Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Watkins.
Hi Jim, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My business partner, Wade Thompson, and I started Sociable Cider Werks in a garage on Madison St. in NE Minneapolis. We opened the Sociable production facility and taproom on Fillmore St in 2012, and has since grown to include a range of beverages including cider, beer, hard seltzer, and a line of non-alcoholic elixirs. We produce, market and sell under three brand names, Sociable Cider Werks, Squoze Hard Seltzer and now Superior Craft Elixirs.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Ha. Smooth road. This has been a remarkably difficult time to be in the beverage business and more broadly the hospitality business. We’ve been extremely fortunate to have the support of so many fans who have carried us through the growing pains of starting a small business and a global pandemic to boot. When we started this journey we had zero experience in the beverage space, so we had to learn everything. We had to learn how to be winemakers, how to be brewers, how to be chemists, how to be marketers, how to be manufacturers, how to be salespeople, how to be accountants. It has been remarkably fun and engaging work, but challenging like a bow flex. Remember those commercials from the nineties? It gets harder as you get deeper into the action. Throw on top of that regular learning curve a global pandemic, and now a global supply chain dislocation that has sent raw material costs through the roof, and you’ve got what you call in video game parlance, one helluva a boss level.
As you know, we’re big fans of Sociable Cider Werks, Superior Craft Elixirs, Squoze Seltzer. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a cidery and taproom that specializes in building craft beverages from freshly pressed fruits. Our lineup started with ciders and beers, but has grown to include our own freshly squoze take on hard seltzer, and now a line of better-for-you non-alcoholic elixirs. Just before the pandemic, we were approached by Melina Lamer, the CEO and founder of Superior Switchel about contract producing her wonderful line of switchels. She had been working with a cidery on the west coast to produce her packaged product, and she was looking to bring production closer to home. We were lucky to be able to use the opportunity to transition from glass bottles to cans, tweak the recipes to use only freshly pressed fruits, lower the sugar and calories, and expand the brand slightly to encompass a wider range of craft elixirs beyond just apple cider vinegar-based switchels. Its been an absolute joy to learn about the non-alcoholic beverage space, and see how well the Superior brand complements the Sociable Cider brand.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I’ll speak to beverage more broadly. We will continue to see more brands launching on a contract basis. The capital costs and operational challenges of building production facilities will continue to push beverage innovation into contract package, as the stigma of using a third party for production fades. Furthermore, I think we are going to continue to see the “sober-curious” bring their love for locally produced craft beverages to include demand for things they can drink at work (not all of us are brewer’s, after all), or while on the go.
Pricing:
- Expect to find 4-packs of Superior on local grocery shelves for $9.99
- Expect to find Single cans of Superior at on-premise locations for $3-4
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.drinksuperior.com | www.sociablecider.com | www.squozeseltzer.com
- Instagram: @sociablecider | @superiorelixirs | @squozeseltzer
- Facebook: facebook.com/supeiorelixir | facebook.com/sociablecider | facebook.com/squozeseltzer
- Twitter: @sociablecider | @superiorelixirs | @squozeseltzer
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