For the third post of our Producers Series, we asked our Powered by SōRSE partners at Altitude Functional Beverages, Laura Melgarejo Silva and Thomas Angel, to share their company’s story.  

Their first beverage on the market, the Everything Latte, is chock full of high quality, beneficial ingredients – and just launched! The latte’s base is cold brew coffee sourced from Fair Trade beans, and it’s blended with oat milk, Turmeric, Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Chaga, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Blue agave, a pinch of sea salt, and CBD to make a truly delicious, good-for-you beverage to start your morning or give you that pick-me-up you need in the afternoon. Here, they share what inspired them to create an infused functional beverage, how they came to work with SōRSE, and what excites them about the industry and where their company is headed.  

Can you start by sharing a bit of your background with us, and what inspired you to create a cannabis-infused coffee beverage? 

Prior to 2020, we had been living in Beijing for a few years for work. When the pandemic hit, Laura was able to get back to Colombia to see her family, and I joined her a few weeks later. We were there for three months – and during that time, China’s borders closed, so we were unable to return. We ended up moving back to the US in July, and as we were adjusting to life here, we were thinking a lot about our lives and what we wanted to do next.  

We had been exploring CBD and other functional ingredients and found that when we were taking them consistently, we were feeling the benefits. The hard part was being disciplined about taking them – and we really felt the difference when we stopped taking them. We knew that this was clearly a budding market, and we were thinking about what we could create that would replace the powders and tinctures we had been using. There were already a lot of infused sparkling waters on the market, so we decided to create a coffee beverage that we could incorporate to our morning routine –a beverage that tasted great and featured a lot of beneficial ingredients that are good for you and played well together. We want our beverages to be good for you and enjoyable.   

What are your company’s mission and core values? 

Our mission is to make functional beverages that are delicious and accessible. We want to dispel the myth that functional ingredients make a product taste “earthy” – that it is possible to create something tasty with the right combination of ingredients and flavors.  In terms of accessibility, a lot of functional ingredients are quite expensive – and that initial entry cost can prevent consumers from giving a product a try. We want to offer a product that is accessible to everyone – and knowing that not everyone drinks coffee, we will be expanding our line to include a Coconut Chai latte, a Matcha Pandan latte, and sparkling teas featuring adaptogens to take the place of cocktails in the evening.    

How do (and how will) you educate your consumers on CBD and how to use your product in their daily routine?

We feel lucky that we have entered the marketplace in a time when consumers are pretty aware of CBD and have had some exposure to it. What we hear the most from people are comments like this: “I’ve heard CBD is good for me; I took it once, but I didn’t feel anything.” That’s when we realized that we need to educate our consumers on the idea that CBD needs to be routine-based to make it efficacious and effective. Right now, we are going to a lot of farmers markets and doing samplings at stores to have that face-to-face customer interaction we have missed for a year and a half. These moments have been impactful because it’s given us the opportunity to share our product and talk about why we created the formula the way we did.  

In terms of social media, we use our website and Instagram as our main platforms for consumer education, but we are looking at TikTok as a place to create video vignettes that would answer questions like, “What is CBD? Why is it important to use it regularly?” and “What are adaptogens? What are the benefits of taking functional mushrooms?” We feel like TikTok could be a good place for us to reach new consumers.  

What have been the most challenging parts about getting your product ready to hit the market? 

We are fortunate and lucky to have great partners like SōRSE in this adventure, and we’ve also garnered a lot of support and resources from the community here in Bend, Oregon. What’s been challenging is getting distribution with larger distributors and larger chains – it’s a very competitive marketplace. We are also funding this operation ourselves, so we are mindful about all the decisions we make and the partners we choose. We recognize that we have to work twice as hard to gain the level of access to the market that others have. We welcome those kinds of challenges, because we believe in the product we’ve created and we know the value of what we are bringing to the table.  

On a product design level, getting the balance of flavors in our beverage right has certainly been challenging. I can’t add up all the hours that we spent working on the formula while staining our kitchen counters with turmeric and cocoa powder. It definitely took a couple of months of experimenting to get the ratios right.   

How did you find SōRSE, and why did you choose SōRSE’s emulsion solutions over other providers? Why did you choose to put “Powered by SōRSE” on your product? 

Because our mission was to make functional beverages delicious and accessible, we spent a lot of time at the beginning evaluating and testing different CBD products for their flavor profile. The other thing we were evaluating was consumer confidence in our potential CBD supplier. Because we wanted to be transparent about the ingredients we were putting into our beverage, we wanted to be sure that we were using a high quality, safe product, and that the COA would verify the quality of the product. I wanted to work with a company based in the Northwest, and I found SōRSE online. I reached out and started working with the sales team, and it just clicked from the onset.  

We feel very at ease with the SōRSE team and appreciate their transparency and their willingness to collaborate. We got a sample of SōRSE and another company’s emulsion, put them in clear vials and let them sit for a week. The SōRSE emulsion was still emulsified – there was no settling, nor any off taste or smells. The other sample separated and had an odd chemical smell to it. That made the decision easy!  

That was October of 2020 – and since then, the whole SōRSE team has been invested in seeing us succeed. Now, we have close to 100 accounts, we’re in three states, we have direct to consumer business – it’s a dream that has become a reality, and the latte continues to gain traction with consumers.  

SōRSE has a team of experts who we can turn to when we have questions about regulatory, flavor – just about anything. The moniker to us represents consumer confidence, and that is incredibly important to us as we build our brand. At this juncture, to be connected to a company like SōRSE with a reputation for creating a safe, consistent product is critical. We want our consumers and retailers to trust that we have chosen the best CBD product out there that is created and constantly evaluated by a team of trained scientists.  

Is there a lesson you’ve learned throughout the process of getting your product off the ground that you’d be willing to share? 

As a founder and a business owner, you definitely need to believe in your idea and promote it. That said, our biggest lesson learned is listening to what the consumer is saying and make changes based on their feedback. We have incorporated feedback from production run to production run because we value the comments our customers who are part of our loyal fan base have made. Their opinions are very important to us, and that is one of the reasons why we are expanding our offerings to chai and matcha. 

What excites you most about being in this industry?  

Right now, it’s great that we are operating in an industry that is not dominated by big players. That provides a unique opportunity to grow our brand and win customers utilizing the platforms that have a wide reach. It’s also exciting to be in a space where you are improving people’s lives. My favorite emails are the ones from people who have been drinking our beverage and rave about how much better they are feeling and how good it tastes.  

Making a positive impact on people’s lives is really satisfying. Our tagline is “Live like you give a damn” – instead of living day to day, we hope that our consumers are making conscientious decisions about how they can improve their lives, including eating and drinking products that are good for us and that taste good! 

Beverage Producer Series: Aprch CBD

To kick off our Producers Series, we asked our Powered by SōRSE partners at Aprch, a CBD-infused sparkling water company based in Portland, Oregon, to share their story. We were curious about why they decided to enter the industry, what their mission and values are, and why they chose SōRSE as their emulsion supplier. SōRSE has been working with Aprch for two years now; we can’t wait to try their new summer flavor, Coconut+Papaya, and see what their newest product offering will be this Fall, as well as Volume 2 of their Artist Series. 

Can you start by sharing a bit of Aprch’s background with us, and what inspired your team to create a hemp-infused product line?

Aprch is a collaborative effort. Our team comes from professional backgrounds in the outdoor, beverage and cannabis industries, and we all enjoy spending time outside adventuring. When we set out to create Aprch, we wanted to create a better-for-you beverage, a beverage that would help us before, during, and after our activities outside. Our CBD Sparkling Water is the first brand in the wellness beverage category we set out to create, and we have continued to innovate and grow our portfolio.  

What excites you most about being in this industry?

It’s rare that new categories come along, and the CBD beverage market is still in its infancy. Since some of the bigger beverage manufacturers are not involved yet, we are seeing a wave of small new brands. It is exciting to see the different directions the brands within the CBD beverage space are taking their product and brand marketing.   

Tell us more about Aprch. What are your company’s mission and core values, and have they evolved since the company’s inception?

Aprch is inspired by adventure, integrity, health, and the environment. We approach our lives thoughtfully, and we implement the same thoughtful process to create better-for-you beverages. We aim to nourish with every sip by creating drinks that are good for us. Since the brand’s inception, we have not strayed from our original mission and values, which are to create refreshing and delicious wellness beverages, while finding fulfillment in life.  

How do you educate your consumers on CBD and how to use your product in their daily routine?  

Since the CBD market is new to many consumers, we have taken an up-front approach and added our ABC’s of CBD to all of our 4-packs and website. This helps our customers know that when they are buying an Aprch product, they are buying the highest quality product available. A lot of people are still learning the difference between isolate, broad spectrum and full spectrum, and that is a key thing we can help educate people on. We were very intentional about making a product that is high quality and accurately dosed, but not super expensive so that people could incorporate it into their daily routines, as opposed to every now and then.  

What was the most difficult part about getting your product to market?

The hardest part for us was finding a reliable CBD partner, a partner that actually knew what they were doing, had product that tested correctly, and had a background in beverages. We went through many before landing on SōRSE. 

How did you find SōRSE, and why did you choose SōRSE’s emulsion solutions over other providers?

We found SōRSE through an online search, and SōRSE’s emulsions worked. Period. We worked with SōRSE to create a proprietary and custom broad spectrum blend for Aprch; we love it because our blend tests correctly every time, it is bioavailable, works with our production, and it tastes exactly how we want it to.  

Why did you choose to put “Powered by SōRSE” on your product?

We chose to add “Powered by SōRSE” to our product to let our customers know that when they are buying an Aprch product, they are buying the highest quality product possible. The “Powered by SōRSE” badge is much like “Gore-Tex” within the outdoor industry. When you buy a product that says “Gore-Tex,” you know you are getting the best product for the elements.; When you buy a “Powered by SōRSE,” you know that the product has been vetted by SōRSE, and you are buying a premium product.  

Is there a lesson you’ve learned while launching a hemp-infused product that you’d be willing to share?

The market is still relatively small, and there is a lot of room for growth. You have to have an entrepreneurial mindset if you want to make it in this new-to-market category and be prepared for a long-term growth strategy. Also, if you’re launching a hemp-infused product, make sure it tastes great. You want to be able to have repeat customers, not just trial customers.  

Where do you see your company and brand a year from now? Any plans for new products/flavors in the coming months?

We will continue to grow our customer base through expanded distribution and will release new innovations. We recently launched Volume 1 of the Aprch Artist Series, featuring artwork by Ty Williams, and our new summer flavor, Coconut+Papaya, and will grow the series for years to come. Our first product for Aprch was our CBD Sparkling Water, and we’re looking forward to launching another new product in September of 2021. 

What is your prediction for the cannabis-infused space?  

Growth, acceptance, adoption, and continued education. It’s exciting to see where this new category will go.  

Where to Purchase Aprch

Aprch can be purchased on their website www.drinkaprch.com.  

Contrary to popular belief, being in a band is not all sunshine, roses, and adoring fans. Whether you’re a solo artist, duo or multi-piece band, it takes a lot of time, energy, creativity, and effort to make, record, perform, and market music. Someone who knows this well is Ryan Tedder, front man for the band OneRepublic. Over the course of his career, Ryan has shown the ability to capture the feelings and experiences that matter to people and put them in songs; now, he has taken those same feelings and experiences and put them into Mad Tasty, his CBD beverage brand.    

In 2018, after a few tough years on the road (in 2016, the band logged 400,000 miles) and dealing with anxiety and sleep issues, Tedder decided to start his own brand of CBD-infused sparkling water called Mad Tasty, having spent a great deal of time researching CBD and its potential health benefits. He decided to name the brand Mad Tasty because he wanted something approachable, fun, and delicious that his friends, family, and fans would love to drink. Tedder knew that it was important to hydrate over the course of the day, but he didn’t love how water tasted, so he decided to create a beverage he would want to drink that featured CBD because he liked how it made him feel. The challenge was finding the right partner to help him create flavor profiles as well as provide the emulsion that would seamlessly deliver the CBD.  

STARTING THE JOURNEY: REFINING THE CONCEPT 

The team at SōRSE started working with Tedder on Mad Tasty in the fall of 2018. Michelle Sundquist, Director of Commercialization (aka “the Jedi of flavor”), and the members of the R&D team worked hand in hand with Tedder to develop the beverages that launched in the spring of 2019. When asked to describe the experience working with Tedder from concept to commercialization, Sundquist commented, “Our initial conversations with Ryan were really focused on the kind of experience he wanted his friends and family to have. Because he was so excited to share his experience with others, he wanted to try to find a way to get the drinks to market quickly. In order to help Ryan reach his goal, we focused on ingredients and flavors that would be popular and that we knew would provide a stable flavor platform. He also wanted a beverage that was really flavorful but not loaded with calories, that you could drink a few of without feeling full. That’s how Mad Tasty as a flavored sparkling water came to be.”   

DEVELOPING FLAVOR PROFILES 

In terms of coming up with Mad Tasty’s first two flavors, Sundquist stated, “We wanted to create a clean flavor profile, so we built the beverages around our emulsion’s citrusy, slightly tangy notes. Grapefruit was the first flavor that paired really well with it. The slight bitter notes of our emulsion added to the pithy notes you find with grapefruit juice. We also really liked the sweetness and softness of watermelon; pairing watermelon with kiwi gave the drink another layer of depth and pop. We worked really closely with Ryan as we experimented with flavor and carbonation, adjusting them as needed to match the beverage he had imagined. We all wanted the consumer to open the beverage and be immediately hit with flavor and bubbles. They’d start to drink it, and it would be instantly refreshing.”  

 DETERMINING DOSING 

At the time Mad Tasty was being formulated, most producers were creating low dose beverages, in the 10 to 15 mg range. Sundquist commented, “10 mgs was pretty much the standard in 2017. We decided to bump it up to 20 mg because we wanted to make sure that Ryan’s audience was getting a good value and experience with the beverage.”  

ADDING TO THE OFFERINGS 

Two months after the initial meeting, the SōRSE team met with Tedder again to sample some prototypes and further build out the product’s story. Sundquist commented, “In late 2018, we did all the beverage design, and we had the first cans coming off the production line in mid-February of 2019. Once we got the first two flavors off the ground, we started working on the profile for Mad Tasty’s third flavor, Unicorn Tears. With that beverage, we were trying to create the feeling of something magical, given the drink’s unique name. The flavors in that are playful and tropical – it’s a base of white tea with a touch of Dragon fruit and a drop of POG, a childhood favorite. That beverage launched summer of 2020.” Tedder continues to grow Mad Tasty one product at a time; Mad Tasty launched a line of wellness shots and a new flavor, Yuzu Citrus, in Summer 2021.

REFLECTING ON THE PARTNERSHIP  

When Sundquist reflected on SōRSE’s partnership with Mad Tasty and formulating the beverages, she brought up Tedder’s commitment to creating a quality product as well as providing people with clean water around the world. “Early on we were eager to be a part of this project, because of Ryan’s goal to give back to the community and promoting access to clean water. For every 12 ounce can of Mad Tasty sold, the company donates 12 ounces of clean water to people in places in need through their partnership with Drop4Drop. That was a great reason to do everything we could to make these products successful. Being there on site, watching Mad Tasty be produced proved that our emulsion was truly easy to integrate into the production process. The experience also solidified my belief in our technology and what we are doing to move the industry forward.” 

If you are a product developer who has a great idea for infused product and needs help further developing your concept with the goal of getting your product to market efficiently, our R&D team is happy to walk through the process with you and recommend a SōRSE emulsion that best fits your needs, just as we did with Mad Tasty. Book a call with our team today!