Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Pete Borozan, co-founder of Cask & Kettle, located in Battle Creek, MI, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are very unique Spirits business that operates in a white space - we are the first to market with a great idea...…. the complete Hot Cocktail that fits in a K Pod that you can use without any modifications in a standard Keurig Machine. The contents are concentrated liquids, so in 30 seconds, you can have a complete (coffee, Spirits, and All Natural flavors) hot cocktail. We also have a peel top, which can be poured into a mug, and hot water added if you don't have a Keurig. The drinks were designed by "foodies" with an emphasis on taste and aroma. They are a great experience! We've managed to grow sales by very big percentages annually.

Tell us about yourself

The business was started following a difficult meeting in the 4 Founders prior lives at a very successful Food Consultancy. We are going through a finance meeting line by line, and it was long and hard. Our CEO was next to me, and I asked her (we are all BIG coffee drinkers) if I could get her a coffee. She replied, "only if it has alcohol," and that spurred an idea about making a complete hot cocktail, a K Cup. We'd been playing around with different concentrates on various projects, and I thought we could make a good hot cocktail with all-natural concentrates - and we have! I love the everyday challenges of a startup. Everything you run into can be solved, and we tend to be creative in our problem-solving approaches - that makes it fun.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Getting a brand new product approved by the TTB - which is the governing body for Spirits in the US - was a pretty big deal. I went to Washington DC to meet and do a "show and tell" with them. They loved the idea and have been really helpful to our business as other questions have come up. We are also proud that after three years, the business continues to grow nicely, and we think it has a very high ceiling for what it could become. The market for people who add alcohol "stuff" to coffee is over $600 million annually in the US. We think we can capture a part of that. The international market is interested in drinks from the US, so we see a lot of potentials there too. We are very bullish on the business overall.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

You have to be ready for the work that comes with it. Not only are you expected to grow the business, but every aspect of it has to run well, or it typically costs very valuable funds. We have to get full mileage out of every dollar in the business to be successful. We spend in a very thrifty way and have established a great relationship with key suppliers to help maximize the impacts of our spending.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. You have to have a standout idea. Me too's are a tough sell.
  2. You have to be able to raise funds to support that idea and its marketing.
  3. Be prepared for things to not go as planned and be nimble enough to adjust.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

We are having a great time watching our business continue to get traction and be successful. For example - at Meijer over the holidays, we were the #3 selling brand out of over 30 featured. We successfully competed with some very well-known names and had a very strong showing. We like our potential for the future!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://caskandkettleusa.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Caskandkettleusa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caskandkettleusa/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/caskkettleusa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caskandkettleusa/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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