Brewbound Pitch Slam 14 - Winner Announcement & Interview

Speaker 1 [00:24] All right, we do have an announcement to make, and that is the winner's announcement, but, uh, before we get started, I just want to make a couple of announcements of my own. Number 12 of our judges were not able to uh stay till the end. Uh, Justin Jamie are replaced by Justin Justin. Uh, it's two J's. It works. Um, you know, this has been a tremendous conference and the team, the editorial team behind Brewbound has a lot. To do with it, they have everything to do with it and they should be commended and just an incredible team. Justin, Jess, Zoey, well done. Well thank you. Thank you. Um, one other quick thing, uh, there is going to be another little after party after this, uh, down in the Venice salon on the 4th floor. A few more beers for folks who are with a badge. My badge is missing, and with a wristband, please, uh, come join us in the Venice salon downstairs. All right, uh, there is a winner, and I just wanna do a quick debrief before we announce that winner. Um. And how we got to that decision. First, uh, Jess, I wanna ask you, you know, you watched the pitch slam over the past two days, um, some really interesting concepts based on what you saw today, I mean, how does it, how does it speak to the changes and the developments we're seeing in the evolution of what, what is the beer industry?

Speaker 2 [01:48] Well, Ray, that's an excellent question. Um, I didn't know I was going to be interviewed. Um, I guess this is only fair. Uh, what I really loved about the pitch slam this year. Is the diversity of business models that we saw, you know, we saw, you know, taproom breweries, we saw, you know, RTD brands that are just, you know, seeking out distribution and trying to get to retail it really spoke to the, the diversification that we're seeing in the industry right now both in terms of product business model founder story. It was really, I think, uh, a lovely microcosm of the current crop of entrepreneurs we have coming up, uh, in the industry.

Speaker 1 [02:22] Yeah, a lot was talked about 4th category during the conference throughout the past two days, and you know, we did see some of those 4th category types of products in the pitch slam. Justin, based on what you saw, and again, you know, we've seen some of these types of products in past pitch slams, but you know, what do you think overall about the crop that we saw this year? I,

Speaker 3 [02:39] I thought it was. It just speaks to where we are, you know, like you got non-alk, you've got cider, you've got mead, you've got, you know, mix and match, you've got, you know, sake, yeah, sake and beer, and, and, yeah, and beer still, you know, so, you know, don't, don't stop believing beer makers.

Speaker 1 [03:01] Um, Ryan, you know, in general terms, um, you know, when it comes to the winner, um, I think there was a, there was a sense that they represented a sort of total package. Yeah. Um, you know, what does that mean though? What is that? Can you expand on, you know, what that means for our industry?

Speaker 4 [03:18] Yeah, I mean, I think we all know this is a, um, it's a fun but tough space to operate in. Rich knows this better than I do because you're actually doing it, but I mean you gotta have good liquid to start, you gotta have good packaging, branding, you've gotta have a story, a reason to exist. You gotta have some sort of strategy around distribution and retail and pricing, and it's all so challenging and there's so many elements that have to work together. Um, we felt like, uh, this company, this brand had done that. Yeah,

Speaker 1 [03:43] and market viability is really important as well, um, and a lot of that comes from just like ready to go, ready to market packaging. Um, Rich, what did you think of the sort of package as it relates to the winner?

Speaker 5 [03:54] I mean it's great packaging. It communicates a story. Um, people understand quickly what they see or what they're getting when they see the product, but even more with the winner, like the outreach, how they're going to support the brand themselves, like you can't just lean on like distributors to get the message out there. So like just getting the word out there straight from like the founders or brand ambassador's mouth is like a major point of market viability.

Speaker 1 [04:18] Absolutely. Um, it is time to announce the winner, but I do want to say to all the Pitch Slam participants that you all did an amazing job. It was so great to see you all on stage, and we wish you all the best and all the luck. Please let us know if we can help in any way, but thank you again for joining us. One other quick thing, uh, we will be doing a live interview with the winner after we all step off stage. So live stream viewers, stay tuned for that. All right. The winner of rebounds pitch slam 14 and $10,000 in awareness package and that trophy right there is. Sunboy, congratulations. Yair, come on up to the stage. Come on up. Congratulations. Well done.

Speaker 4 [05:15] Congratulations. Congrats, man. Great work.

Speaker 6 [05:18] Congratulations.

Speaker 2 [05:20] Congrats. I feel like we need the lime and the coconut song playing. We do.

Speaker 1 [05:24] And our photographer is gonna take a photo there, but please go ahead. Folks, welcome back to Brewbound Live Winter 2022. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Bevnet's Taste Radio podcast, and I'm here with the winner of Brewbound Pitch Lam 14. That's Yair Tigel, who is the founder and CEO of Sunboy. Congratulations, Yair.

Speaker 6 [05:54] Ray. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 [05:55] Uh, it's very well deserved. Everyone was really impressed with your brand, your presentation, your product. Uh, you had the whole package. Well,

Speaker 6 [06:01] I really appreciate it. It means the world to us. We work super hard on this every day. In and out and to win such a prestigious award in a field of such amazing beverage innovators feels incredible. Yeah, it was,

Speaker 1 [06:12] it was a great field this year. I feel, I mean, it's always a great field, but, um, you know, I saw some really amazing concepts and I saw a lot of, um, just disruptive innovation that we'll be seeing, you know, hopefully we'll be seeing, uh, in the, in the future of the beer industry. I think presentation wise, um, you had a fantastic way of communicating. Sun Boy and what your plans are for the future. How did you prepare for your presentation?

Speaker 6 [06:35] Thanks so much. Yeah, I mean just back to the, the rest of the crew, I will say that everybody's liquid was incredible and it's really just an amazing experience to get to be with all these wonderful people. Um, I am super lucky to have a co-founder, Luke McKenna, the one who I created the coconut company with, and also Sunboy who has a journalism background and he is just an incredible crafter of story and it keeps, first of all, it keeps us. Extremely honest because he, he takes journalism and truth to the highest degree. And so when we're trying to tell our story in general, it's always about how can we get to the pith? How can we get to the core of what is true to us, who we really are, and express it. So he helped me craft the story. We rewrote it a dozen times and, and, uh, fortunately I have my wonderful team. Kim, who's an actor, she helped me coach, uh, she coached me on how to, how to present it, and we went over it a bunch of times and. That was it, yeah,

Speaker 1 [07:30] yeah, it's fantastic. And your liquid, you know, I heard from a lot of people, uh, on our team and here at the conference that everyone loved your liquid. Um, how long have you been working on the formulation?

Speaker 6 [07:41] Yes, so, as, as I mentioned in the presentation, we've been importing coconuts for nearly a decade. We know coconuts really well, and we know coconuts as a base mixture extremely well. So the coconut cocktail as, as a cocktail is something we've done since the early 2010s, um. This actual drink Sun Boy took about a year and a half to formulate. We worked with an incredible, um, food scientist. His name's Andrei Arapatov, and he, uh, in the lab together we really made, we made like probably 14 different variations of this, picked the 4 that we love the most. There's a mango one that we also developed, and then. iterated on those over and over and over again. Made a first run with our co-packer, shared it with the world, that actually got us into Whole Foods, that first little run. It was just passion fruit, and then came out with the other three. And it's been, it took quite a while, but Also looking back at it now, it feels like it was a heartbeat. It feels like it was super fast. Yeah,

Speaker 1 [08:37] time flies for sure. Um, folks know, I think that you're from New York that you talked about having illegal dance parties on the Brooklyn Bridge, which I still want to know more about. But, um, as Rich pointed out in the, uh, after your presentation, you know, it feels like there's a seasonal opportunity for Sun Boy or at least an opportunity to be. warmer climates, um, any plans to be out here in California, say in Southern Florida, I guess, what is the distribution plan? So

Speaker 6 [09:02] the next step is Florida, Georgia. Those are the, those are our main next states, uh, Georgia, because we have a big community there that that left New York and has set up in Savannah and Atlanta and Florida because it makes sense. We're really excited about Saint Pete and Tampa. Um, those are, those are big spots for us. And I think that when we land these authorizations with the chains that we're hoping very much fingers crossed to land in the near future, um, that'll be where we put some effort. California is near and dear to my heart. I grew up in Northern California, and I think that it makes perfect sense. Like it just is, is an incredible place for beach and mountain consumption, which I think is where we'll shine. Um, but it's so far, right? Like just logistically. And so our focus is the eastern seaboard and then California, I hope for the spring of 24.

Speaker 1 [09:49] Yeah, well, I think a lot of people are hoping that, uh, that a lot of people who live here are hoping that happens as well. Thanks. Uh, I asked the Funky Town team last year when they won, uh, the pitch slam competition, what their celebration plans were. What, what are you planning on doing tonight to celebrate?

Speaker 6 [10:03] Oh, I hope to celebrate with all the, uh, other incredible pitch slam in, uh, contestants. It was, they, they are a very fun bunch, and I would love to celebrate with them here. Yeah. And then, then we're going to, uh, Joshua Tree. For the weekend for a camping. Oh, nice. Very cool.

Speaker 1 [10:17] Yeah. What do you do in Joshua Tree? Hi, hi. OK. Yeah, it's,

Speaker 6 [10:19] it's majestic.

Speaker 1 [10:20] Yeah, yeah. Well, it's great that you're here to hear that you're celebrate with the other contestants. It feels like you guys bonded really well. I hope you guys stay in touch. Yeah,

Speaker 6 [10:28] I feel like we have a cohort and I, I believe in collaboration over competition so I'm really excited to work with them as we all, you're right. It looks like.

Speaker 1 [10:38] Feels like you have a huge runway for growth. Really happy for you. Congratulations again on winning Brewbound Pitch slam 14.

Speaker 6 [10:44] Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 [10:45] Really appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right, for folks who are watching a live stream, that ends Brewbound, uh, live winter 2022. Thank you so much for watching. Uh, a lot more video to come, uh, in the near, in the weeks to come. So stay tuned for that. In the meantime, signing off for the entire Brewbound team. I'm Ray Latif, and we'll talk to you next time. so,