Brewbound Pitch Slam 14: Finals - Primary Colors Brewing

Speaker 1 [00:24] It is time to meet our first finalist for this round of the Brewbound Pitch Slam, that is Chris Rochester, the founder of Primary Colors Brewing. Good to see you. Yep, and please just keep an eye on your timer.

Chris Rochester [00:44] How's it going, Brewbound? My name's Chris and I'm the founder of Primary Colors Brewing, a new beer experience that encourages you to play with your beer. With our mixed six pack of 3 different beers that are brewed intentionally to be blended together, we're giving you a new outlet to create your own custom beer styles. So what do I mean by blending beer? Well, I literally mean mixing together different styles on the spot to create new flavors and explore new tastes. It's a totally different way to play around with beer. But why blending? Every beer drinker has different tastes, and we think we should be celebrating that diversity of palates. So we set out to create an approachable, playful beer experience that allows you to take control of your beer adventure and express yourself through your own beer creativity. It all started 2 years ago. And it was just an Instagram account and an idea. I had 10 years of homebrewing experience under my belt, and I wanted to share this new experience. So I started making a bunch of beers. I started packaging mixed 6 packs of beers that I thought blended well together, and I went and hand delivered samples to over 100 people that found me on Instagram in the Chicago area. My one ask when I did this all was for feedback along the way. And I use that to create new tools to help with the blending experience. I created blending instructional cards that I gave out to all of the people that tried the beard. I created glassware that had markations on the glass to make it easy to visualize the blending. And I also provided people with suggested blends that I came up with myself and that were shared to me with some of our fans. The feedback was incredible and I knew I had a hit on my hands, so I partnered with a brewery in Chicago to bring this to life and bring our first commercial product to market. A mixed 6 pack of 3 different beer styles, a Belgian pale ale, a hazy IPA and a Goza, all killer beers on their own, but brewed intentionally to be blended together. We've been able to succeed with over 50 partners in the retail market in Chicago by offering something totally unique in a crowded craft beer market. Our consistent and clean packaging lets people know exactly what they're getting on a shelf so that they come home happy. And every can is digitally backed with a QR code that links to suggested blends and instructional cards, so you're never left without knowing how to do the blending. We also offer something totally unique to our on-premise partners. We're able to offer up custom blended kegs, uh, so that people can have the perfect beer that fits their needs. We offer the tools for blending experience so people can host primary colors on site and do blending in their own environment. And we've had some really incredible beer dinners where people are able to explore and create their own perfect pairings with different dishes. But next for us is the taproom, and we're starting to experiment with that right now with our brewery partner in Chicago. Shout out to Orknoy. What we see with the taproom is being able to offer a hyper personalized experience. Imagine being able to walk up to a beer tender and have them craft you the perfect beer that you're craving in the moment. We'll offer we'll also offer up opportunities for guided tastings, so you can play around with beer and really learn how to enjoy and find new flavors. All of this will really be about creating a new way for people to explore beer in a way that they haven't done before, a way for people to get creative and just have fun with beer. At the end of the day, we're really just here to provide people with a creative outlet so they can express themselves through beer, and we hope you'll join us on, join us on our blending adventure. Thank you.

Speaker 1 [04:38] In case the judges have any questions for you, you can slide up with me. All right, uh, Ryan, let's start with you. Um, you know, Chris had about 4 minutes this time around. Well, he did have 4 minutes this time around. Uh, did you hear anything different about the presentation? Do you hear anything different about the brand that makes you, I guess, a little bit more inquiring about what they're doing in their strategy? Yeah,

Speaker 3 [04:57] I think it was good to hear more about your sort of comprehensive off-premise, on-premise strategy, taproom strategy. Um, I think that was really interesting. I think. I guess the question I have is more of a financial point of view. We all know that mixed packs are key, but the margin profile generally suffers. Um, I know you're early stage, but I think thinking through how do you, your product is only mixed packs, which kind of has to be given your, your proposition, but how do you do that profitably or profitably enough, I think is gonna be a question for you going forward.

Chris Rochester [05:26] Yeah. Uh, so with that, uh, we do, we do sell it as a premium product offering. I mean, our six-pack typically retails on shelves between 1699 and 1799 for a six-pack. So, uh, from a margin perspective, We're selling it as a premium experience and we're pricing it that way. Uh, I think also down the line, there's a lot of opportunity for extensions. So taking fan favorite blends and packaging that as one-off. So we've got our primary colors, but we'll also package a green or a purple, uh, and use it really crowdsource people's ideas to come up with what beers we release next.

Speaker 1 [06:02] Jess, Chris talked about really bringing fun into the beer industry and, you know, reintroducing or introducing beer to a lot more consumers. Do you see primary colors as the way to do that?

Speaker 4 [06:11] Uh, I, I definitely think it's a, a fun option, as, as I mentioned yesterday. I get some innovation products and I I sit around with my friends and we drink it and we have a good time. Like, I think it's a really unique way to get people, you know, a group of people to be talking about beer and trying different blends. I think it's a, a, a fun proposition.

Speaker 1 [06:28] Yeah, Jamie, in terms of the, uh, uh, the on-premise opportunity for primary colors, Chris kind of laid it out and talked about, uh, sort of a personalized experience. Um, you know, what do you think about that strategy?

Speaker 5 [06:40] Yeah, I think it's interesting um I think the question that I would pose to you is to just think about how heavy of a lift that is for on premise, right? And as you think about scaling, um, how does that land with operators who need really efficient, um. Offerings right on tap, etc. so that would just be kind of the watch out like I think it's kind of a cherry on top versus necessarily like the way that you really go to market from a scale perspective. So how, how would you navigate those two pieces, right? Offer that as a um as a cherry, but then also have an offering that allows you to scale.

Chris Rochester [07:18] Yeah, that's helpful. Yeah. And, and one of the things I really see with the taproom is a big part of this concept is the educational piece and getting people over that hurdle. So seeing the taproom as a way to bring people in, get them comfortable with blending, and then, Here are the tools you can bring home to do it by yourself and share with friends.

Speaker 1 [07:37] Yeah, and Rich, um, we definitely heard a lot more about the story behind Primary Colors with, uh, Chris having a little bit more time to speak today. I mean, in terms of what you heard, what are some highlights do you think that they need to do to, or what are some of the highlights they should optimize and enhance and amplify, uh, to get more consumers interested in the brand?

Speaker 6 [07:54] Yeah, I, I appreciate hearing that you have that QR code on the back that's linked to instructions. I would, I guess I would want you to find a way to not even have the, we have the QR code but have the instructions linked to the back of the can. You're like, you know, we put a description on the back of our cans as well, but I'm sure a lot of people just drink, crush, and move on. So like you really want people to like fully understand primary colors, um. I would like for you to tease like what's in the future with like additional blends or already pre blended mixes so people like understand like the vision of the brand but um I mean I think the packaging is cool it's like a it's kind of a disruptor for the industry to change people's beer habits and. Kind of get people more into beer since they're actually mixing it themselves, so um. Yeah, it's just getting that whole vision out there, that roadmap, so people understand where you're going and you can get more support early on

Speaker 1 [08:43] for sure. Yeah, how has the QR code, uh, worked out for you?

Chris Rochester [08:46] Uh, so the QR code has been mixed. I mean, I've had people, I do a lot of tastings at retail shops and I've had people come up to me at a. Tasting and say, oh, I picked up your six-pack a couple of weeks ago and I didn't realize you were supposed to blend it. I've got a QR code. I've got a descriptor that says blend the beers, but people don't always read the cans. So, uh, I think for people that know you're supposed to blend it and are looking for a little bit more feedback, a little bit more handholding, that's where the QR code. Works well and I'm able to kind of track how often people are using it. Um, so it's been, it's been helpful, but I think a big thing is just making it more visually apparent that you're supposed to blend the beers when people are just picking it up off the shelf and they don't know what primary colors is all about.

Speaker 1 [09:32] All right, great feedback, great presentation. Well done. Thank you.