— By Lorena Pimentel
A beverage brand isn't built on spirits alone. You need to know how to create, rebuild, and infuse innovation into the process:
When it comes to entrepreneurship, it's not easy to start in a new field, but perhaps the DIY spirit and drive are the most fundamental skills. At least that's what Ken Komiya , co-founder of Quetzalli, believes. Passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, Ken began working on the idea of a unique beverage when he met Mari. He came from a tech startup background, with expertise in emerging markets.
She's a marketing and beverage professional, which sparked the idea of working in that field. And that's how they embarked on Quetzalli's entrepreneurial journey. Drinking, according to the co-founder, isn't (or shouldn't be) just about alcohol content or a drink's ability to quickly intoxicate.
Not even about the imported label on the supermarket shelves. But then, where would the middle ground be?
This was the first point they considered when creating Quetzalli. The second? How to bring innovation to a traditional industry? Who are the people who want to drink something different and tasty, who see beyond labels and alcohol content? How to incorporate humanity, innovation, and the social aspect of the beverage into Quetzalli's creation?
He explains that life in tech startups, while cool, felt a bit missing. " I'd been in this entrepreneurial mindset for a while, caught up in the first boom of tech innovation startups, where I got exposed to this business development side of the technology space. But I spent seven years in this digital innovation space, purely digital, and I missed working with physical products."
Where did Quetzalli come from?
And that's what I have at Quetzalli ." Not that the experience in the tech market wasn't fundamental to bringing entrepreneurship to the surface, precisely because of the habit of expecting challenges and facing them head on:
" I met Mari, she worked in alcoholic beverage marketing, and since I like to drink, the ideas meshed. But I wasn't prepared; I hadn't followed anything I learned in business school, and we knew there might be huge obstacles. But I told her, let's not think about those things because it won't happen. Let's do it, and as things come, we'll solve them ."
The process of co-creating a beverage brand with innovation
Another part of the process that's almost directly linked to startups is the validation phase. In Quetzalli's case, we took it one step at a time, moving from small-scale production in our own kitchens to the market. " I introduced theLean Startup concept, and we validated each stage as quickly as possible. In the digital market, it's much easier for us to test certain assumptions, but in our case, we did this with a physical product, an alcoholic beverage."
Identity and affection as a focus
One of Ken's biggest concerns about the Brazilian beverage market is that everything revolves around two extremes: cheap, quickly intoxicating drinks, which can be consumed in just a few sips, or, on the other hand, unaffordable prices costing hundreds of reais. " This act of eating and drinking leaves its mark on life, whether positively or negatively. So we've always believed in this emotional aspect, a quality consumption that marks moments. " Besides, as he says, this movement for proximity and quality has already been happening in restaurants, but not so much in the alcohol market. " I think Quetzalli addresses a very interesting point. It's a category that's extremely overlooked because it's a ready-to-drink beverage."
We associate ready-to-drink drinks with low-quality beverages, or when it's a quality drink, it costs around R$150 or R$160, as is the case with bottled Negronis and Rabos de Galo. This is already an extremely high price to risk, so we've positioned Quetzalli somewhere in the middle.
I think it’s a change that’s happening in the market and we’re following that wave .”
While many entrepreneurs consider investing in a nascent brand's visual identity and branding superfluous, Ken believes this is an essential part of creating a captivating personality. For him, Quetzalli as a brand has a questioning and opportunity-filled aspect, which is perfectly aligned with the premise of a multicultural beverage. " There are truly values, beliefs, and brand positioning. There's the persona, who the brand is, and we always strive to be true to that ."
So we have this major concern. We discuss internally who Quetzalli is, what its positioning and brand personality are, how it speaks, and what its goals are. It's not simply a logo or aesthetics; innovation comes from having a strategic pillar that will help us reach a level we believe in. "
And does it work? Definitely! He comments that, besides the high repurchase and product search rate, a key factor in working in this industry and building a small brand is the direct contact with consumers. " But the feeling of having a product where there's actually an end consumer who appreciates it is kind of addictive. It's a good feeling when you have a good product in your hands. The person consumes it and truly demonstrates pure interest and joy in consuming it. It's a business that motivates you ." Want to learn more about the innovation and entrepreneurship behind Quetzalli's founding? Learn more about our work!
Want to hear what co-founder Mari has to say about Quetzalli? Check out her interview here !
