Ryan Provost - Reinventing Ready-to-Drink with Booz Box Cocktails

On this episode, we’re joined by Ryan Provost, the Co-Founder and CEO of Booz Box Cocktails, a boxed RTD cocktail brand disrupting the spirits industry with bold packaging, craft mixology, and a form factor nobody saw coming.

What started as a pandemic dinner-table idea between roommates in Jersey City has grown into a multi-market brand now sold in six states including New Jersey, Florida, California, and Texas. Booz Box Cocktails are 1.75L boxed cocktails that deliver bar-quality drinks—like the Pineapple Mule and Watermelon Cooler—straight from your fridge tap.

In this episode, Ryan shares how they landed on boxed cocktails as a form factor, why branding for Gen Z was a non-negotiable, and how a co-packer pivot unlocked their go-to-market. We also talk through fundraising challenges, working with a tiny team, and why good taste (literally) is still the most important growth lever.

We chat with Ryan about standing out in a crowded RTD category, refining flavor formulations, convincing skeptical distributors, and lessons learned from a crowdfunding campaign that didn’t quite go to plan.

🎧 Episode Highlights: 🍹 Why boxed cocktails were the winning form factor
📦 What it took to get a co-packer to take a chance
🎯 Branding lessons for Gen Z and millennial appeal
👨‍🍳 From bartending notebooks to scaleable SKUs
🧃 Flavor challenges (and the cucumber misstep)
💡 Form factor as both differentiation and a moat
📉 What didn't go as planned with their crowdfunding campaign
🚚 Building a self-distribution playbook
🌍 Expanding into 6 markets in under 12 months
🔥 Why “taste” still trumps branding

⏱️ Table of Contents
00:00 – Intro & Booz Box origin story
02:30 – Choosing boxed cocktails over cans
06:00 – Form factor, branding & Gen Z appeal
11:00 – Working with their designer, Kyle Perry
13:00 – Recipe formulation & co-packer challenges
17:30 – Manufacturing woes & their redemption story
21:00 – Distribution strategy & key markets
25:00 – Balancing velocity vs. distribution
28:00 – Crowdfunding lessons
30:00 – Where to follow Booz Box & invest

🔗 Links:
Booz Box Cocktails – https://www.boozbox.co
Follow Ryan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanprovostofficial
Crowdfunding campaign on Loupt – https://loupt.co/offering/booz-box

Follow Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg

Check out https://www.kitprint.co/ for CPG production design support.

Transcript

Adam Steinberg (00:00)
All right. Welcome to Shelf Help. Today we're talking with Ryan Provost, who's joining us from New Jersey. Ryan's the co-founder and CEO of Booz Box Cocktails, a ready to drink cocktail brand that was started in New Jersey in the heart of the pandemic by Ryan and his co-founder Norman. And before launching Booz Box, Ryan founded a Brooklyn based music and event label and has been a long time video editor, music artist, entrepreneur.

And yeah, really set a chat. with that, let's get into it. So Ryan, just first off for the listeners that aren't all that familiar with Booz Box Cocktails, just give me the quick lay of the land in terms of the origin story and kind of the why behind the brand, the products and where listeners can get their hands on them.

Ryan Provost (00:45)
Sure, sure. Yeah. Thanks for having me, Adam. I appreciate the invite on the podcast. Yeah. Booz Box is a company, an RTD beverage company founded by myself and my business partner, Norman, during summer of 2020. They're in the pandemic, right? When things were getting started. So yeah, we were living together at the time in Jersey city. We were roommates and we were sitting around the dinner table, just kind of bouncing ideas off each other and figuring out a way we could start a business.

We landed on Booz Box by that Norman is the mixologist of the company and I'm more of the business end and we kind of just put our heads together and came on this idea to put Norman's cocktails in a box, which originally inspired from a wine box. So that's kind how we got the idea of Boxed Cocktails and getting to your why, we chose to do Boxed Cocktails because of the competition in the market and

you know, we kind of found that, you know, the competition in this market is slim to none. Not exactly in the market, but within our niche being box cocktails. So, so yeah, we landed on that and you know, we figured it'd be a good route to take and you know, we could be happier at the end of the day. It's been a long road, a lot of ups and downs, but here we are today, a year in business and you know, six markets under our belt and we couldn't be happier.

Adam Steinberg (02:02)
it seems like the majority of RTD cocktail brands are marketed in single serve cans and boozebox is served in this 1.75 liter cartons that I believe provides 14 cocktails per package. I was curious, you touched on it little bit,

In terms of like the thought process, research, et cetera, that led you to decide to go this route versus the more typical single serve cam route. Did you know, did you and Norman know you wanted to go with the box from the form factor? Like right from the beginning, we know we want to do something different here, or was it kind of, was it a process to get to that decision?

Ryan Provost (02:32)
Yeah, no, we didn't know right off the bat that we wanted to go that route. you know, it was kind of just a lot of research and development. you know, we are drinkers, you know, like not, you know, just on the weekends, you know, we would go out for our occasional cocktail out in Hoboken, Jersey city, which is, well, you know, filled with cocktail bars and places to drink. Cause there's not much else to do, but, do that. So, yeah, we, did a lot of research and development, you know, we would hit liquor stores and, you know, see what was on the shelf.

And, you know, we wouldn't really see any boxes around. you know, that, that's kind of like part of the reason why we wanted to go that route as well. you know, cause you know, the competitive nature of, of this industry is, is solely based on cans. And, you know, we kind of just wanted to differentiate ourselves and, know, like I mentioned, we didn't really see much in the way of box cocktails on the shelf. So, you know, we want to be that, that first to market type of brand.

Um, there's a few other brands out there that are doing what we're doing, but, you know, I think we still have a, you know, some time to really prove ourselves and, um, you know, prove who we are and, our business model and kind of, you know, our brand, our name, which is super important. Um, you know, having that name and landing on it and actually, you know, thank God it was available, you know, and that was one thing we were worried about. And that was one of the things obviously that we needed to make sure was, was, uh, was, was a real thing. You know, we had to make sure that the name wasn't taken. So.

you know, Booz Box landed on it, trademarked it and, you know, just went from there. Yeah.

Adam Steinberg (03:59)
Off to the races.

How has that different size and form factor made it easier to differentiate in the eyes of either and or like the on-premise or those off-premise buyers?

Ryan Provost (04:12)
Yeah, so that's actually one thing that is in our advantage when we're speaking to distributors and other retailers being that we're a box cocktail and people really love the packaging. It's bright, it's vibrant, it's different. The name really sticks out and those are two really key factors that come into play when the higher ups at distributors or retailers are making their final decisions.

is that they look at the name, they look at the packaging and then obviously we send them samples and they taste it and for the most part, they're blown away. We've had some distributors deny us a fair amount because people weren't fans of the taste. They say it's too, it's not their vibe. That really comes from more like the beer distributors really, because they drink beer and that's what they're more focused on, I guess. So I guess.

you know, we would send them samples, they would kind of just taken off by it and they weren't really used to the whole kind of, know, RTD taste and the flavor profile and whatnot. yeah, just getting on their good side from the packaging and then, you know, trying to figure it out from there, you know, in terms of, you know, the flavor profile. You know, we still have a lot of things to do, you know, in terms of changes to it. So hopefully we'll be able to land on that perfect taste, but I think we're almost there.

Adam Steinberg (05:28)
Yeah, that's great. there a plan to potentially expand into, obviously it seems like the carton larger serving size format is kind of core to the brand. Is there thoughts or plans to think about exploring other form factors and or serving sizes as well to expand the line?

Ryan Provost (05:29)
Yeah.

Absolutely. Absolutely. We have plans to downsize the packaging to a 500 ML or 330 ML Tetra Pak. So that's actually in our roadmap for the next year, possibly into 2026. We'll have to see how this year goes until we start getting that into play. But that is definitely one of our priorities. I think that's going to be where the true

volume comes into play. true sales velocity really, you know, just having that price point a little bit lower off the shelf for the consumer is going to be really a game changing factor. I think that one of the reasons why some people get chased away is because, you know, people are obviously conscious about their spending nowadays, you know, and when they see that 25 and some stores 29.99 price point, you know, they're scared, you know, people don't want to spend that much anymore. So

getting down to that $4.99 for a single serve off the shelf, it's going to be, yeah, we're excited for it. It's going to be game changing, I think.

Adam Steinberg (06:51)
Definitely a lower barrier to entry, imagine, sure, for people to try it for the first time, if nothing else. For other up-and-coming CBG operators that are in this product ideation stage, considering a unique form factor or serving size is one way to differentiate, there's another one that comes to mind that a buddy out here who has a brand out here in Denver, he's got an ice cream brand. He just launched a

soft serve in pouches, which I think is like the first time I've seen that. It's like super unique in terms of other operators that are considering going a similar route in one way to differentiate themselves. Based on what you guys have learned, what are a few things they maybe should keep in mind and watch out for to get out good or bad learnings you guys have had so far.

Ryan Provost (07:18)
wow.

yeah, no, I, I think we have to watch out for one, the price point. think the price point is super key. you know, we definitely need to get down to that. as long as we get into the 24 or even under 20, price point for, for the majority of our retail locations that we're in now, I think we'll be in a good position. but other than that, yeah, I really think that.

Just upping our marketing game, think a little bit, you know, keeping up with our tastings and just keep keeping up with our overall operations. You know, it's just me and Norman is running the business right now. We're bringing on a few, keep key consultants and, you know, sales and distribution partners to help us expand. But, you know, on top of that, it's really, it's really just me and Norman doing our thing. And, it's, it's hard sometimes to keep up. So it's really all about staying focused and staying on top of things.

You know, making sure the distributors are all happy. You know, I think that's one of the most important things in this game.

Adam Steinberg (08:26)
outside of the actual form factor, actual just the look and feel of what you got in the pack. Did you guys go with a branding agency, like freelancer, some other option you guys have talents in-house?

and how did you guys decide who to work with them? What did that evaluation process look like?

Ryan Provost (08:41)
Yeah. Yeah. So we actually got introduced to somebody through a friend in Jersey city. His name's Kyle Perry. He's based in Florida. He was actually a Hoboken resident for a little while. So we weren't really friends with him at the time, but we actually became close to them ever since we started working with him. You know, we were having on calls with them all the time, you know, getting, getting our, just make sure that our packaging was the best it could be. So yeah, we would do our weekly and bi-weekly calls with him and

you know, just to make sure that our, our packaging was, was on point. yeah, we started off kind of in a weird, weird, direction, I guess, you know, off the bat and it's, it would look nothing like what you see now. You know, there are a different, a couple of different variations of it before landing on what it currently is. and, that took a few weeks to nail down. So, you know, after we kind of did a little bit of drafting in Photoshop,

We landed on this splash that you see along with the logo only took a couple days. So that was easy. But the splash is what really kind of took a little bit longer. So, you know, from the splash after we got the design there to what it is today. Yeah, we kind of landed on, know, just manipulating the color a little bit and just getting it a little more vibrant, a little more catchy, you know, for the Gen Z and, you know, the millennial kind of branding, which is what really sells today. So.

you know, that's kind of what we wanted to land on. And, you know, I think it came out pretty decent for what it is. We're getting a lot of compliments on it. People seem to love it. So, yeah, I think in the near future, though, we might be considering a rebrand. Nothing too major, but I think just like cleaning, cleaning it up a little bit, adding a few more details to the box, like, you know, some nutrition facts like sugar and things like that, which we didn't add off the bat because we were unsure of, you know, TTB. That's a whole other story. So.

but yeah, the legality issues with sugar and what you can actually put on the box is that they'll come back, you know, time and time again, if it's not correct. So that was, that was a huge headache getting all that approved by TTB. But, yeah, as it is now, you know, it's yeah, the packaging is, is great. And Kyle Perry, our artists did a great job at it.

Adam Steinberg (10:40)
Yeah.

Yeah, looks really good.

thinking back to way back when, you're putting together kind of original creative brief that you gave to Kyle, thinking back to that, what, terms of what you put in that brief, like what do you remember your vision was, or what did you feel like were the most important points you wanted to make sure he called out in the package?

Ryan Provost (11:05)
I think some of the main points were, you know, just keeping it really Gen Z, you know, really just capturing the attention of the younger generation. And, know, when people look at our box, they think of a party in a box, you know, they think of the experience of the box. So that was one of the main things we wanted to make sure that was evident and really key with, with the design. There were a couple other designs that we kind of tossed around and it was, you know, like a, a beach on it with like a sunset and.

There are a couple other ones I drafted up with like flowers on it like that kind of resembled a More like botanical kind of cocktail like a gin like, you know, I just it didn't feel right some of them. So Yeah, they like a few of them were just like really off-brand and it was kind of confusing so I think the splash really just nails down the more like sophisticated

and like authentic kind of cocktail drinker kind of packaging. So that's kind of how we landed on it, I guess. Yeah.

Adam Steinberg (12:04)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That makes total

sense. If a first time entrepreneur

approached you and said, hey, I'm in the process of developing an RTD brand of some kind, a few things that you would tell them to keep off of mind as they go through the similar kind of pack design process that you went with Kyle to any kind of learnings you had you might share with them, hey, keep this in mind, or you maybe want to avoid this?

Ryan Provost (12:26)
Yeah, I would just avoid some of the kind of just random, know, like, example, like the beach kind of sunset thing that we had on it before. was kind of like a scenic route that we wanted to put on packaging. I think that route was kind of like not it in a way. I know I've seen some tees out there doing that. Like there's one that just came out called Skimmer and they have like the scenic like beach.

whatever picture with a seagull over top and a sun or whatever, just all cool and I guess it's kind of a cool idea. It depends on what kind of drink it is too at the end of the day. yeah, a lot of people are doing that. obviously, yeah, people like to be outside in the sun drinking a cocktail, which is always great. But it's all about keeping it neutral and keeping the likeability, I guess, of the consumer just focused on, you can drink this anywhere.

not just the beach. So we want people to be drinking this on the mountain, on a farm, or just at a party, at a tailgate, whatever you can think of, and not just the beach.

Adam Steinberg (13:26)
Yeah, that makes total sense. Not trying to pigeonhole it in some specific use case. ⁓ Like shifting gears a little bit, talking about formulation, what have you guys found creating, I guess what's been key to create RTD cocktails that really taste amazing? Because it sounds like it's been a bit of a journey for you guys. what's been the hardest part? And yeah, what's been key to really for you guys to make it taste that good?

Ryan Provost (13:28)
Yeah. Exactly.

so we went back and forth a few times with our, with our manufacturer, our co packer, and they're the ones that actually ended up formulating the actual recipes. The recipes, first off came off, came from Norman's recipe booklet. So he's a mixologist, in Jersey city Hoboken and really all over. and we took his recipes from his booklet and we took his top three and, kind of just made him our top three products off the bat.

and what actually Norman did was he, he created the cocktails, put them in mason jars and sent them over to our co packer. And what our co packer did was kind of taste it, analyze it and match it as best as they could. And honestly, they did a great job at doing that. think one of the only small mistakes they did, they made was at the watermelon cooler. They kind of just.

they did something with the cucumber that just was really funky tasting. So we had to go back and forth with the watermelon cooler a couple of times to perfect it. And the other two, I think were just one maybe, one change to each. So it wasn't anything major, but yeah, just it's all about that first taste really. making sure that first taste you get from your samples are.

exactly what you want, you know, and if they're in the right direction, you know, then all, all is good, but you know, if they're not, then, you know, you're going to be in a world of hurt, you know, going back and forth and, know, it's a pain, but, you know, just making sure your, your, your formulas are where you want them to be off the bat is, is super key.

Adam Steinberg (15:18)
Yeah, having a really good tasting product makes everything else easier.

Ryan Provost (15:20)
Yeah,

that's the icing on the cake right there. It's not just the branding, it's not just the logo or the name, but the taste. That's what people remember.

Adam Steinberg (15:27)
Yeah.

Are some spirits have you found, did you guys find are some spirits harder to work with than others like vodka versus gin as an example?

Ryan Provost (15:38)
no, they're not like harder, I guess, but they're, yeah, because, you know, there's a couple of gin RTDs coming out and, people seem to be really, really, really liking it. Like long drink, for example, they're a gin based RTD and they're, and they're crushing it right now. So I'm really happy that we have a gin cocktail because it's kind of like that, that odd one out. you know, some, and even rum too, not many people do rum cocktails either, but it's more like vodka tequila. Like those are the top.

You know, people love those two base spirits and you know, whatever you can think of a margarita, you know, the number one selling cocktail in the world, I believe it is. and that's a tequila base. So that's actually one of our next products that we're going to be introducing. So we're excited for that. But, but yeah, like gin, vodka, Rome, tequila, all, all great. All, you know, the base spirits we're going to be using. I don't know if we're going to have any plans for other, other spirits, but, yeah, we'll, we'll keep it with those for now.

Adam Steinberg (16:28)
Yeah, that makes sense.

like in terms of those first three flavors or skews you guys launched with, how did you decide to go about, you know, what flavors and what form relations to launch with first? I know you mentioned it sound like these are like the three top ones in Norman's booklet. He just found these are the ones that had been most popular in his experience or how did you guys go about that process?

Ryan Provost (16:45)
Yeah, no,

no, you nailed it. Those were the top three in his booklet. So yeah, we landed on those and you know, watermelon, pineapple, know, strawberry are some of the top three flavors in the, like the drink market, the beverage market alone. So I'm really happy that we landed on those three. And on top of that, there are some of the top selling in Norman's restaurants, bars that he's worked with. So that was another kind of...

data that we use to make our final decision.

Adam Steinberg (17:14)
Yeah, having that point of validation with him is great.

Ryan Provost (17:15)
Yeah, for sure.

Because it's a good starting point. Obviously you want to go by what the people are enjoying and buying most, even though it's only in Jersey City and Hoboken. obviously, the demographics are not the same everywhere. But it's a good starting point to make that final decision. ⁓

Adam Steinberg (17:33)
Yeah, totally.

You talked about your, your co packer a bit and how you worked really close with them, the formulation curious for, you know, up and coming beverage entrepreneurs, like how did, how'd you go about finding your co packer? And then, you know, was it hard to find one that could really meet your specific spec quality flavor, et cetera.

Ryan Provost (17:52)
Yeah. So finding our co-packer that's, man, that was an interesting story for us. And that was part of reason why it took us four years to launch. So our first co-packer that we worked with, they were based in Atlanta, Georgia. And we, man, that was a terrible experience. We actually flew down there and met with them and you know, they had our formulas all drafted up and you know, everything was ready to go. And we finally got the funding in order and kind of just ghosted us.

But I'll keep that story short. was really just a ghost and we just went from there and we were kind of just stuck in dark really after they did that. And we were looking for another coat packer to fill in their shoes. And that was a tough search. So we just did little bit of just research online, did a little bit of outreach through friends in our network.

Uh, we landed on, uh, their meta brand. They're based in Edison, New Jersey. Thankfully they're, they're local, you know, uh, you know, Norman and I are Jersey guys. um, having them 45 minutes away is, uh, was super helpful to be able to go and meet with them and their team. But, um, but yeah, they, did a great job at formulating our recipes. Uh, they're, doing a great job doing our, um, you know, our manufacturing, our co-packing in general, um, you know, everything from our packaging to, know, the, bag and box.

concept of, you know, and filling everything, everything went great. And, you know, we're on our second run right now with them and, you know, we, couldn't be happier with, with finding them. And thankfully we did because there's not many manufacturers out there that do bag and box. So, having them, you know, kind of pivot from their normal canned beverages that they normally do and having them do bag and box for us. that was something that they weren't really familiar with. So they even made the risk in.

Adam Steinberg (19:26)
Mm-hmm.

Ryan Provost (19:34)
know, bringing in the right equipment and kind of training their team and everything to be able to, you know, knock this out. And then, you know, like I said, they did a great job of doing that.

Adam Steinberg (19:43)
That's, mean, it sounds like it might be a bit of a, like a bit of a moat you guys have in terms of that form factor. If there's not as many options for other people that you had to come in and actually find, be able to bring something to market like that. sounds like it's, yeah, it sounds like a better moat for you guys, which is cool. Was it hard to, and maybe it wasn't, but was it hard to convince that co-packer to...

Ryan Provost (19:54)
Yeah. Yep. Totally. Totally.

Adam Steinberg (20:03)
give you the time of day as an upstart brand with a minimal track record, probably gonna have like the first runs, probably gonna be smaller than some of the bigger clients that they've worked with for a while, that's more established brands. And if so, how do you get them excited to work with you guys and give you the time of day?

Ryan Provost (20:18)
man, they don't have any minimum orders, which was lucky on our part. So they would have done a 500 case order if we wanted to. So that was super lucky. Other than that, they didn't do bag and box. So that was one of the hurdles that we had to overcome with them and kind of talk them into helping us out after meeting with the owner over there a couple times.

you know, through, through phone, really not even on zoom or didn't even meet in person before that, but it was mainly just a few, a few phone calls with him and really just talking about our brand and just telling him about the position that we were in and, know, the headaches and nightmares that we went through over the last three years. you know, we told him our story and he, he felt for us, you know, he was, he felt really like, wow, you guys are in a position right now where you need some help. And, know, I think we can be those people and you know, he, he, he came in clutch for us.

So yeah, we're, you know, we think about that every, every day, man. If we didn't have them, then I don't know where this brand would be right now, to be honest.

Adam Steinberg (21:15)
shifting gears a little bit,

when you're thinking back when you're launching in terms of your go-to-market plan, when it comes to distribution, did you guys decide to focus more on on-premise or off-premise for launch, or if it was really focused on one or the other? And if so, what was the strategy behind that decision to go with one or the other?

Ryan Provost (21:34)
So we were focused on off-premise off the bat. We knew like the whole time this was gonna be an off-premise brand. So that's the route we were going to take and that's the route that we're still currently on. We were able to lock in a few on-premise locations, one of them being Pier 13 in Hoboken. It's a nice outdoor venue with our, you know, they have the tables wrapped and our logos everywhere. And, you know, we partnered up with the owner there.

And he was able to, you know, just get us in and, we, we, have frozen Mark, or, I'm sorry, not Mark, FROZENS, along with we sell the, single boxes and the single drinks as well. So, you know, we have a couple of different variations, which is also good for this venue. And, we're just hoping that other venues start, start catching on. But, other than that, we have a couple of bars that we, we sell to and, you know, they, people are.

they're seeing what we're doing, but I think it's just gonna take a little bit more time for them to really figure it out and figure out the bag of box play at the on-premise. it's, don't get me wrong, it's gonna be tough, but I think that people are gonna start realizing as soon that it's gonna be another option for them to hold a product like this at their bar. Yeah.

Adam Steinberg (22:33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, for sure. I'm sure that's

sort of option you guys have come into is going to be a great fit for that.

Ryan Provost (22:48)
Yeah, exactly. You know, it's easier for the bartenders. It's convenient. It's cost effective. You know, if you add up the cost of the ingredients compared to what we have in our box, our box, it's way cheaper all in. So, you know, instead of paying, you know, six, seven dollars for the ingredients and all the other, you know, the spirit, everything per drink, you're paying, you know, under two dollars for ours. And that's where you see the real gains.

Adam Steinberg (23:07)
Yeah.

what's the distribution footprint look like today in terms of the markets that you guys in or your channels, number of doors, that kind of stuff?

Ryan Provost (23:14)
Yeah. Yeah. So, so the current markets that we're in are, are New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Florida, California, and Texas. over the last year though, since we launched, we were doing self-distribution for New Jersey, New York, Florida, California. And we actually got a distributor for Rhode Island. he's actually a buddy of mine from, my, my college, URI, university of Rhode Island. and we were, we were frat brothers. So he actually reached out to us directly and, know,

wanted to work with us. You know, he saw we were doing a product and wanted to bring us into his portfolio. So yeah, we agreed and you know, we got into the Rhode Island market, you know, quicker than anticipated and that was all great. So we're looking forward to another great summer with, you know, the Rhode Island market this summer. We have a couple on-premise accounts there along with, you know, a ton of liquor stores throughout the whole state. And then obviously we're going to be focusing on New Jersey and New York pretty heavily.

We just locked in a distributor, New York City Moonlight for the entire New Jersey, New York markets. So yeah, we'll be focusing heavy on these as well. Florida, we just lock in distribution. Paradise Craft, they're called, they cover the entire market. Texas True is another distributor that we have and they'll be covering all of Texas. Right now, they're just covering the total wine stores that we're in right now. We're in about five stores in Texas, so they're dealing with those right now.

and we're locking in a couple little liquor stores here and there, but hopefully that starts getting going soon because Texas is gonna be a major market for us. And then we're still doing self-distribution with California and in talks with other distribution for a couple other smaller markets as well. So yeah, busy and expanding yeah, we're just keeping our foot on the gas here.

Adam Steinberg (24:36)
Yeah, I can imagine.

Yeah, it's exciting. Only a year you guys are in that many markets. That's super impressive. Really impressive.

Ryan Provost (24:53)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. It's been a, I don't know. Yeah. I look, look back at it, you know, and we were like, shit, and how are we in six markets already in one year, you know, and it's, you know, it's really just about staying focused, I guess. And really, you know, this is what we do every day and you know, it's, it's, it's wild. It's tough. It's, you know, ups and downs, but you know, you'll get a couple of yeses here and there, you know.

Adam Steinberg (25:00)
Thanks.

Yeah, totally.

Yeah, totally. One thing I often hear

seasoned operators in the CPG space in general talk about is balancing the focus between velocity and distribution points, like focusing on how fast your product is moving off the shelf and in the current doors of trend versus getting into as many doors as fast as possible. And that kind of delicate balance between the two. How do you guys think about this?

Ryan Provost (25:39)
So I think it's good to focus on very few markets off the bat. So I think that we're strategizing perfectly, honestly. There's a lot of brands that I heard here out there that are just moving a little too fast. I know we launched six markets in one year. I know that that's fast and everything, but some brands that I heard of in the past, they would expand to 10, 15, 20 markets in a matter of a year, two years. And before they know it, they're...

you know, into deep, you know, and there's a lot of work that you have to do after you launch these markets, you know, you don't just launch with them and just, you know, have your products sit in their warehouse. You know, you have to, you have to hire sales reps, you know, you have to get a team in place. You need to market, you need to get the tastings going. You need to, you know, get, get some, you know, events go and influence their marketing. you know, there's so, so much to it rather than just landing that distributor. And, you know, it's.

it's tough sometimes because you don't realize which distributor you should be going with at the end of the day. Obviously it's best to focus on the larger markets, which is what we're doing right now. yeah, if those little distributors come in every now and then and offer you like, I'm interested in your brand, I want to take you guys on, it's probably best to rethink that and re-strategize and focus on what you're currently in and get on those shelves in the markets that you're currently in.

and focus on those accounts alone. Don't really focus on trying to get in every liquor store or bar or every retail chain that you can think of within that market. if you're just starting out, focus on those. You rather, total wine chain. If you're in 13 stores, 20 stores, just focus on those for a bit. If you're in buy rights, like we're in a handful of buy rights in New Jersey, focus on those for a bit and get those sales going and get people tasting the product, liquid the lips.

and making sure they come back for more. Those reorders are important. They're more important than actually landing the distribution partnership.

Adam Steinberg (27:38)
Yeah. Yeah. That makes, that makes a lot of sense. In terms of, you know, expanding the footprint and growth, fundraising often plays a key part of that. yeah, talking about fundraising, I know you guys recently launched that crowdfunding campaigns.

Ryan Provost (27:52)
Yeah. So, so crowdfunding has not been going so good. Um, we, we expected a lot more and better results to be coming from it, but, um, you know, it was a lesson learned. think, um, you know, it's, it's really, it's really a hard thing to, go about. It's we learned a lot from it, but, you know, maybe there's some things that we could have done better or differently throughout the last three months of the campaign, but, um, you know, we really gave it our all. Um,

we couldn't have done any more than we did. And I think it's really just about people being scared because we're a new brand. the amount of people that are deploying capital right now are slim to none because you have to look at the state of the market currently. We're not really a good place. We're about to be in a recession is what people are saying. So not many people are spending, not many people are investing. And the people that are investing, they're making safe bets. They're not making risky bets. And I guess you could say that we are

a little bit of a risky bet, being a new brand and not showing as much sales as we could. people are just a little skeptical about putting money where we're in a risky play like us. So it is what it is with the crowdfunding. And like I said, we gave it a shot. We have one more month left in it and we're going to play it out and then see what happens after that. But other than that, yeah, taking meetings with investors every day.

We're just, keeping our feet on the gas really. You know, because we definitely are going to need that funding soon to be able to really expand and really get this product to where it should be and where it deserves to be. So yeah, like in terms of funding, yeah, man, it's tough. It's tough in general. But yeah, I think it'll come and we'll get the right partner sooner or later.

Adam Steinberg (29:31)
For sure. Yeah. I'm sure you guys will.

So it sounds like you guys are doing a bifurcated approach. You guys have been testing out the crowdfunding route, but also taking meetings with traditional investors and kind of going both routes. think it's smart. can kind of put your eggs and all in one of those baskets and maybe the crowdfunding campaign could end up being just kind of like a nice supplement to traditional route that you go.

Ryan Provost (29:46)
Yeah.

⁓

Exactly. Exactly. If it ends up working out in the next month, it ends up working out and if doesn't, then we'll move on from it. Lesson learned, learned a little bit about a space we didn't know anything about and yeah, just move on from it. yeah, I think it's all about finding that one investor that really believes in us. And I think that's what it's going to take. The more you push somebody, that's kind of skeptical about it.

Adam Steinberg (29:57)
Yeah.

Bye.

Ryan Provost (30:16)
the more, know, like, you know, why have that person on your team? You know, if they're going to be hesitant, you know, you want that person that's going to be all in, you know, that that person or those people that are truly see your vision, you know, where this product could really go. So, yeah, we're looking for those types. Yeah.

Adam Steinberg (30:29)
Yeah,

Fundraising is so much of a similar sales in terms of a numbers game. You just got to talk to an investor so you find one that totally jives with a vision and then that all works out. Well, yeah, Ryan, this has been really awesome. Where can people find you, follow along, and also where they can find the crowdfunding campaign as well?

Ryan Provost (30:35)
Yeah, it is.

Exactly, Yep.

Sure, sure. Yeah, so you can follow us on Instagram, at Booz Box B-O-O-Z, B-O-X. We also have a YouTube channel, we have a TikTok, and we have a Facebook page as well. But yeah, you can follow us on any of those platforms. Most active on Instagram. A lot of good content coming soon, a lot of good collaborations coming soon. So we're excited for that. And the crowdfunding campaign.

You can find us on looped.co, L-O-U-P-T dot C-O. And our campaign is right there on the front. And yeah, we're still seeking investors until May 15th. So a little less than a month left.

Adam Steinberg (31:33)
Cool, awesome. Well, I'll definitely share this out and hopefully get some more people coming in your way on the crowdfunding campaign too. ⁓

Ryan Provost (31:39)
Yeah, thank you very

much, Adam. Yeah, I appreciate the time. And yeah, thanks again for having me on the podcast.

Adam Steinberg (31:44)
Yeah, likewise. Thanks so much, Ryan. This has been great.