stand for something if you're gonna be a brand that stands out these days. So I like the fact that they, they have a very strong, clear stance. Um, I wouldn't mind the packaging being a little cleaner in terms of presenting the product, um, but I like them taking an aggressive marketing angle. All right, Jason, you get the last word. Um, you know, when you think about this type of product, this type of brand, um, you know, what to you is really important to consider, uh, if they want to eventually get into a place like Buffalo Wild Wings and get on the draft lines at the, at the chain? Yes, specifically at a Buffalo Wild Wings, we don't sell a whole ton of Imperial stouts, so it's definitely a niche product, one I would consider a package. Uh, draft would be difficult, but as I think about just craft taprooms in general, uh, I think it makes sense certainly as a rotational product, at least, uh, you'll see how many kegs you can sell and maybe you bring in a few more, but it's definitely a niche product uh to start off with. OK, all right, great feedback, great start to the competition. Let's move on to our second semi-finalist of the round. That's Lauren Frederick, who's the vice president for Metazoa Brewing Company. Lauren, how are you? Hi, good. How are you? I'm doing well, thanks so much. Uh, are you ready to give your pitch? Yeah, let's hit it. Fantastic. Your 2 minutes begin now. Drink beer, help animals. Our motto is simple, but our story, our beer, and the passion with which we have built both are anything but. Metazoa Brewing Co. is an Indianapolis-based pet-friendly brewery and taproom founded in 2016 by animal lover and homebrewer Dave Worthington. Dave and his family have been animal lovers for many, many years, but he began imagining the unique impact a brewery could have if it were able to make approachable, world-class beer and then donate a percentage of profits to animal sanctuaries, such as the ones his family loved. That's how Metazoa was born. Now, Metazoa is special for many reasons, but with only 90 seconds left, I'll boil them down to 3. First, when we started Metazoa, we made a promise, a 5% promise. From day one, we committed to 10 animal charities and to our community that we would donate 5% of all company profits to animal welfare organizations. With our eyes on that mission, we've been able to donate over $100,000 to animal charities within only 4 years of business, an achievement that was celebrated not just by our team but by Forbes magazine last November in their feature. Secondly, our pet friendly taproom and dog park space offers our community's animal lovers a special place to connect and share a pint. This powerful experience combined with the award-winning products we offer has uniquely positioned us for success in this increasingly competitive market segment, which leads me to our third differentiator. The Metazoa team brings an elite level of talent from a variety of backgrounds. On our brewing roster, for example, we have a mix of creative experimental brewers, local and regional production brewers, and a brewmaster who served as head brewer for 15 years at Goose Island. Over the course of their careers, these talented men and women have collectively brought home 30 GABF medals, 13 World Beer Cup medals, and just this year an Alpha King Challenge Award. 2020 has been tough on all of us, but Metazoa is driven by the commitments we've made to our community and to the charities we serve. We have a plan for continued growth in depth and breadth over the next five years and are attending Pitch Lam in hopes of meeting industry leaders who want to learn more about Metazoa and experience what it really means to drink beer and help animals. Well done, Lauren. Thanks. All right. Uh, Jason, Lauren talked quite a bit about the mission behind Metazoa, uh, what it stands for. Um, didn't hear a lot about the beer, so let's ask you, you know, what are your thoughts on the liquid? Yeah, I got to try a couple of the beers, a Devil IPA and the Two-headed Lobster, which I learned was, uh, I think, a bronze medal winner at this last year's Great American Beer Festival. So first of all, that's, you know, important to have those kind of credentials behind a beer when you're considering bringing something like that into a Buffalo Wild Wings, but Specifically to the Two-headed Lobster, I thought it was a pretty good beer, you know, it had that good creamy mouthfeel that you would expect out of a hazy IPA and a good, easy drinking citrus flavor. So from a Buffalo Wild Wings perspective, it's definitely one that I would consider bringing in on tap. Day, you know, as a consumer of beer, as someone who's tried a lot of beer, someone who knows uh what great beers are all about, how much does it matter to you when you are drinking a beer, when you are buying them, um, that there's a mission, that there's a reason behind, uh, their brand, and how much of that, you know, in Matazoa's case resonates with you?

Speaker 4 [11:55] Um, well, a lot of it resonates with me because the product was phenomenal. I mean, uh, that was first and foremost, like that, uh, that double IPA, the Puma Thurman, was everything that I like in beer. So I mean, first and foremost, I enjoyed that. And then to hear that they do have a message is even, is, is even, is even better. I think that, um, you know, moving forward, you know, to differentiate yourself from the pack, you know, would help to build a culture and a cause moving forward. A lot of people like to get behind that. A lot of people. You know, they're, they're not so big into brands anymore as they are into people and causes, um, you know, that they can support, you know, if they don't like a person, they're probably not going to buy their product. And if they think that their dollars are going to go to, you know, ill, you know, ill, ill causes, then they probably won't as well. So I think it's, it's great, important. Um, I like the product and the the mission behind it. So yeah, it's great.

Ray Latif [12:46] And Oshana, did you get a lot of that mission? Did you understand a lot about the brand? Was that Uh, was that made really clear based on the packaging that you see in Metazoa?

Speaker 3 [12:57] Building off of what Dave said, I'd say that the brand has huge opportunity in terms of connecting with with people on the messaging. I think the brand could do a better job with communicating that through their logo system and other outreach. It took a little bit of digging to find out all the amazing things that they're doing within the community. And different outreaches that they have already. So just bringing that forward and having that be a more prominent part of what their brand message is through visuals and otherwise, that's a huge selling point for them. So letting people really have that be the first thing that they see rather than having to dig for it would be an opportunity.

Ray Latif [13:35] And Ryan, we heard good things about the liquid. We heard good things about the mission. Uh, Lauren also brought up the team. Um, you know, all those things considered, what is the most important? What are you looking really for when you are thinking about, uh, brands that are investable? Is it really that team that Lauren expressed? Is it the mission? Is it the liquid? And I know it's hard to say. You can probably say it's all three, but what really stood out to you? Yeah, I mean, I think it depends on who the investor or the acquirer is, you know, if it's a private equity investor, the team's really important because they're not bringing in. Resources or people that can help out. Um, so the team needs to already be there or needs to have a plan in place to build it out. So I think the team is critical for one kind of investor, for other kinds. They need the team but not probably as long or not as, not as intensive for them, so it really depends. All right, great feedback. Let's move on to our next semi-finalist for the round. That's John Rentthrop, who is the CEO of Cajun Fire Brewing Company. John, how are you?

Speaker 5 [14:30] Pretty good, and yourself?

Ray Latif [14:31] I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Uh, are you ready to give your pitch? I'm good. Fantastic. All right, your 2 minutes are gonna begin now.

Speaker 5 [14:40] All right, good afternoon and good evening, everyone. My name is John L. Rentro. I am the CEO and brewmaster of Cajun Fire Brewing Company. Uh, historically, Cajun Fire is the first black and Native American owned brewing company in the state of Louisiana. Uh, we are family-owned and operated and to date, uh, we have, uh, our company has created over 9 years an economic landscape of, uh, Katrina and unfortunate devastation that, that has created a circumstance that gives vitality to our economic corridor that we inhabit. Our mission is simple, um, brewing beer for socioeconomic change, one pint at a time. Our products pay homage to the distinguished Cajun Creole, uh, home of nation and African diaspora, uh, that this region is world renowned for. Um, we are authentic, and we are equitable, and most importantly, we are consistently yours. Uh, to, to date our efforts in aiding our, our Community has raised, has allowed us to raise more than $700,000 for philanthropies and partnerships with nonprofit organizations in our community. Um, we are an advocate for all kinds of community philanthropies, um, in our, in our efforts with our products, uh, they've allowed us to go into all kinds of different markets, specifically given the pivots that we had to take during COVID. Uh, we've also expanded. In our reach and territories in the 4 different states as well as experience uh international export virtual trade missions. So you know, our, our impact has been quite significant, uh, but however, our work is not yet done. Uh, we do consider ourselves pioneers in the industry as we are going into uncharted territories, uh, for people that look like me in this industry. So we hope our efforts are not lost in the, um, just the mitigation of Reducing the amount of people that can, I mean, uh, engaging the amount of people that can, uh, take part in this multi-billion dollar industry. Uh, thank you for your time. I know our time is limited. Please reach out to us at drinkcajun.fire.com. Watch us grow, see our impact, and most importantly, taste our beer. Have

Ray Latif [16:31] a good

Speaker 5 [16:31] day. Thank you.

Ray Latif [16:33] All right, well done, John. Uh, Ryan, let's start with you. I saw you nodding several times during John's interview, John's presentation. Um, you know, it's, it's tough to really express what you are in just two minutes, uh, but what did you think of his presentation and what really stood out to you? Yeah, I I love the community focus. I love New Orleans to start with, it's a great city, but I love the community focus. I love the ability to, to give back by running a good business. Um, I think that's an amazing thing to be able to do and I think the fact that they are so laser-focused on helping people in their community, um, is really incredible. I think that's, and that, you know, it's, it's easy for a consumer to purchase something when they know that not only does the product tastes good, but it's helping out, uh, either people in need or helping give more opportunities to others. Jason, in terms of communicating what the brand is all about, uh, do you see your uh your diners and the folks at Buffalo Wild Wings who who are eating there and drinking there on a regular basis, does that kind of impact, social impact that John talked about really resonate with the end consumer? Is that something that's a little bit more difficult to express? It's difficult to express, but it's definitely something that's important, you know, we, we are a national brand, you know, the people who come and dine with us are, are local diners and they care about what's going on in their community. So, well, it's really hard to get that, uh, you know, the ethos of their brand across and just kind of a snippet of our beverage menu. You know, we always love to work with partners like, uh, you know, John at Cajun Fire to figure out how do we invite them into our sports bars and And, uh, you know, tell their story and, and really get to work with them and the missions that they care about. So it's, it's something that, that we're looking to do. So uh I appreciate their work and on top of that, their, their liquid is really good too. So, uh, certainly, uh the both the honey and cream stuff that I tried were products we consider giving a tap on to. And building off that day in terms of that communication that Cajun Fire is doing, uh, you know, what you heard from John, are there any things that you think, you know, they need to sort of dial up in terms of their communication or sort of refine to really share exactly what they're doing and highlight the great things that are happening with the brewery?

Speaker 4 [18:46] Yeah, so I thought, you know, the Big Chief was amazing. The honey, I thought it was going to be much more honey. It was very well balanced, but yeah, I mean, I didn't, I didn't look at it and see black owned brewery on the package. I didn't see, you know, native owned brewery on the package. You know, with a big chief, I'm like, is that, is that really, you know, I mean, but ultimately I think it's a, it's a very weird place to be because, you know, putting black owned brewery on the package at times can be off-putting and not, you know, sell in certain places. So, you know, I think it's a, I think it's a weird balance that we're always playing. As you know, as to say, hey, we're black owned, but white people can drink it too, you know, so it's just, so I mean, I think, I think the packaging was amazing, you know, if it was on the shelf next to any other, any other brand, it would be something that I would pick up just to kind of give it a further look and then maybe, you know, at, you know, somewhere else on there, say, hey, black owned.

Ray Latif [19:45] Oana, uh, along those lines, I mean, what are your thoughts on the packaging, the branding, uh, and how, uh, Cajun Fire is presented and positioned on shelf?

Speaker 3 [19:55] I'd say there was a lot of personality going on within the two can packages, but the brand itself felt like it needed to have a little bit more strength just to kind of hold it down, especially in terms of being able to communicate all that you stand for. But the packaging, putting the extra metallic touches and things like that really did add a nice layer to. To be standing out. I'd also say that the balanced beer was so balanced and with a name like Cajun Fire, I was looking for a little bit more intensity so that might be an opportunity in terms of being able to get more bold with how you go with the branding and the messaging and really have a more balanced portfolio in terms of having some bold flavors as well as some more balanced ones.

Ray Latif [20:39] Fantastic. All right, thank you, John. And let's move on to our next semi-finalists for this round who are Kevin Wong and Sean Rowe, the co-founders of Lunar. Kevin, Sean, how are you? Doing good. How are you guys? Doing very well, very well. Good to see you. Are you guys ready to give your pitch? Let's do it. Let's do it indeed. 2 minutes begin now. I'm Kevin, I'm Sean, and we're the co-founders of Lunar, the first Asian American craft hard seltzer made from real authentic ingredients sourced directly from the motherland. So in early 2019, while eating some Korean fried chicken at our local favorite spot, we noticed something odd, right? Why was it that on the drink menu, they're only mass market like beers instead of a beverage pairing as authentic, excuse me, as the food that we're eating, uh, why wasn't there a drink that proudly celebrates the flavors that we grew up with during our childhood? So we, you know, did some research, and not only did our online search results come up empty, uh, it was very apparent that the Kraft hard seltzer code hadn't yet been cracked. So we decided to take matters into our own hands. Two busy years later, filled with recipe formulation, lots of brewing, and back and forth trips to Asia, we finally felt like we had done it. We first launched our yuzu flavor this year, which is made from real yuzu fruit grown in Japan's coastal Shimani Prefecture and captures the fruit's iconic flora, aroma, and tartness. And next week, we're launching our second flavor, lychee. It's made from real lychee grown in Thailand to properly highlight the fruit's tropical, sweet and sour notes. And so far we've been getting really great feedback and and and people love it. And we credit a lot of it to the fact that we just actually just use real ingredients, right? No artificial sweeteners, no natural flavors. And make no mistake about it, you know, these are deliberate flavors that we selected, uh, ones that have special significance to us, right? Whether it's the cold winter Yuzu, honey citron, uh, tea that I grew up with, or the, you know, the, you know, the the streets, uh, the street vendor. lychees that Kevin grew up with in the streets of Taiwan. These are all stories and meanings and memories that are associated with these flavors and fruits that we wanted to share with the rest of the world. So whether it's pairing it with your classic New York slice or a kimchi pancake, uh, or whether these are new flavors to you or flavor, uh, familiar ones to you, uh, we, you know, at the end of the day, we hope to be able to sip, uh, with each sip, help you transport, uh, to a taste of Asian Americana in a can. We're currently available in New York both online. I'm sorry guys, I have to cut you off there. Your 2 minutes are up, but well done. All right, uh, Jason, let's start with you. Um, are you seeing more of your customers asking for, uh, hard seltzers, differentiated hard seltzers out there? Um, is the, is the thirst growing, so to speak? And if so, does Lunar have what it takes to really, uh, stand out from the competition, the growing competition? Yeah, so I think, you know, Buffalo Wild Wings isn't too different from all of on-premise where we're still trying to figure out how to, how to crack the code on seltzers and, you know, capture that share that, that off-premise and venue are getting. That being said, um, we're placing a really big importance on Seltzer in 2021. And I really like the differentiation uh that Lunar brings with the yuzu and lychee flavors, you know, it's a, it's a sea of berry and mango flavors out there right now, which is, which are great, uh, but it's nice to be able to provide differentiation to our guests and, and allow them to kind of customize their, uh, their flavors in the way that they want to. Uh, and those two flavors usually in lyche are going to pair really well with food. So I think it's a nice differentiator in a very crowded category right now. Uh, Dave, you know, Kevin and Sean, it was very clear on their slide, you know, it's Asian Americana in a can. Um, you know, what do you think of that communication in terms of how they're trying to position themselves as a differentiated hard seltzer?

Speaker 4 [24:31] Yeah, again, I think that it's, I think it's important in this industry that we have, um, you know, more than just, you know, bearded white dudes making beer. So anytime that I have a product that I can, I can an option that isn't that, I'm going to go for that. I'm going to at least try it out. I think the packaging is, is, is beautiful, and I like the, I like the niche, you know, if I'm in a, you know, like usually when I'm, you know, at at an Asian restaurant. Get, you know, Sapporo is the option, you know, a light beer. I don't even drink seltzer all like that, but, you know, if I were to see this on the menu, I would, I would, I would choose this over, you know, a standard light Japanese beer, and, you know, the ladies that I gave it to loved it as well, so I think it's a, I think it's a hit all around.

Ray Latif [25:18] Ryan, I'm sure you've seen your fair share of, uh, new seltzer brands come to market, uh, and I'm sure you've tasted your share of them as well. Uh, let's start with the taste, uh, you know, what do you think of, uh, lunar, and then, you know, probably more importantly, uh, do you agree with, uh, Kevin and Sean that the Kraft hard seltzer code hasn't been broken to this point? Yeah, I think they're right, uh, to a degree. I like the flavor to start with. Um, I thought it was clean, it was subtle. Um, I like the, the ingredient list. It's pretty short. Um, they're using all natural ingredients. I think it's really nice. I think it's gonna be more important as the seltzer category starts to fragment. Um, but I think it's interesting. I think, you know, I love them finding white space in the seltzer, you know, growing, rapidly expanding seltzer market. Um, I think the challenge is, can you find that, that differentiated white space but also make it appeal to a wide array of consumers. Yeah, the white space is really important, but finding space on shelf at all is really important too. It really helps to have a package that pops. Oshana, you know, what do you think of the packaging, the branding, in particular, the use of a vertical brand logo on the can?

Speaker 3 [26:26] Well, I was going to say funny you should say white space because Thank goodness it doesn't have a white can. It's refreshing to see seltzer with that with some color and a brand and and overall aesthetic that really matches with the Asian Americana messaging that they're going for, so very clearly communicates that with the vertical lettering. With the soft colors, all of that just feels spot on in terms of what their overall messaging is, and the flavors were amazing in terms of it having that natural flavor, but yet still being subtle, not being overwhelming. I think there's a huge amount of opportunity for pairing with this seltzer, which is something that a lot of craft seltzers have not tried doing, tried getting into.

Ray Latif [27:09] All right, great feedback and great advice. Let's move on to our next semi-finalist for the round, who is Tyler Powell, excuse me, Tyler Powell Caldwell, uh, who is with, uh, Pow Brewing Company. Tyler, how are you? Um, I'm good. How are you guys? I'm doing well. I had to pause there because under your title for the company it just says me. Is that your title for the company? No, um, no, well, it's just me. I do brew by myself. I do every, well, I brew by myself. My partner, she does like my labels for me, but ultimately, like at the end of the day, it is just me. All right, well, I'm sure we'll hear more about that in your presentation. Are you ready to pitch? Yes, I am. Fantastic. Your 2 minutes begin now. Um, so, hi, my name is Tyler Powell Caldwell. I am the owner of Pow Brewing Company. I'm bringing Pow Brewing Company to the market for women and for the culture. So, for me, like my target is this, is this generation, different cultures, LGBTQ, most importantly though, it's women, um, women entrepreneurial entrepreneurs, my apologies, women sticking together and uplifting each other as one. Um, I think my Pow Brewing is different because when they think about Pow Brewing, a lot of people don't understand like my name, it stands for Power of a Woman, so it's my last name but also it stands for Power of a Woman, so us as women can start uplifting each other and just, you know, being supportive. Um, I say my product is different because when I brew, I brew with passion, like my passion is brewing, um, it's something that I put my all into. Um, not too many of my friends used to like to go. to breweries with me because they was like the beer is just like too rough. I don't like a good beer. So I was like, you know what, I'm gonna come out with something that everyone can enjoy, so all women can enjoy. So that's what made me start getting into brewing so my friends can enjoy it. Um, I started doing it for young African-American girls because if you have a passion for something, you just keep going, you go full speed and you don't give up because at the end of the day, we don't have a lot of people on our side as African-American, as women, we don't bring each other. Up and I wanna do that in the beer industry, um, My beard, they represent me. Um, I grew up in the city of Gardena, so all of my beers have something to do with the city that I was born and raised in with a little hint of Inglewood because I moved to Inglewood like in my childhood days too, um, and then also on each of my beer labels I use an inspirational quote. It's like a quote that means something to me, so as you're drinking my beer, you can actually like turn it around and be like, oh, here's a quote, let me read it and then as you're reading it, you'll just think, it's like, it's, it's, it's inspiring you to like push for more and go after what you want in life and just be like the best you can be. Tyler, well done. Thank you so much for your presentation. Thank you. All right, uh, Oshana, let's, uh, let's get your thoughts. Um, Tyler's presentation, she's revealed a lot of passion for what she does and for why she's doing it. Did that come across in the packaging and brand that you saw today?

Speaker 3 [30:17] I would definitely say the playful, energetic aspect of what you bring to the brand was very clear, especially looking across the different labels. I'd say that that playfulness also kind of went almost too far with some of it with wanting to make sure that there was still the quality and the assurance in terms of what the flavors and the actual brewing was, but in terms of the energy of the brand, there's definitely energy across the board.

Ray Latif [30:46] Jason, uh, what are your thoughts in terms of the flavor of the beers that you tried today, uh, that you tried from Pow Brewing Company? Yeah, I thought the liquid was really good. I thought it was spot on. I had a strawberry square pale ale, which was good. The strawberry was subtle, but it was still very drinkable. Then another beer, I think it was 30 to Heart, 30 to love, great, uh, which I like. Quite a bit. Uh, my only, uh, critique would be, it was difficult for me to tell by when I'm opening the bottles what the actual styles were. So maybe the 30 to Love was a dunkel, but there was nothing actually, uh, spelled out on the packaging what the specific style was, which, uh, just made it a little bit confusing to me as a beer fan or consumer. Ryan, uh, you know, emerging, uh, beer company, we've seen a lot of them, um, what are some of the things that you saw in Tyler's presentation that, uh, might give you some pause in terms of, you know, the direction of the brewery and what are some of the things that you like to hear, the things that you think will give them a chance to, to really be successful? Yeah, I mean, I love the passion to start out with, um, and I like, I think there should be more women in brewing. I think there's a lot that women have to offer as far as brewers and consumers that isn't being tapped yet. Um, so I love that you're bringing that to it. Um, I would agree. I think that focusing and really refining your message is key, and then I think translating that to the packaging is key because I didn't quite understand the mission just by looking at the packaging and the labels and bottles. I would love to get more of what you're trying to do on the package itself. And Dave, uh, overall, you know, this is something that we've heard and you've spoken about, which is representation, and Tyler talks a lot about representation as being so key to the core of Pow Brewing Company, um, but how do you enhance that communication? How do you enhance uh what Tyler was talking about in terms of its message to the community?

Speaker 4 [32:41] Um, yeah, I mean, I, I think that, you know, like, so when I first opened it, I thought it was like prisoner of war brewing, and I was like, man, these are some pretty light labels for warfare, you know what I mean? Like, so I was kind of confused. I didn't know exactly what, how it was, um, but I was, I was, I loved the beer. The strawberry beer that I had was phenomenal. It was subtle, but yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, with the label, it could maybe, you know, have something on there that kind of indicates, you know, you know, women owned, black owned, you know, so it doesn't, again, it doesn't have to say right on the front like this is a black woman making this beer, but somewhere, you know, on that label as I twist it, if it had some indication that, you know, this is what it was, I think that would go a long way again for consumers like myself who are actively looking to spend dollars elsewhere.

Ray Latif [33:29] Alright, great feedback. Well done, Tyler. On to our next semi-finalist for the round, that is Yung Wan Lee, who is the CEO of Dokkaebier. Young Wan, how are you? Hi. Uh, did I pronounce the name of your brand correctly? I'm sorry if I didn't. Yes, that's correct. OK. Oh, very good. OK. Are you ready to give your presentation? Yep, fantastic. Your, your 2 minutes begin now. Hi everyone, I'm the founder of Dokkaebier, craft beer with a touch of Asian inspiration. I've been in the alcohol industry for about 12 years now, and I had the awesome opportunity to manage various alcohol brands ranging from wines, spirits, RTDs, and eventually to craft beer. But out of all my favorite time has been in the past 3 years in the craft beer industry. I believe we have the most open-minded consumers and innovative people making beer. It is a highly competitive market, and yet all the breweries are always supporting and collaborating with one another. As I got more involved in the beer scene, I saw an opportunity to add more flavors and spices, as well as diversity to the community. So Tokkee beer was born. Our name is a twist on the name of Korean mythical creatures called Tokebi, who loves to eat and drink and hang out with people. They are also known to be shape shifters. So like the Tokebie, we are constantly experimenting and innovating to bring you something new. What we do is combine unique and tasty ingredients with traditional beer styles, ingredients like bamboo leaves, lemongrass, Sichuan peppercorn, galangal, and even oyster sauce. And depending on the popularity of our one-off beers, we fine tune the recipe and relaunch as a steady product. We remain dedicated to the spirit of the experiment, but we involve our consumers throughout our journey. Our goal is to push boundaries. Our goal is to add more flavors and diversity to the beer industry and like our mission, to fill glasses, bellies, and spirits. So depending on where you're from, these flavors will either take you on a journey to the far side of the earth or if you're an Asian like me, will take you on a journey back home. Thank you. Alright, well done. Dave, let's begin with you. Uh, Yung Wan talked about his desire to bring more flavors and more diversity to the beer industry. Do you think he's succeeded on both fronts?

Speaker 4 [35:57] Yeah man, I was super excited about this, you know, the label clearly Asian inspired. I didn't even know, I don't even know what a cardamon is, so I was like excited to try that, and you know, I've, you know, even when, you know, back when I first started Fresh Fest, I was saying like, you know, the Asian communities, the black communities, all these, I want to taste what they make at home in a beer. And this is that. It's like, what are you making at home that you would just got something laying around and you throw the rest into a brew? That's what this tastes like. It tastes like, you know, I could just be chilling at the crib with one of my Asian friends having some, you know, some dope beer and maybe some fish, you know what I mean? So shout out to them and I like the packaging and the ingredients as well.

Ray Latif [36:42] Yeah, let's stay on the packaging. Uh, Oceania, you know, Young Juan was talking about those esoteric ingredients. I think he mentioned oyster sauce is one of the ingredients that they're using in their beer. Um, you know, are those ingredients, uh, identified well enough on the can? To help differentiate what Dokkaebier is doing versus other brands out there.

Speaker 3 [37:04] The flavors and the uniqueness of that for those that have not, um, aren't familiar with all those uniqueness, um, I think it could be clearly explained or even illustrated on the packaging, but in terms of the overall presentation, the packaging was a beautiful lineup, very consistent, very clean, um, the branding clearly communicated the the agency. Inspired inspired story. um, one opportunity on the storytelling though is the playfulness of all the flavors and the different things going on, especially with the inspiration around this mythical being. What an opportunity to have some fun and bring out that character and and do some more, um, have some more fun with it, uh, and not just have it be that clean lineup, but overall professional lineup, beautiful look, everything had a really consistent um matching with the balanced uh. Balanced ingredients and the balanced flavors.

Ray Latif [37:57] Jason, in terms of the positioning of Dokkaebier um and its ingredient sort of centric focus, um, do you think that this brand could have mainstream or wide spread appeal among beer drinkers? Yeah, definitely. I mean, you, you see that the consumer's palate is becoming a lot more adventurous than, than it's ever been before. So as they begin to or continue to experiment with different ingredients that you're not used to seeing in beer, which is, you know, something the craft beer community is very good at. That is adding things into beer that you don't think should be there. And so as Dokkaebier continues to, to do that, and kind of push those boundaries and just be edgy and exciting, I think it's something that you'll be able to, you know, gain a lot of eyeballs for, uh, and then hopefully also, uh, you know, a lot of share too. And Ryan, you'll get the last word. Um, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on uh Young Wang's presentation. Again, in 2 minutes, not a lot of time, but do you feel like you got a good understanding of what this brand is all about and what they're trying to do, uh, as an emerging concept in this industry? Yeah, I thought the presentation was like the packaging, very clean, very thought out, very organized. Um, I would like, like Oceana said, to see a little more of the playfulness behind sort of the backstory come out too, but overall, everything was very refined, very sophisticated. Fantastic. All right. Let's move on to our next semi-finalist for the round. That's Tracy Lynette Watts, who's the co-owner and Business Manager of Patuxent Brewing Company. Tracy, how are you? I'm well, thank you. How are you? Very good. And I'm sorry, uh, you have, uh, it looks like your co-founder with you. Yes, Eugene Lott. All right, Eugene and Tracy, thank you so much. I'm sorry I don't have that in my notes, but it's good to see you both. Are you ready to give your pitch? Yes, we are. Thank you for bringing us on. Fantastic. All right, your 2 minutes begin now. Hey, some people thought our founder Davy was crazy to start a one barrel nano brewery, but guess what? Patuxent, we're here. All right. Just want to say we're a company that inspires people and inspires people to dream. The four of us, we put together towels, we put together benches, and we fabricate all our machinery that we've used at our brewery, and by doing that, that is the spirit of our company, and we just strive to be great. We want others to be great. So through community engagement and also through charitable works, we and through organic growth, excuse me, we are the first brewery in Charles County, Maryland, and we're also one of the few breweries in the state of Maryland to have a woman co-owner, a woman minority co-owner, and out of roughly 8300 breweries in the US, we are still one of the few to be 100% minority owned. Since fully opening in August of 2019, we've moved over 10,000 units and we became the 2020 regional manufacturing champions of Maryland. And we've also been listed in the top 10 of WTOP, uh, Breweries in Maryland. Our bestseller, 301 Pale Ale, and our 25 different other brew 25 different beers, excuse me. have worked to bolster tourism in the Charles County area. And there isn't another craft brewing facility within 20 miles of us. So let us tell you about just one opportunity that we have here for a major market. African-Americans in Maryland alone spend an approximate $96 billion on products. Our immediate counties have some of the largest populations of affluent black people with a median income of $92,000. Clearly a respectable market that builds a case for us to begin increasing supply and demand right here in our own backyard, or what the Gogo community so fondly calls the DMV. Even bigger than Maryland, African-American In the US spend on average $578 million alone on just fresh beverages. Patuxent Brewing can and will advertise to a population that desperately craves and deserves direct marketing. And even saying all of that, our supporters understand that Patuxent Brewing truly is for anyone who's experienced isms sexism, colorism, racism, nerdism, and isms of all. Our brews. I'm sorry, I have to cut you off. Your 2 minutes are up, but thank you so much. Well done. And stay on for one, just for one second because I think I mispronounced. Uh, your name Trenice, is it Trenice? I think I said Tray, but it happens all the time since I was Oh good lord, so it's fine. I wish there was like a little slap button, you know, on Zoom so you could slap me for screwing that up, but I apologize. But anyway, a great presentation. Thank you. All right, all right, let's let's start with Ryan. Uh, Ryan, in terms of what you heard about, you know, Patuxent and its relationship with Maryland and its residents, you know, is your palate wet, so to speak? Yeah, I love the story. Um, I think the fact you're so focused on a very well defined. Uh, region, locality is huge. Um, and I, I would love to see more of your story about how you built the entire brewery, the taproom from scratch. Like that's a great story that should go into more of your, more of your branding. Um, I think people could really relate to someone that built something entirely from scratch, from the ground up in an area where it hadn't been done before, hadn't been minority owned before, female-owned before. There's a lot of great pieces there that you can really put into your packaging to tell that story. Thank you. Oshana, what are your thoughts on uh Patuxent in terms of, you know, their label design and their approach to uh package design?

Speaker 3 [43:24] Building off of what he was just saying, I feel like there's a lot of room for more storytelling, that a lot of the packaging and a lot of the logo and the graphics that felt a little bit generic beer rather than really telling your story in the specifics around that specific beer, that specific story of the beer. And everything that you're doing within the brewery, I've seen a million hop logos out there. I've seen a million oval logos with a hop. There's a lot of generic things about that that if you really owned the specifics around what your story is and all those amazing things that you're doing with the brewery, people really connect with that.

Ray Latif [44:04] Dave, did you connect with the liquid? Uh, you know, we, we heard a little bit about the liquid, but, uh, you know, it's, it's only in the eye of the beholder or the, I guess the palate of the drinker, so to speak.

Speaker 4 [44:19] Yeah, no, I mean, I think, I think the, I think the beer was good, um, you know, like I said, I think, I think it can, it can sit on the shelf with, you know, with other beers, um, but, you know, again with the, with the rest of everybody else was saying, I just think that, you know, it just, it's not something that I would ever pick up off the shelf just because of the packaging, you know, the way it looks, it doesn't, it doesn't say much of anything other than there's beer in the can, and the beer in the can is phenomenal, especially when you're looking at Oh, let me go back first. I love hearing you say brewery. Um, I love hearing the Maryland accent, try to pronounce brewery like that, that Barry, like, you know, you know that's the DMV. But anyway, um, you know, like with you being in such a black saturated market, it does make more sense to say, hey, black folks, we're here for you, you know what I mean? Like if you're looking to, you know, expand across all of Maryland, all, you know, whatever, but it sounds like, you know, you're a Smaller brewery looking to find, you know, a specific audience, and I think that by, by actually saying to that audience, we're here, you would benefit, whereas like again, somebody like a Cajun Fire who is trying to expand to a, you know, a more diverse area or whatever might not, but with you down in DMV like that's, you know, that, yeah, like you've got enough black people there that you could sustain yourself on that alone, so let them know that you're here, you know what I mean? so.

Ray Latif [45:38] Jason, we only have a little bit of time left, but, uh, I'd love to hear your thoughts in terms of the uh viability of this terms of this type of product, um, in a, in a regional location, uh, like Maryland, um, and then potentially beyond those borders. Yeah, I, I kind of echo everybody else's comments. The, the passion of being a Maryland-owned brewery really shines and shows from, uh, from both the owners. So, you know, there's a strategy of, of going. Uh, a 1 mile wide and 1 inch deep, and then there's another strategy of going 1 inch wide and 1 mile deep, and it sounds like that's what uh Patuxent is trying to do, and especially with a product like Pale Ale, or IPA where it's really hard to travel beyond your home market. I'd say just keep digging those trenches in your, in your home market, really, you know, grow in the community, let them know you're here for, for you, and the growth will come and the tap handles and shelf placements will come with that. All right, well done. Great feedback. Good presentation. Let's move on to our next semi-finalist for this round. That's Nikki Sonny, who is the CEO of Gruvi. Nikki, how are you? Good, Ray. How are you doing? I'm doing well, doing groovy, I guess. Uh, someone had to make the joke. I'm sorry. I did. All right, you ready to give your pitch, my friend? Yeah, let's go for it. All right, your pitch begins now. Great. Hey guys, I'm Nikki. I'm the founder of Gruvi, and Gruvi is Colorado's first uh line of craft, non-alcoholic beers and wines. Um back in the 60s, the word groovy used to mean, you know, cool, amazing, far out, and we're really trying to bring that word back um to what was pretty much considered the most uncool category out there. Um, but let me tell you, it's, it's not going to be like that for long. Um, judges, uh, I feel like I don't need to sell anybody on the NA category anymore. You know, I can point to trends in Europe and the lifestyle changes, but you guys are also in tune with the news and the industry and looking at the data, you know, we've seen the success of Heineken 00, um, the fast growth. Growth of other craft NA brewery. So I think it's fair to say NA is here to stay, um, and the market opportunity is, is absolutely massive. Um, so I wanted to specifically tell you about Gruvi. Gruvi is different. We're not just a non-alcoholic craft brewery, um, as you can see by our branding, our efforts, our product lines. Uh, we're building something truly unique and different here. Um, the Gruvi customer has a set of needs and values that are currently being ignored, um, in this category and really will continue to be ignored once other kind of alcoholic breweries enter this space. Um, what we found is the groovy customer has an opinion. Um, they stand up for what they believe in. They're confident in the decisions they make, and we're, we're building that brand to represent them. Um, in Colorado, we launched, uh, a year and a half ago, quickly became the best selling NAV or N wine in the state. Recently have expanded to 6 other states, signed some large distribution and retail agreements to start next year. So we're super excited about that and building the team as well. Um, but more than that, you know, in addition to producing great products, we really prioritize doing well in our community, volunteering, uh, one day a month, donating our product, reducing our bio, our environmental impact, um, because we really want to create this environment. Nikki, I'm sorry I have to cut you off. Your 2 minutes are up, my friend, uh, but well done. My last line was just cheers, so there it is. Cheers indeed. Uh, Jason, you know, Brewbound reported on the growth in interest among non-alcoholic beers, and, uh, you know, I wonder what you're seeing on the ground in the trenches and, you know, what you think of Gruvi in terms of this emerging category. Yeah, it's growing. It's definitely a segment we're paying a lot of attention to. We've got Heineken 00 on, as Nikki mentioned, and it's a product that's outperformed our own expectations. So we're keeping an eye on the entire category. There's still a lot of room for someone to make a name for themselves in the Kraft non-Ak space. There are definitely some players you're seeing it grow. Um, you know, my question is, is, are the consumers going to gravitate more towards a brand like Gruvi that's known for being a non-out beer, or are they going to go to one of the trusted big breweries who's starting to come out with their own non-out beers? And so, uh, it's just going to be a race to market, uh, and I commend Nikki and Gruvi for being a part of the game. Well, my question is often about taste, and I think that comes to the forefront anytime you mention the word non-alcoholic beer, that the term non-alcoholic beer, does it taste good? What does it taste like, Day? I wonder, you know, what does this product taste like? How did you, uh, did you appreciate it?

Speaker 4 [50:27] Um, so, uh, Yeah, um, so I mean, the, so the pale ale, I, I wasn't the biggest fan of, um, it just, it, it, it, it tasted, it just wasn't the biggest fan. It tasted more like than actual the beer it was. Um, the stout, I thought had much more potential. Um, it was, it was more complex. It's still, you know, again it was missing something. It just, it seemed a little, a little on the flat side. And again, I'm not sure if it's just because that's how I don't have a whole lot of non-alcoholic beers to compare it to. In my opinion, like I thought no non-alcoholic beer would taste just like the same beer but non-alcoholic, and if that was the case, then I don't think that this product. Exactly, you know, next to a regular stout does that, but I mean, I think I would drink it if I was, you know, on a dry month.

Ray Latif [51:24] Oceania, um, Sort of communicating non-alcoholic beer can sometimes be a little tricky on the package, and with a name like Gruvi, there might be some things that you have to sort of explain about the brand name as well. Can you talk to me about, you know, your thoughts and how you think Nicky and his team did in terms of presenting Gruvi as a brand?

Speaker 3 [51:48] I think it's interesting that non-alcoholic is not part of the master brand logo. There, although it says 0% alcohol on each of the different packages, it might be something that someone would have to discover and they might end up being disappointed if they end up bringing it home and not necessarily realizing that it's non-alcoholic. So I think that if that's the true selling point of what the brand is all about, it would make sense for it to be more elevated as part of that master. Um, overall though, there's a cleanness to the logo and the brand overall that really gives that professional clear quality feel. So in that regard, I think the brand is doing a really good job, but so it matches with the cleanness of what the flavors are, but I would say that there needs to be more obvious messaging so that people really know what they're getting.

Ray Latif [52:38] And Ryan, uh, we'll end with you. Are you looking closely at the opportunity for a non-alcoholic beer, um, and if so, um, you know, what are your thoughts on the potential for a brand like Gruvi? Yeah, I mean, we are. It's a really interesting segment, you know, no one knows if it ever gets as big as it is in Europe, for example, but I think it's interesting. I think it's got a lot of runway in the US. I guess my biggest question for a brand like Gruvi is, Is there any risk of consumer confusion having the same brand for the beer and the wine brands? Um, I think that's something you may have to figure out as time goes on to see if there is some confusion there. Um, often, you don't often see, you know, spirits or wine or beer brands intersect with the same brand name, but I like the idea. I think it's a growing market, a lot of potential. All right, great feedback. Well done, Nikki. Let's move on to our next semi-finalist for the round, who is Ray Ricky Rivera, the founder of Norwalk Brew House. Ray, how are you? I'm good. How are you? It's always great to meet a fellow Ray. I appreciate it. I know we're a small segment of a of a of a of a population that doesn't understand what it's like to be a Ray. That's right. Anyway, um, with that, with that said, are you ready to give your two minute pitch? Yes, fantastic. All right, your 2 minutes are gonna begin now. My name is Ray Ricky Rivera, founder of Norwalk Brew House. I'm a 3rd generation Mexican-American raising a family with my wife in Norwalk, California. I love solving problems and bringing people together. In my early 20s, while living with my grandparents, I launched a Latin music record label from my bedroom funded solely on heart and hustle. For the next 10 years, I scouted, managed, and marketed Latin artists and honed my skills for developing audiences for the American Latino market. In 2014, I started homebrewing and quickly realized I was the only brown dude in the homebrew shop. So I founded another Mexican brewer, connected the dots, and we co-founded the SoCal Cerveros, the largest Latino homebrew club in the country. My music world and my beer world would collide soon. In 2019, we attracted 1500 people to our second annual Coachella Beer Fest. 95% were Latino. As festival producer, I handpicked 50 brewers and curated a program of live Latin music. That's when it hit me. A beer company is like a record label. I can develop, market, and distribute beer brands like I do with artists. With that in mind, I created Norwalk Brew House. Norwalk Brew House is a startup beer company set up as a 3-part business. The core business focused on mass market growth is our self-distributed contract brewed brands. Our target consumer is the American Latino who might know Shock Top and Blue Moon but is relatively new to craft beer. The second part is our innovative B2B marketing activations like the Love Fights Back Beer Project, using a social cause, music, and creative exclusive content to build brand awareness. The third part is our incubator program where we leverage the SoCal Cerveros to source and develop new talent, offering developing brands an economical way to test product in the market by partnering with Latino-owned breweries to contract brew, we create an ecosystem of Latino beer companies which positively impacts local economies and influences diversity in the beer industry. Thank you. Thank you, Ray. Well done. Oshana, let's start with you. Uh, Ray just gave a lot of information in his presentation about Norwalk Brew House and what the company is doing in terms of its business strategy. Um, you know, again, not a lot of time for a consumer or for a customer to determine whether or not they're going to buy a product. A lot of times it's just looking at the label. So, what are your thoughts on the label?

Speaker 3 [56:23] The label had so much going on, all sorts of fun stuff, definitely made me intrigued to turn it, look at all the different graphics, and the fact that it had so many things going on really communicated the fact that there were, it was a collaboration and that there were a lot of different organizations that were part of it. So in that regard, amazing. The logo itself was almost hard to find on the packaging, so I feel like in terms of being able to bring it. Everything back with every release to the master brand and all the different organizations that you're supporting and all the different things that you're participating in. I feel like it would have been nice to be able to really bring that back into the master brand logo. I've also got to say the beer was amazing. I loved the beer. The beer was so I wanted more of it and it really showed that the quality of that you're putting into into the liquid was really there in terms of the whole mission.

Ray Latif [57:17] Ryan, uh, just in terms of the presentation, it seemed like, as I mentioned to Oshana, there's, there's a lot going on with this brand, there's a lot going on with this company, and it seems pretty ambitious in terms of its, uh, in terms of what it's trying to achieve, um. How does that play into your thoughts as a as a potential investor, you know, is it Do you like seeing brands really go after um ambitious goals like like Ray identified and outlined? I think it all depends on the capabilities of the management team. Um, you know, if, if, if Ray didn't have the background of managing all the things he has in the past, you'd be probably a little doubtful he can get it all done, but he's done a lot of things simultaneously already, so, you know, if, if the management team has a proven history of being able to juggle multiple projects and objectives at once, then you can get comfortable with that. Uh, Dave, you know, again, uh, and this is such a great theme we're seeing in this group of semi-finalists, you know, it's, it's about representation, it's about culture, um, and Norwalk Brew House seems to have that, uh, going on quite a bit in terms of their brand and their positioning. Um, are there some things that, uh, you think they need to dial up in terms of that messaging about, you know, you know, Mexican American branding or Mexican being a Mexican American brand and working with the Latino community?

Speaker 4 [58:38] Um, so, no, man, the label was phenomenal. It was, uh, it was my favorite, maybe, you know, top two, that, that, that I, that I received, um. You know, it's nice to see brown people in the package. Like I saw that face and I knew it wasn't a bearded white dude, you know what I mean? Like, you know, so that was awesome. Um, my only suggestion, man, when you say guava and mango, man, give me more guava and mango in that, you see what I'm saying? Like I was like, oh, like, you know, and then I got it and I was like, you know what, this is, this is gonna please a lot of people. I'm just not one of them, you know what I mean? Like, you know, give me more of the guava mango, man. But outside of that, it was a well-balanced beer. And the package was, like I said, I mean, just everything on it, um, it, it, it's just nice to see, like I didn't have to look too hard. I looked at it and my two thoughts were, is this appropriation or is it real? And then, you know, I, I actually looked at the side and I was like, all right, cool, this is real, and that's, that's, that's what I, I want to see more of that. I want to walk into the beer distributor and not feel alone. So shout out to them for that and uh more guava mango.

Ray Latif [59:38] Uh, Jason. I imagine that you'll go into a retail store and see a product on the shelf and say, hey, this might be interesting for Buffalo Wild Wings. Did you get that feeling when you saw Norwalk Brew House? Yeah, definitely. The packaging was, was spot on and the flavors were spot on. It's, you know, the direction that we're trying to go is make sure we have the right beer for the right guests for the right occasion, you know, not only our company, but I think all of on-premise is realizing how multicultural their consumer is. And I mean, on a theme of, you know, the first hour or so. So far has been, uh, the beers for everyone. There's a lot of diversity and inclusion being shown and, and all the presenters so far. And so, you know, being able to participate with brewers from all walks of life and, you know, make sure that their products are represented, you know, not only in a Buffalo but all across on-premise. Uh, I think it's a trend you'll see a lot more of, uh, in the coming years. Outstanding. All right, on to our next semi-finalist for the round, who is Sean Kawamura, the founder of Study Break Hard Seltzer. Sean, how are you? Good. How are you? I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Uh, could use a study break at some point in the next hour or so, so maybe I'll turn to your seltzer for that. Um, looking forward to hearing your pitch. Are you ready to give it?

Speaker 6 [1:00:51] I'm ready.

Ray Latif [1:00:52] All right, your 2 minutes begin now.

Speaker 6 [1:00:56] Hi, everyone. My name is Sean Kamura. I'm the founder of Study Break, a cocktail-inspired hard seltzer brand based here in Los Angeles. And uh I recently graduated from USC and it was there I got the idea um during my sophomore year. What sparked the idea for study break was pretty simple, um, noticing there wasn't a drink that my friends and I really wanted to drink. The, the marketing and popularity of new flavored malt beverage brands at the time was super exciting and cool, but I'd be left wondering why the liquid inside didn't match up. I eventually got curious and did my due diligence and found this is all too common of a problem. Curiosity got the best of me, and I dove in headfirst with R&D, the greatest solution my friends and I could enjoy. It was a hobby, definitely not a business at the time. I learned a lot through the process, eventually came up with a drink I could be proud of. As we perfected the formulations, I wanted to create a brand that resonated with our generation. I noticed during college that the balance of work and play was off. Working day and night was the norm and uh the hey, I'm way too busy was all too common to hear. What everyone needed was a break, and breaks are always better with friends around you and a drink in hand. Our drinks are made with a special wine base that's made from oranges and has a smooth and crisp quality of the spirit. We mix it with real fruit juice from a local citrus farm in Orange County and natural sweeteners. It's super light and super crisp. And a 6.9% ABV and zero sugar were perfect for a day for a day at the beach or a much desserved drink at the end of a long day at work. Thanks so much and cheers

Ray Latif [1:02:31] guys. Well done, Sean. Jason, let's start with you. Um, study break, 6.9% alcohol, zero sugar, 170 calories. Is that in line with what you're looking for when you're looking for hard seltzers? I think the category is still so new, it's still kind of defining itself on, on where we want to go with that. I think there's going to be room for a, a hard seltzer producer and a demand for someone to have. A higher ABV hard seltzer. So, uh, it's definitely something we'll be paying attention to and we'll probably start to gain some share with our, our sports bars. Um, these specific products, I, I like the ginger lime. I thought the ginger lime was refreshing. Something that happens though when you start to dial up the ABB is you start to get a little bit more sweetness and, and to me, the strawberry basil and orange pineapple were a little too overly sweet. Um, and not something, it's, so I'd like to see a little bit more of those, uh, orange and pineapple and strawberry basil flavors pop in less of kind of a candy sweetness way. Uh, but the ginger lime, I enjoyed quite a bit. Uh, it was definitely, uh, palancons didn't compare really well with food. They, uh, no guava mango flavor in study breaks line, but, uh, some, some pretty interesting flavors. Uh, what do you think of the seltzer in terms of, uh, the liquid itself?

Speaker 4 [1:03:46] Um, mad drinkable, uh, 6.9. Uh, you better make sure there's a nap in between that break. Uh, you ain't about to go back to work after that, but, um, no, I mean, I thought it was, I thought it was dope. Uh, usually the Celtic are, you know, lower ABV. I'm a big ABV guy. Um. I'm not really a big seltzer guy, but like the flavor, so it's wine-based, I guess. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but um, you know, it, it just for me like it tastes like hard pop, and that's really what I'm I'm into. I'm into the hard pop. I'm not looking for, you know, to lower my calories. I'm not, I might not be a target demographic, but you know, I, I like it. It's like a, it tasted like a hard, a hard Sprite, um, that'll get me there. So yeah, the, the, the liquid was good for me.

Ray Latif [1:04:32] Oh Shana, uh, we're seeing, I don't know, I don't know how many new uh seltzers come to market each week, but there's a lot, um, maybe not each week, but often we're seeing a new product come to market. Um, Study Break in terms of its branding and its positioning, do you think it has what it takes to stand out among again this growing set?

Speaker 3 [1:04:52] One thing that really struck me was how bold the branding was the bold black and white with the really strong color vibrancy, and then good thing that it matched the boldness of the flavors. I mean this is not a subtle seltzer that's competing with the, you know, the big ones out there that have really, really subtle flavors. So I think that that boldness is definitely something to own and really it does stand out against all the rest of the seltzers that are out there right now. Um, one thing I would say though is that because of the boldness of the flavor, it had such an intensity that it almost got fake tasting. So I think that just making sure that that boldness really does match with the natural flavors that you're using and then in terms of the branding, I would say make sure that those flavors are really key. So don't just rely on the colors, but really add the flavor indicators, maybe add an illustration, do something so people really know what they're about to taste.

Ray Latif [1:05:49] Ryan, how do you evaluate new hearts sales for brands coming to market? What are you looking for in terms of the differentiation and do you see it in study break? Yeah, well, I mean, you're right, there is a lot coming out. Um, it does seem more by the week. Um, and I think it's an interesting category. It's still exploding in growth. There's a lot of opportunity to, to see new, new subsegments, whether it's higher ABV, stronger flavors, target demographics. Um, so it, it, for us, it's all about looking at something that we think is sustainable, that can, you know, show high repeat buy rates, velocity. Um, something that can corner a certain part of the market, whether that's geographical, whether it's stylistically price point, um, but I love the packaging on this. I think the packaging really stands out. Um, it looks youthful but still sort of, uh, professional at the same time. So, you know, I think they've got it off to a good start. It's about proving you can, you know, get that repeat sale rate going in your target market. Great feedback. Well done, Sean. On to our next semi-finalist for the round, that's William Teasley, who is the co-founder and brewer of Konso Brewing. William, how are you? I'm well, everybody. How are y'all? We're doing well. I'm doing well. I don't know if I can speak for all the judges, but they look like they're doing well. They look like they're having fun. All right, uh, you got 2 minutes. Are you ready to give your pitch? Let's do it. Let's do it indeed. Your 2 minutes begin now. So I'm William Teasley, and I'm a co-founder of Console Brewing located in Atlanta, Georgia. Console was founded by 3 friends, myself, Corby Hannah, and Kevin Downing. And we got started in Kevin's backyard. We discovered that we had a passion for great beer, and we also had a desire to learn how to make great beer. What our vision early on was to open a brewery owned by African Americans to show our community that we can be makers, not just consumers. The name, we're named in honor of Konso Iheb, an ancient Egyptian brewer that brewed for the Pharaohs and for the gods of the dead. Our name and logo was chosen to establish the beer's connection to Africa. Our mission is to create great beer that is a fusion of flavors and styles, beer that's accessible, inclusive, and authentic, and create greater diversity among brewery ownership. For the past 3 years, our strategies have been to, for market entry, market presence, and brand building. To achieve that, we've been contract brewing. We produced 3 beers over that time, a pale ale, IPA, and a porter. We've been in 115+ accounts across Georgia, retailers like Whole Foods, uh, chains like Mellow Mushroom Pizza. Um, we're accessible on all social media and have been on several podcasts and, and, and live streams. This year, we seize an opportunity to collab collaborate on Black is Beautiful Beer with two breweries in Georgia and one in, um, Alabama. In 2021, we're launching a new beer called Joyland that we shared with you all that's brewed with corn, coriander, and cardamom, and it's a cream style ale that's easy drinking. We're continuing to build a brand, uh, and we're on track to sign a lease for a destination brewery taproom and event space in a historically black community in Southwest Atlanta. All right, William, well done. Thank you so much. Uh, Ryan, let's, let's begin with you. Um, William outlined sort of the next steps, the traction for the company, and our next steps in terms of its development, uh, based on what you've seen and based on your experience in evaluating emerging breweries. Is he on the right track? Yeah, I think if you, if you can pretty clearly define, you know, what your products are gonna be, where you're gonna sell them, if you can start generating some buzz in those markets through contract brewing, through collaborations, I think it's a great way to get launched and to get your name out there, uh, and to start really letting your consumer know that you're coming. I think it's a great way to do it. Dave, I saw you give the thumbs up uh when William was talking about one of the beers. I think it was uh it had coriander and cardamom if I'm not mistaken. Uh, what were your thoughts on the liquid?

Speaker 4 [1:10:08] Um, yeah, so I saw some. The label, clearly um not the, not the, the, the TTB approved uh version of it, so I couldn't, I, like I just saw a cream, it said something cream ale and I was like, all right, I was expecting the cream ale, and then I had like more than a cream ale. I was like, yo, what is, what is this all about? And I didn't know. What it was. Somebody had posited lavender or something like that, um, to hear coriander and cardamom, um, Carter mom, I didn't even know what it was, and here I am twice having it in, in this, uh, you know, this thing here. So, um, you know, shout out to that. I thought it was, I thought it was amazing. Um, again, the label man, um, you know, that's a, that's a whole another thing, but, uh, what's in it, uh, once the government allows you to sell this to the public, yeah, it was, it was pretty good.

Ray Latif [1:10:54] Oh Sean, it might be hard to evaluate a label that's not fully fully fleshed out yet at this point, but, uh, you know, can you give us your thoughts on, uh, you know, what you saw and what you might have seen in the presentation?

Speaker 3 [1:11:07] I'd say in terms of the overall branding though with the logo there was clearly an Egyptian inspired brand. There must have been a story behind that. So even if I didn't see everything and there wasn't a fully thought out label, there was at least enough going on within the logo that it gave an indication as to what the story could be behind the brand. One thing that stood out to me also though was that An escape from ordinary. When I hear a message like that, I feel like it's going to be a really crazy wild different experience. And the liquid was, although interesting, didn't have a crazy wild experience. And so I think you have to be careful about having messaging that says I'm going to be crazy and wild if you're going more in a balanced sort of approach, so. Opportunity there in terms of the storytelling matching with the liquid.

Ray Latif [1:11:57] Well, perhaps Crazy and Wild will resonate with the uh customers at Buffalo Wild Wings. Uh, Jason, what do you think about uh the potential for this brand uh at your restaurants? Yeah, I kind of had similar thoughts as they did when I was trying the beer, you know, I opened a cream ale expecting a cream ale. It was definitely something a lot more, which is a good and a bad thing, you know, I was expecting a true cream ale experience, which it didn't necessarily hit on that, but it did hit on all these other different flavors that, you know, just looking through their lineup, it looks like Hanzo is really, you know, going for. or those different exotic flavors, um, which you need to make sure you're able to tell those stories through the name of your beer or through the branding or however that works because again, you know, I've got a, a, a one-line segment of my menu donate or uh dedicated to the beer and if it doesn't fulfill on that description of what the guest is are expecting, they might not order it a second time. But overall, I thought the liquid was good and interesting. I'd, I'd really love to try some of the other, the pale ale, quarter and IPA that uh Williams said, he's already got volume cranking for. All right, well, perhaps William can send you a few cans, uh, after the semifinals. All right, let's move on to our final semi-finalist of this round. That is Brad Parks, who is the co-founder and president of Mask. Brad, how are you? Hey, I'm good, Ray. How are you doing? I'm doing well. Great to see you and uh excited to hear your presentation. Are you ready to give your pitch?

Speaker 2 [1:13:26] Yep, absolutely.

Ray Latif [1:13:27] All right. Your 2 minutes begin now. Well,

Speaker 2 [1:13:30] good afternoon, everybody. My name is Brad Parks and I'm the co-founder along with my wife Bibe of Mass Hard Tea. I think that Bibe and I are like a lot of people and that we like to entertain and drink with friends on the weekends. However, like most people as well, we have things to do the next morning. We want to feel good. We like to stay active. We like to work out, and there's always things to do around the house. That being said, every weekend we deal with the age-old question of what are we going to drink this weekend? So there's beer, but that makes me feel bloated, lazy, tired. There's wine, that's gonna give me a headache tomorrow morning. There's liquor. I may not get up at all tomorrow morning. And then there's, maybe I won't drink this weekend, and that's just not a lot of fun. So no matter the choice, we're always left with the same two questions. Number 1, why do we feel bad after we drink? And number 2, if we are gonna drink, can we at least have something that's gonna provide some sort of health benefit to us, maybe even counteract some of the negative effects of alcohol? So to get answers, we began looking at the ingredients in the alcohol that we were drinking and started to realize it wasn't the only the alcohol um that created undesirable side effects. It was the base as well, fillers, mixers, preservatives, and chemicals. So not being able to find what we wanted in the market, we decided to create masks. We knew we wanted something that was all-natural, easy to drink, and unique. So when we formulated rather than starting with the alcohol and saying, what can we mix with this to mask the taste of alcohol, uh, to hide it or to make it palatable, we, we really worked backwards and we started with the other ingredients and focused on developing a really solid base, not only tasted great, but had the health benefits we were looking for. So we started with organic herba mate. We flavored it with organic superfood juice, sweetened it with monk fruit and blue agave, and then we finished it with organic adaptogens. Then we added the alcohol. So essentially if you were to remove the alcohol from mask, you've got a functional tea that you could sell at the organic section in the grocery store, and that's really the difference. Our ingredients mean something more than just empty carbs and calories. So we truly believe that mask provides a better way to drink. Thank you.

Ray Latif [1:15:31] All right, well done, Brad. Thank you. Interesting approach for sure. You know, Ryan Brad mentioned that if you took away the alcohol, you'd have a pretty highly functional beverage. That being said, he has a hard tea. Are, you know, in your opinion, are more and more consumers thinking about drinking healthier in terms of functional ingredients when it comes to alcoholic beverages? Yeah, I think they're leaning that way. Um, you know, I think that everyone's trying to watch what they put in and whether it's a matter of taking out the bad things or adding in good things, they're going sort of one of those two directions, uh, or maybe that's a spectrum they're going along from one to the other. Um, but I like the idea, I think hard tea is a space that's ripe for disruption. Um, you know, the category of leader there has owned that for so long, that everyone sort of knows that there's bound to be some fragmentation at some point. So I think it's a good, a good space to target. Oh, it's pretty much impossible to say better for you on a can of hard tea. So how do you do that if you're a mask, and you know, how did you think masks did in terms of sort of communicating what they're all about?

Speaker 3 [1:16:39] The first thing that struck me was how similar the packaging looks to the yerba mate that's out there, and I think that that is a positive and then there's a direct association for those that already are aware of that brand, but there's a negative in that it's not something that you can uniquely own. It's something that could create some confusion in terms of someone not realizing that it's hard, not realizing that it's a different, different brand altogether. So I think the similarities. Might cause some challenges, especially as you get into a larger market. Another thing that really struck me in terms of the flavors is that there was so much flavor going on. And when I think about the messaging around healthy and good for you and an alternative to a seltzer, the seltzers are so subtle that if someone thought that it was going to be an alternative to that, and they're, they're overwhelmed by so much powerful flavor, um, there's a little bit of a disconnect. Connect with that, having said that, the branding was very consistent. It was very powerful in terms of the color indicators and things like that. So communication wise, a lot of the boxes were checked, but the hard aspect of it being a T is is there's not a lot out there in that category and especially if you're going up against the seltzers, I think there's there's definitely some more clear communication that needs to be there to make sure people know what they're getting.

Ray Latif [1:17:55] Jason, do you see mask as being a product that has the potential to replace a twisted tea? Do you see consumers sort of trading up to a product like this? Of course, yeah, I think, you know, in the last year or so, probably every entrepreneur and brewer has walked through their grocery store and looked at liquids and say, can I put alcohol in this or make this alcoholic, and this is just another one of those products in urban tea. Uh, you know, is one that you're able to successfully, you know, make that leap, and make it tasteful. Um, you know, is it going to replace twisted tea? Definitely not. It's a tea flavored FMB. I think you're going to see a lot of tea flavored seltzers, and I, when I cracked this open, I was expecting almost like a tea flavored seltzer product, which this isn't, and it's not supposed to be, which I think is good. You're, you're seeing. Uh, a rise in hard kombuchas, I think you're going to see a rise in hard teas like this product. Uh, is it going to compete and be, you know, at the, the level of market share as hard seltzer? Definitely not. Uh, but can it grow to have a nice niche space on, on shelves and even in some on-premise coolers? Definitely. I, I think that there's definitely a role for products like these moving forward and, and this is a good one. And Day, uh, you know, is mass the type of product that if you saw on the shelf, would you, would you pick up this product and would you, you know, try to learn more about it? Um, and also, you know, what do you think of the taste and the flavor of, uh, what you drank?

Speaker 4 [1:19:25] First and foremost, I'm glad I'm not the only one getting progressively more drunk here. So shout out to Ray Emmy for that. Secondly, um, anything, you know, especially in the age of COVID that looks like it's going to be healthy for my lungs, I'm, I'm gonna take a look at. Like this looks like some, like you split open some lungs and then like mash some berries on it, which sounds like a good idea. I don't know. I'm not a doctor. So, you know, just in, in the, in the era of COVID, yeah, you, you, you, you're better for my lungs, cool. Um, as far as the packaging. Like I said, it's, it's my, it was my favorite label next to the Norwalk, um, you know, it was, you know, design-wise, um, you know, but like I'm not, I'm personally not into the, the, the tea market. I love tea, um, the hard tea thing, uh, it sounds dope. This was a great product, like the taste of it, um, but, you know, I mean, I guess like if you're, if you're looking for tea. Yeah, I'll grab that. If you're not, it's not, it's not going to bring me there, but shout out to the to the lungs.

Ray Latif [1:20:24] And shout out to all our semi-finalists. Uh, just outstanding job. Uh, again, I, I, I always mention this, but 2 minutes is not a lot of time to really express everything you would want to express about your brand, about your products, and I think everyone did a really great job today. Uh, I also think our judges did a fantastic job as well, so thank you very much all judges. Uh, you know, before we reveal the, uh, audience voting information, I'd just love to speak with our, uh, panel. Uh, quickly about some general thoughts they had on the presentations and perhaps some general pieces of advice for the six brands that are going to be moving forward to the finals. Ryan, uh, you know, in terms of business planning and business strategy, what are some things that, uh, you thought the semi-finalists did well in terms of communicating their intentions and what are some of the things they really need to highlight going forward? Yeah, I mean, I think in general, I think everyone is getting, is getting better and better at figuring out who your target audience is before you go to market or shortly thereafter, which I think is good, understanding what your objectives are. Um, I think in one consistent theme, I think we saw there for a few brands was there was a lot of the story that didn't get translated from The, the thesis to the packaging. I think there's a lot of cool elements that could be put down to really draw the consumer in, um, that weren't there yet. I think, you know, these, these, I think a lot of times entrepreneurs are already so aware of their own backstory, they forget to put it out in front of the audience who really wants to see it, really want to connect to it. And Jason, you know, in terms of an on-premise, uh, destination, um, you know, are these brands thinking well enough about that part of the business as much as they need to the off-premise? I think, I think a lot of them are. Um, you know, it's so hard to tell a story on-premise, a lot harder than it is to tell a story in the off-premise. Um, so it's all about figuring out, one, you gotta have good liquid and uh I think we got to try a lot of good liquid, uh, during these presentations. Um, and then it's just figuring out how are you gonna break through the clutter. Uh, there's so many breweries, there's so many breweries producing, uh, seltzer and Beyond beer. Um, and, you know, they're so, especially in the on-premise, they're so tiny handle space. There's not, I don't have that much room to work with. So Um, it's all about, you know, having the, the sales and the story and the liquid good enough to kind of break through the clutter, and I think we definitely saw a lot of that today with, um, you know, a lot of the flavor forward, fruit forward, ingredient forward, uh, ideas that were presented. So kudos to all of the semi-finalists who presented today. A limited amount of room in the coolers at Buffalo Wild Wings, a limited amount of room on the package itself. Um, Oshana, you know, in terms of Label hierarchy, it's a difficult thing to figure out sometimes. What are some of the things that you look for when you're trying to figure out, OK, what is this brand representing and, you know, how are they really resonating with an audience that's becoming more inclined to try different things.

Speaker 3 [1:23:26] I'd say the first thing is just literally know the market, know what you're up against, actually understand what the other flavors are that you're trying to compete with, the other brands that you're trying to compete with. Some of these new emerging categories, they're not defined yet. There is no specific hierarchy, there is no consumer behavior that's been established yet. And so you really have to make sure if you have bold, crazy flavors, communicate that because that might be. In point if you have a brand that has a lot of community base, a lot of story that that that needs to be clear all the way down into just that logo, especially think about just a tap handle or you think about just just a line on a menu, you might not have a huge opportunity to tell the story across a whole label or even a full can wrap. So you really have to be able to condense it down into a very concise what is the clear first thing that I someone to know about me and like it was said earlier, I mean, you might know about you, but no one else knows that and you have to rely on that brand, that logo, the can, the tap handle, all of those little moments are opportunities for you to be telling that story. In terms of hierarchy, there's also a big opportunity in terms of thinking about the flavors and thinking about the style, especially with these new categories like seltzers, hard teas, things like that. People just don't understand how to understand the flavors yet. They're still looking for interpretation of that. They're looking for flavor cues. They're looking for pairs with. They're looking for some of that extra detail so that they know what to even do with these new, new flavors that they're not used to experiencing.

Ray Latif [1:25:00] And day, you know, certainly the most diverse semifinal round we've had in the history of the pitch slam, which is, uh, you know, amazing to see, um, articulating diversity can sometimes be challenging. You know, what are some of the most effective ways to really say this is who I am, this is what I represent, and this is beer.

Speaker 4 [1:25:25] Um, I think it's, I think it's, it's every day. It's, it's, it's looking at your supply chain, you know, are you, are you sourcing hops from, you know, like a diverse place online? Are you supporting, you know, like various efforts that are going on, because, you know, yeah, yeah, the customer, we could talk about like, you know, me coming in blind. Fly to a place and then, you know, judging it on a shelf, but you know, that's not how brands survive. They're not looking at just the random person that's gonna, you know, happen upon them. They build that up and you know, when you build that up, then you get people to go and look for your product and I think that that's, uh, I think that's what a lot of folks, you know, especially starting out. Need to do is build a community base of people to, to, to support them and then, you know, you know that whole word of mouth is huge so that, you know, like, you know, uh, you know, like Oceana was saying like. Yeah, I mean that label can only say but so much, but like your efforts and your work that you're doing before that to even get to that, like, to be honest, I have a system where I go and buy the ugliest label on the shelf because if you made it here despite that, you clearly are doing something well, right? You know what I mean? like Coors Light has a great label, you know what I mean, but do we want to drink it? So, you know, I think it's the, what are you doing, you know what I mean, what are you doing behind that is going to really You know, get people to come out and look for it, and then it makes it sought after, you know what I mean? Like people are going to go, hey, I'm in search of that because I like that mission. I'm in all these different groups. Everybody's in the beer groups. They're always in search of what makes somebody in search of something. It's not the label, it's the, it's the product and it's the mission behind that. So I think that, you know, the label is important, but if you're really going to, if you're really going to succeed, you need to be conscious of where your products come from, the people that you're serving. Like every day you have to be doing it, and then People will come and, and it'll, it'll do itself. In fact, you might even find a graphic designer that'll be like, Yo, this label is trash, but I like what you're doing. Let me give you a little bit of help. So, you know, I think it's just a matter of just do, do good and, you know, and it'll, it'll, it'll come. But if you're just, if you're just looking at the labels,

Ray Latif [1:27:36] uh,

Speaker 4 [1:27:37] yeah, yeah, you scratch the surface and you're no longer there.

Ray Latif [1:27:41] Well, I love this judging panel. Uh, you guys are so fantastic, and I can't wait to, uh, See how you figure out, you know, who these 5 brands are that need to move on to the final round. I'm sure it's going to be a tough decision, but that's what we're gonna ask you to do. All right, so right now the judges are going to convene and deliberate, pick 5 brands to move on to the finals. Audience votes are really important, so those viewing at home, we're going to reveal this, uh, leader board right now, excuse me, the, uh, the voting board right now. And you will have 30 minutes to vote for your favorite brand. Again, there's a number that corresponds to your favorite brand. You can text or call that number that you see to vote for that brand. It's really important you do so if you want the brand to move on to the final round. All right, we're gonna reveal all that information, uh, shortly after the audience vote is over. The judges once again are gonna go convene and uh pick the next finalists to move on. So, in the meantime, thank you all so much for watching. Uh, it's been a pleasure to have you and once again, thank you to all our semi-finalists. Uh, just an amazing thing to see today. Uh, signing off for our amazing team at Bevnet, Nash and Brewbound. I'm Ray Latif. We'll talk to you next time.