Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brenna Turner and Joey Labes, Founders of Sake High!, located in Venice, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Sake High! is sourced from Kyoto, Japan, and is served in 200ml cans and 750ml bottles. Sake High! is all about love, new cuisines, adventure, and community. Sake High! has a fruity aroma and a fresh, sweet, medium body. Sake High! tastes great with just about anything. We love it chilled in the can or served on ice, but you can sip it like a beer, drink it like a shot, or mix it like a cocktail.
Sake High!'s target customer is a social drinker who is seeking better-for-you products in their life, especially in the alcohol category. These target customers are the tastemakers and thought leaders in their friend groups who like to try new things and bring unique products to their social circles.
Tell us about yourself
Fun fact - we met in kindergarten! We share a passion for life's celebrations, meeting new people, and creating life's best moments. We love connections and relationships, and we made a pact together to reciprocate as much love, support, and mentorship as we can.
Sake High! aims to bring a more intentional beverage into the beer, wine, and seltzer categories. Many of these beverages are filled with sugar and preservatives and don't taste fresh. Many beers are bloating, wines have additives like sulfites, and seltzers have fake-tasting flavors and low-quality grain alcohol. Sake High! is a unique choice and also a better-for-you choice. Sake High! is gluten-free, sulfite-free, and all-natural, with just four pure ingredients: water, rice, yeast, and koji.
All Sake High! is made using traditional sake brewing techniques in Kyoto, Japan. Sake is a familiar drink to nearly everyone, but few enjoy the drink outside of Japanese restaurants, and virtually nobody has any brand preference in the market. We are creating a brand in the sake category to show consumers that sake is a drink for anyone, anytime, and anywhere.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Working together! It's not always easy owning a business and dating, but we love challenging each other and experiencing the highs and lows together.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Rejection! We run everything at Sake High! from operations, marketing, and sales. When we're in the field at restaurants and bottle shops, we get rejected a lot, and I mean a lot! We persevere, keep trying, and keep telling our story and show why consumers love Sake High!. It's not always glamorous, but it makes it all the more worth it when you see consumers drinking Sake High!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Be authentic - when you meet us, you'll notice we're loud, goofy, and FUN! Be unapologetically you.
- Bend the rules - we love being different, hence sake in a can! We pair Sake High! with foods outside of just sushi... have you ever tried Sake High! and carne asada tacos?!
- Don't give up - every day we're putting out fires and juggling a million things! It's ok; that's the name of the game!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.sakehigh.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinksakehigh/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/drinksakehigh/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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