In the crowded shelves of liquor stores and alcohol aisles across the country, a strong brand name goes a long way, and the team behind Becky Personality Juice hard seltzer thinks they have just that.
Personality Juice, the company that owns the Becky brand, has raised $1.5 million in series A funding that will be used to help the fledgling company reach national distribution by the first quarter of next year.
The name Becky is not inspired by a real person, but rather by the archetypal fun friend that likes to cut loose.
“We all have a little bit of Becky in us,” chief marketing officer Eric Burdick said. “We can let loose and actually have a good time, forget about work and whatever else is going on in the world.”
Becky Personality Juice is based in Scottsdale and officially opened for business in January. The company’s target customers are women at bachelorette parties, typically those in their 20s and 30s, often seen out and about in Old Town Scottsdale.
CMO Burdick and fellow co-founder and chief operating officer Sheldon Wiley both have previous experience working in restaurants, nightclubs and bars. Most recently, Wiley worked on 36 Below, an underground speakeasy in Phoenix that opened earlier this year.
Beyond the attention-grabbing name, the company already has some serious business connections. Becky hard seltzer is available at all BevMo and Total Wine stores in Arizona and around Nashville, thanks to distribution partner, Lipman Brothers LLC.
Becky Hard Seltzer is also working with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, a major alcohol distributor, which will help reach new markets in the coming months. In fact, WIley said Becky is the first hard seltzer in the Southern Glazer’s portfolio.
The series A funding was led by Bustamante & Co., a firm ran by Daniel Bustamante. Bustamante previously invested in Phoenix-based Phat Scooters, and Tempe’s Jack Grace, where he has since taken over after the company faced bankruptcy.
If all goes to plan, the Becky team will raise another $5 million in the coming year to help expand its international distribution.
Next stop, Bali
November is an important month for beverage makers like Becky because it's when retailers plan for what they want on their shelves in the next year. Wiley said that Becky is currently talking with Sprouts, AJ’s, Bashas' and Whole Foods in hopes of getting Becky Personality Juice onto their shelves.
Boosting inventory and distribution, Burdick said, is the primary purpose for the recently raised funds. They believe there are people who want to buy Becky all over the country, but today would-be customers don’t have a way of getting the drink in their area. E-commerce will be a central part of growing the company's distribution, so people can order the drink right from their couch.
Right now, Becky is packaged in Washington, but Wiley said they’ve outgrown that facility and will soon shift packaging to a larger co-packer in Wisconsin.
Additionally, Becky hard seltzer will soon be packaged in Bali, Indonesia as well. Burdick said it's around 60% cheaper to run production there and it gives them access to a new markets, ones that have not been saturated by hard seltzer in the past year like the United States.
“We want to be the Coca-Cola of hard seltzer in Asia, because they haven't really experienced the boom yet,” Burdick said. “So Becky's kind of the first in everyone's mind on that side of the world, kind of like how White Claw was in North America...we should be global by December if everything goes right.”
