The Startup CPG Podcast

We started in January and it's. I'm like, I don't know what date it is. I guess it's October now. But we've kind of fast tracked everything from an idea to execution to being on the shelf. So we feel like we're in a whirlwind, but super excited. We can't believe how much traction we've had so far and how much excited excitement we've had. And I mean, I tie that a lot to our a meaningful piece of the brand. Which is our unfuck tomorrow, right? That's our brand story and our tagline.

00:38
Caitlin Bricker
Hey everybody. This is Caitlin Bricker, editor at Startup cpg. We are back with another founder feature. Today we're talking with Haley Jordan and Tom Edelston, co founders of Fabric. Fabric is a THC infused hop fizz built on doing good from day one as a public benefit corporation, they commit 2% of revenue to mental health while creating zero calorie, zero sugar hemp beverages. In a category typically loaded with sweeteners. From sourcing Australian botanicals and galaxy hops to potentially becoming the first B Corp certified hemp beverage brand in the world, they're building a company where purpose is not an afterthought. Fabric is already chilling in my fridge for when I'm ready to break my 3 year THC hiatus. So wish me luck and enjoy this episode.

01:26
Tom Eddleston
Foreign.

01:30
Caitlin Bricker
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlyn and today I'm here with Haley Jordan and Tom Edelston, co founders of Fabric. Welcome to the show.

01:39
Haylee Jordan
Thank you for having us.

01:41
Tom Eddleston
Thanks, Kaylin.

01:42
Caitlin Bricker
I'm super excited to have you here because this is the first time I am speaking to a hemp focused beverage company in my role with the podcast. So I'm super excited. For anybody who's listening, a little bit of background about myself is that I worked in the cannabis industry for five years prior to joining Startup cpg, but it was on the manufacturing and extraction side of things and it was for a publicly traded company. Got laid off on maternity leave. I know everyone's like, is that legal? It's legal, but.

02:18
Haylee Jordan
Okay, that's crazy.

02:20
Caitlin Bricker
It is legal, but things happen for a reason, right? As much as I hate to say that, but it was a very happy transition for me because now I get to do something that I enjoy and talk to people like you. So Haley, for anybody who's listening and is not familiar with fabric, can you tell us very briefly what fabric is?

02:41
Haylee Jordan
Sure. Fabric is a THC infused hop fizz. We are Australian. Half Australian founded, half US founded on the US side. But we have an amazing biochemist and brewmaster in Australia, as well as our CEO here, Tom, who's Australian. So we have some really nice Australian botanicals. Galaxy hops, pearl lime, all of that good stuff. It's zero calories, zero sugar, super easy to drink more than one.

03:07
Caitlin Bricker
I could totally get that vibe you sent me samples. I haven't cracked into them yet, but I just know, looking at that ingredient deck that it is totally up my alley. And I feel like it's very standout when it comes to these types of beverages, these functional, thc, hemp focused beverages, and just beverages in general. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I saw no natural flavors and I saw no added sugar on the ingredient label.

03:34
Haylee Jordan
That's right. Our ingredients are super clean. We really wanted to differentiate with that. Zero calorie, zero sugar. Especially in the hemp beverage space, where many beverages have a lot of sugar and added ingredients. So a pretty clean nutrition label.

03:47
Caitlin Bricker
I love to see it. I think consumers are really going to latch onto that because like I said, it is standout. And for people who aren't looking to these beverages for a recreational purpose, people who are looking for it for more of a medicinal purpose, I think that's something that maybe they're going to look at and say, okay, they've really thought this through. I don't have to get a sugar high while I get high, basically.

04:12
Haylee Jordan
And being able to drink more than one too was important to us to kind of mimic that beer experience. You have two light beers at the pool and not, you know, it's okay to have two of them is what I'm saying, with the low sugar count. So you're not put out for sure.

04:26
Caitlin Bricker
So before we dive more into the brand, I need to know what your backgrounds are. So, Tom, maybe you could start us off. What were you doing prior to fabric and how did you get into fabric?

04:38
Tom Eddleston
Sure, I was in the corporate world. I was in real estate, private equity the last 10 years. And yeah, I burned out kind of during COVID Probably the same as the rest of the world. Had this existential crisis of, you know, what the hell am I doing with my life? And started to think about what was next. And it was kind of coincided with me trying to curb my alcohol intake and, you know, just look to a healthier alternative. So I saw the non alk beer boom and that was like a really great alternative for me that I was leaning on a lot as I Tried to, you know, continue to reduce my alcohol intake.

05:19
Tom Eddleston
And then, yeah, saw that hemp beverage was really emerging and thought like, what an amazing way if we can combine kind of the best of the non alk category with, you know, the functional benefits of THC and then kind of providing people like a really viable alcohol alternative where you can still, you know, catch a buzz and kind of, we like to say, be able to stay in the round. We have this vision of the world where you can go to the pub and, you know, sit down with your mates and that, go drink for drink with them and you can still participate. So that was really the idea behind fabric.

05:54
Tom Eddleston
And then, you know, even the name just lends itself to, you know, beverage has always been a way that people socialize and get together to be able to create a new way to drink.

06:04
Caitlin Bricker
It's all making sense to me now. Hailey, tell me about yourself. What were you doing prior to this? I had been following you on LinkedIn for a while. We finally got the chance to meet up in person very briefly in Austin. But I love the work that you've been doing, but I just need you to let everybody know what you were up to.

06:22
Haylee Jordan
Thanks. I appreciate that. I was doing brand identity and brand strategy for CPG brands specifically, was really digging into design for a lot of non elk brands and in the beverage space. So Tom and I got connected through LinkedIn. I've made all of these amazing connections through LinkedIn. Of course, Laura Silverman from Zero Proof Nation connected us, but I know Laura from LinkedIn and we had a little podcast called NA Dossier for a bit. So kind of just dabbling in the non elk world. I'm interested in it and kind of doing design in that world connected us. And I mean, I met you on LinkedIn too. So I'm pro LinkedIn over here. Oh.

06:57
Caitlin Bricker
Oh my God. LinkedIn helped me get this job. Actually somebody who I've been connected to on LinkedIn for over a decade, I think referred me for this position. We still have never met in person. So shout out LinkedIn. If you want to sponsor this podcast, send me an email.

07:12
Haylee Jordan
Yeah, that'd be great.

07:14
Caitlin Bricker
So Tom, you touched on this a little bit. I was very curious about the name, fabric and how you landed on this for the brand. In my mind initially, I'm thinking maybe it's the feeling that you get when you get a little elevated, things start to feel a little better. But I like what you're saying about social fabric and I'm curious if maybe Haley, since You're the brand brain behind things. Maybe you can fill us in a little bit about that strategy, how you landed on the name fabric and how you branded everything in the fabric universe.

07:51
Haylee Jordan
Sure. I also want to shout out Anthony, who's not here today, but he is our third founder, and he is a brand designer as well, so he's a huge part of fabric. But, you know, went through a lot of different names and finally landed on fabric. It was sort of thinking outside of the box. I don't know if anyone here has ever tried to trademark a beverage brand, but it's quite difficult. So were trying to think outside of the box and to create something really meaningful. You know, sure, we talk about fabric in the way that, you know, we're getting together and we're socializing, but. But also our 2% back to mental health. All of our revenue, we give 2% back. So we're really helping to mend the social fabric in a deeper way as well.

08:26
Haylee Jordan
So kind of just, you know, getting outside of the box. I was thinking personally about clothing and how different types of work wear can be a protest or a statement on your politics. Like, how you dress is a statement on your politics. I am not a fashion person, but digging into some of that, you know, doing these exercises and thinking outside of the box of how do we say something meaningful without calling it, you know, a stereotypical beverage? Name one. Because we couldn't. It's so hard to trademark. But also thinking on a deeper level, who are we and what is our mission? And what's a cool name that's easy to say. Everyone can pronounce it right. So hitting on all of these different things was really important for us when naming the brand.

09:05
Caitlin Bricker
And I really like how you've been able to claim the social handle drink fabric, because even if you don't know anything about the brand, it's like the visual that I get when I look at that and say it out loud is crazy.

09:20
Haylee Jordan
Yeah, it's weird. It is weird. I said it last night, and I was like, God, drink fabric. I've never thought about that before.

09:26
Caitlin Bricker
It's really good. And I got your stickers, too, in that nice little package that you sent. I just need to say this again, because it was the best brand experience that I've ever had with a sticker. I have tons of stickers on my water bottle, on my laptops, on all of my things. Never once have I had that experience with a sticker before. I wish I had it in front of me right now. But you can actually feel the texture on the sticker and it's unlike anything I touched before. So well done.

09:56
Haylee Jordan
Thank you. We like them.

10:00
Caitlin Bricker
I am super curious too. I need to know more about you all being a PBC. Haley, you touched on giving 2% back for mental health. Tom, maybe you can talk to me a little bit more about becoming a public benefit corporation, how you decided to make yourselves a PBC and maybe what that process looked like.

10:19
Tom Eddleston
It was super important to us to kind of infuse purvis into fabric from day one. And we really wanted to kind of put our money where our mouth is and it to be something that was a front and center rather than an afterthought. And so with 2% going to mental health, that was something that were really focused on. And then were looking at, you know, how can we protect our ability to make decisions that we want to make? And so for those, you know, I'm from the finance world and there's a term called fiduciary responsibility. And that basically means that we're always, you know, beholden to doing what investors is in their best interest. And so a public benefit corporation gives you the legal obligation to consider societal impact as well as financial.

11:11
Tom Eddleston
And so without that, if you decide that you want to do something, you know, radical in response, you know, social responsibility or sustainability, that a, an investor can come to you and say, well, hey, there's no short term return from this and I don't think we should be doing this. We should go the other way. And it can get litigious. You know, they can basically come to you and say, but you are not acting in my best interest. So being a public benefit corporation helps you get around that and basically says that we maintain the ability and legal ability to be able to do that. So it's something that I think it's then, you know, ingrained into the company's DNA and it's parlays really nicely with B Corp certification as well. And so that's something that we're actively pursuing right now too.

11:58
Caitlin Bricker
I really love that you are mentioning that. It's not an afterthought, that it's really ingrained in what you're doing. And it was at the forefront of your minds building this brand because not to say that any other brands who have introduced any mental health initiatives or socially responsible initiatives later on aren't doing the right thing, but it just shows that from the start you knew that this was more than just a product. And I really like that. And I That's another thing that I think consumers will really latch onto. Haley, maybe you can talk to me about this new initiative that you have going on with Protect Our Winters. I'm really curious to hear more about this, and I know our listeners will, too.

12:38
Haylee Jordan
Absolutely. Protect Our Winters is in Boulder, Colorado. They're a 501c3 nonprofit that helps passionate outdoor people protect the places and experiences they love from climate change. So Fabric has decided to partner with them for Mental Health Awareness Day, but we're pushing it out for the whole month. We're going to give away the proceeds from 10,000 cans of our Clarity SKU, which people may not have heard as much about, but Clarity is a functional beverage. It has 10 milligrams of CBG, so non psychoactive, but really gives you that clarity focus. It's sort of an uplifting feeling. So we're partnering with them to give away 10,000 cans. All the proceeds goes to POW. We're really excited. We feel like it aligns with our brand so much. And being a Colorado first brand, it's just where we are excited to launch, you know, with our D2C campaign.

13:25
Caitlin Bricker
I am very excited for you to launch. And that coupled with it is just, whoa. Everything you said was so Colorado and so spot on. I think this is going to be really great for everybody in Colorado. And I am curious why the CBG skew.

13:44
Tom Eddleston
A lot of people have familiarity with cbd, and CBD has a bit of a connotation of being a sedative, so it's relaxing. But also I think there's this perception that it's going to put you to sleep. And so C, B, G is another minor cannabinoid. So it's not psychoactive in any way, but it has properties that are more like caffeine. So it's almost like caffeine without the jitters. And so it is, I would say, becoming extremely popular. We think this is going to be very a SKU that does really well for us. And it is, yeah, like perfect for the afternoon slump. You know, 2pm you want to reach for that second coffee, but you know that it's going to impact your sleep and your next day.

14:33
Tom Eddleston
And so CBG gives you that kind of like uplifting alert, you know, feeling without any of the downsides. And so this skew remains 0 calories, 0 sugar, super clean ingredients, and tastes great. And so we think it's, you know, a really nice kind of afternoon substitute for that coffee or tea that replacing your caffeine intake.

14:55
Caitlin Bricker
I really like how fitting it is for this campaign that you're doing too with pow, because the CBG skew seems very accessible for people who don't want touch cbd, don't want touch thc.

15:08
Tom Eddleston
So.

15:09
Caitlin Bricker
So launching that. And I really want to talk about your launch too, because right now I've seen that you are launching into liquor stores, which is not something you can do in Massachusetts, where I'm located. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. What a mouthful. Does not allow the sale of THC beverages or hemp focused beverages in liquor stores. So I'm very intrigued by your model there in Colorado. Unfortunately, I'm just like, not too versed on what's going on in Colorado as far as the laws go. But it's cool seeing you launch in liquor stores as an N A option with the THC hemp based option and then also with your DTC launch in partnership with pow. And then there's just so much going on.

15:55
Caitlin Bricker
So tell me what it feels like being at this point in your launch right now with the brand and what you have coming in the future.

16:03
Haylee Jordan
It's pretty crazy. We started in January and it's. I'm like, I don't know what date it is. I guess it's October now. We've kind of fast tracked everything from an idea to execution to being on the shelf. So we feel like we're in a whirlwind, but super excited. We can't believe how much traction we've had so far and how much excitement we've had. And I mean, I tie that a lot to our. A meaningful piece of the brand, which is our unfucked tomorrow. Right. That's our brand story and our tagline. So we feel excited and we're just, we're hitting the ground running.

16:33
Caitlin Bricker
Very edgy tagline. Big fan.

16:35
Haylee Jordan
Yeah, thanks.

16:36
Tom Eddleston
Yeah. And. And Caitlin, I think to. To touch on, like, the difference in Massachusetts and Colorado. And as some listeners may or may not be aware, hemp beverage is federally legal, but at the state level, it is a total patchwork of regulation. And so funnily enough, a lot of the states that had regulated dispensary models were the first to ban or limit hemp derived THC because it kind of represented a threat to the dispensaries. And they said, we're going to shut this thing down. So California is probably the most notable example of that. They hemp derived THC is completely banned. Colorado, there was the marijuana lobby who kind of said, hey, we want to limit this thing. And so they imposed a dosage cap of 1.75 milligrams per can, which is pretty damn low.

17:28
Tom Eddleston
But that meant that a lot of the brands playing in this space kind of overlooked Colorado. And they said, you know, our minimum skew is two and a half milligrams. We're not going to reformulate for Colorado. The market's not big enough. But I think that was a huge oversight. And if we look at like some of the states that have fully embraced this space, Minnesota always comes up. Minnesota has 300 odd brands on the shelves there. In Colorado there are five. And so we saw this as the opportunity to kind of really build the brand and stake our claim as like the Colorado hemp beverage brand. And we think that those onerous restrictions right now are going to be loosened at some point in time anyway. There's overwhelming support to go to 5 milligrams.

18:15
Tom Eddleston
And the dispensaries that kind of sold this as a threat now see it as potentially a gateway for bringing new consumers into marijuana and cannabis in general. And then having the. My mother in law as an example, at 75 years old, has recently switched from Chardonnay to THC and that she's the kind of person who would have sent her daughter to rehab for, you know, being caught with a joint. So I think beverage being such a familiar format just really helps destigmatize cannabis in general. And then, yeah, if people enjoy it kind of expands their horizons and they may be more partial to going into a dispensary. So we are incredibly bullish on Colorado. And not to mention we have an outdoor active demographic and 90 plus million tourists per year.

19:07
Tom Eddleston
So we really think that others are snoozing on Colorado, but that's really the big opportunity for us.

19:13
Caitlin Bricker
And I feel like you're also tapping into a space here with a low dose beverage because I'm sure I am not the only one who's had a horrible experience with a high dose beverage. And I say high dose, but it could have been low dose for me or low dose for many people, but too high of a dose for myself. So I really like the approach of the low dose because you can just kind of like taper your way up instead of just being like, what the fuck did I just do to myself? And you can't take it back. You can't say, okay, turn the dial down. So tell me about the decision making that went into creating a low dose beverage and why you did that, because it speaks to me for sure.

19:58
Haylee Jordan
Yeah, so part of it of course, is meeting our market. The Colorado regulations, which is the 1.75 on shelf, which we know will get to be higher down the line, but. But mostly we wanted to mimic the beer experience because we are sort of a beer adjacent. You know, we have those great Galaxy hops. We wanted to have someone be able to be at a party and have three. You know, we don't want you to have one beverage and then be totally knocked out. We want to mimic that experience where you're drinking throughout the night and kind of being able to find your personal sweet spot, whether that's one or maybe it's one and a half that you share with someone, or maybe it's five fabrics. So kind of just tailoring it there.

20:38
Tom Eddleston
Adding onto Hayley's thought there. We are not only playing at the low dose, we actually have a 10 milligram beverage as well. And so we're kind of playing at both ends of the spectrum. And the reason for that is that early adopters in this space tend to be kind of legacy cannabis users. And there's a lot of people who have a very high tolerance. And know a 1.5 milligram for some people is the same as 10 milligrams for others. You know, the. The effect. And so 10 milligrams is super popular as a DTC product. And we wanted to ensure that we'll kind of meeting the market where it's at, while also kind of thinking about where it's going.

21:21
Tom Eddleston
And really, that was kind of looking at the data as well, because cannabis, I think most people, even regular users, think of being something that is, like, at home, it is winding down. It's kind of getting a little bit buzzed and chilling. And so we. And, you know, 70% of the use case is relaxation. And so we wanted to kind of cater to that and acknowledge that, because I think, you know, you foolish not to. And so our 10 milligram can appropriately is called downtime and kind of speaks to the occasion. And then our 1.5 milligram is called rhythm. And so that same idea of, you know, it is it can be pre hike, pre gym, you know, during your hike, it can be post, can be at your favorite cocktail bar or over dinner. And so it's super versatile.

22:10
Tom Eddleston
And we actually included CBG that we already mentioned in that SKU as well, so that it has a bit of that uplifting property, because THC in general can affect a lot of people as a bit of a sedative. So, yeah, we kind of balance out, you know, the. The ingredients really nicely. And having multiple cannabinoids. You also get what's called the Entourage effect, where the whole experience is kind of elevated by using multiple cannabinoids and not just thc.

22:38
Caitlin Bricker
Hayley, I'm super curious. Having a THC brand and being a creative, I'm assuming that you're kind of behind all things social media and brand focused to the public. How are you tackling all the regulations when it comes to social media and THC and hemp and just this whole list that I could go on and on with. What are you doing to tackle that? And how does it feel being a brand that is kind of ostracized with what you're doing, even though you're doing good work?

23:11
Haylee Jordan
Yeah, it's been sort of a group effort of us going back and forth because there isn't a rule book, right. Of, like, what you can say about drugs on Instagram. Like, I wish there was a rule book, but we're kind of looking at, you know, what is everyone doing? How do you get flagged? How do you stay safe? So it is pretty complicated on Instagram and through meta. So, you know, never saying cbd, even thc, hemp drugs, weed, marijuana, staying away from all that. We're learning as we go. People get shut down all the time. So really focusing through social media on the feeling. So it's a functional fizz. Or, you know, we love saying it's buzz without the booze or just kind of highlighting that feeling is what we're really driving it.

23:52
Haylee Jordan
And then, of course, not showing the THC on the can, so covering everything up, which you're familiar with. Caitlin, we had a conversation and you're like, I already know all that and, like, I should have been talking to.

24:02
Caitlin Bricker
You earlier about this, but, I mean, sometimes I feel like the laws, or I shouldn't even say the laws, I feel like the rules are changing every single day when it comes to this. I don't know if you can speak to this, but LinkedIn five years ago was like the friendliest platform for psychedelics and cannabis. You could talk about whatever you wanted on there and it didn't matter. Like, you didn't get shadow banned, whatever. But I've seen that some brands, a, maybe they're just not posting great content, or these founders are not posting great content. But I've heard complaints of getting Shadow banned on LinkedIn now too. Has that happened to you? Or fabric? Or what's. What's that looking like for you now?

24:42
Haylee Jordan
I've been A lot less careful on LinkedIn. I've kind of just said whatever. I feel like so far it's been okay, but something to look out for the future. Of course. It's really funny how even when we're sampling in stores or on social, people, you know, they get really scared of the thc. But I always like to remind people that alcohol is the craziest drug of them all. So a little dose of that 1.5 of THC is. Is not scary. So I'm hoping eventually it'll change. But so far I've been a bit more liberal on LinkedIn than meta.

25:10
Caitlin Bricker
I think that makes a lot of sense. I feel like LinkedIn is definitely an untapped social platform in many ways. And I think especially for brands that are more into the psychedelic cannabis, hemp space for sure is the place to go and definitely was five years ago. I have one more question from the branding side of things. You did mention that you have another co founder. What has that been like, having two creatives on the team and Tom, do you ever feel outnumbered?

25:41
Tom Eddleston
Highly fast.

25:42
Haylee Jordan
So Anthony and I have both run our own brand studios in the past. So coming together and creating a brand together where we're not leading it, we're collaborating has been honestly, really rewarding. We've butted heads a few times with nothing crazy, and I think we kind of. We got really lucky with our full team. We all have the same vision, and I think that it's been somewhat easy for us to navigate that vision. We all see it going to the same place. We all care so much about the mental health aspect. So designing with Anthony has been pretty straightforward. And I take more of the strategic role and Anthony takes more of the design execution lately. So we're not each, you know, designing the logo at the same time and all of that.

26:21
Haylee Jordan
We definitely brainstorm together, but we've kind of found our roles and eventually we'll get even deeper in, you know, creative execution and then strategy as we grow.

26:30
Caitlin Bricker
It must be nice to have some synergy and also different perspectives when it comes to brand strategy and design as well.

26:38
Haylee Jordan
Absolutely. It's hard to be in a little vacuum working on brands, which is what I was doing before. I was the only brand designer I worked with. An amazing photographer, but not quite a brand designer. So being able to shoot stuff to Anthony and say, hey, does this look weird? And then he's like, yes, it does. And, like, you fix it, you know, is really helpful. And being able to, you know, gut check things and having a Second set of eyes is super important, too, for a brand. First company, like, we've designed our whole brand around this idea that it's the moat. Like, it's what differentiates us and this mission on top of it. So definitely necessary.

27:13
Caitlin Bricker
Talk to me a little bit about the moat. What is it like being the moat?

27:18
Tom Eddleston
So I think, you know, it's a classic old Buffett saying that the brand is the moat. And I think that in an increasingly competitive category, like hemp beverage, that's never been more true. I think as well as that, you add onto that AI, like execution in CPG has always been a huge differentiator. And what a lot of brands will say, this is why we've been successful. My take is that fast forward five years, you know, that execution is largely going to be streamlined and that it's not going to be this differentiator that it was. And so, as you kind of think, like, you know, if AI continues to accelerate at the rate it is, it's like, what really does differentiate brands. And our view is that authenticity, purpose, mission, and brand is going to be it. And, you know, product.

28:11
Tom Eddleston
We're super proud of the products that we've created. We have, you know, as Hayley kind of mentioned a guy, Nick Galton Fenzi, he is one of the top beer judges in the world. He's a biochemist. He has really thoughtfully curated our three SKUs. But product can be replicated. And so, of course, you have to have a great product. And we have. And we think we've been kind of ahead of our time as well with merging kind of hemp and hops. We're really surprised that others don't do that. And part of the reason that you see so many sugary beverages on the shelf, and you'd know this well, Caitlin, is that, like, cannabinoids have an earthiness and a bitterness to them that most seek to kind of mask with sugar.

28:53
Tom Eddleston
And so by combining hops and hemp, instead of trying to hide the earthiness, you're really embracing it. And you get really nice synergies between those ingredients. And so that's why we're one of the few beverages that is truly zero calories, zero sugar. Again, product we're super proud of. But we know that brand is going to be what makes someone reach for it. And we think that, yeah, across, you know, we're omnichannel from day one as well. So we're thinking about how are we going to stand out on the socials? How are we going to stand out on shelves. And how do we differentiate ourselves in kind of any way we can and yet build for what's coming rather than where everything is today?

29:35
Caitlin Bricker
I think those are all great points and it doesn't hurt to have a product that looks really good. Like you can be proud of it as a customer and want to take a picture of it and show it off to people. Whereas if it didn't look good, that message is not going to reach like you're not going to have legs. So I'm excited for your product to be on shelves and more importantly in people's hands. I'm very curious about if you want to add anything from a sustainability perspective when it comes to building a hemp based beverage brand.

30:06
Tom Eddleston
Yeah, I can speak to that one. Quickly, a quick shout out to our sustainability advisor, Tim Etherington Judge. Tim's based in the uk. He is xdiageo and he created Avalon Spirits. Avalon is renowned as one of the most sustainable spirits companies in the world. He was very intentional about bringing that brand to life after he was kind of similar to myself, a bit of a disillusioned, you know, corporate warrior. And so Tim has been amazing.

30:39
Tom Eddleston
We reached out to him for some early guidance and kind of much like purpose in general, we wanted to kind of infuse sustainability day one and say, what can we do to ensure that we're building on like a strong foundation and kind of adopt the Patagonia model of we are not kidding ourselves that we're in cpg, we're creating a product that doesn't need to exist and so we are going to have an impact. And so what can we do to kind of minimize that impact and how can we be as thoughtful as possible from, you know, the full supply chain as well as, you know, we're trying to profile like unique Australian ingredients and how do you do that without being hypocritical? And so yeah, it's been a really great discussion. We check in with Tim every other week.

31:28
Tom Eddleston
He's been extremely helpful in us navigating B Corp certification as well. And you know, we're B Corp pending right now. If we get the certification, we'll be the first hemp beverage company in the world to achieve that. And so that is, that's huge. Huge. Yeah. And you know, all thanks to Tim. So Tim is a consultant and he works with a lot of emerging startups. So if that is something that's important to you, definitely reach out to him. And he's actually in the process of developing an app that will Kind of help young brands understand their carbon footprint and areas where they can improve upon. And as we know, there's no shortage of areas that we can improve upon. We are far from perfect. But yeah, we're just thinking about it all the time.

32:17
Caitlin Bricker
I think it's a really good thing as founders to have all of this on your mind. It's something that I think about often being in CPG as well, not even being a founder, not creating a product. There's so much waste. But CPG is never going away. So if you could do it and do it right, then you have a good thing going for you and for the world and for your customers. And it's just, it's a win, win, win. So I just had to say that even as somebody who is on the fence about whether or not I'm going to get back into thc, I've been on about a three year break. If I decide to break the seal again, fabric is going to be the first beverage that I reach for. It's already in my fridge chilling.

32:58
Caitlin Bricker
When I get a night off, I might dabble.

33:02
Haylee Jordan
Amazing. At least give it a taste if you don't drink the whole thing. But yeah, we would love that for sure.

33:08
Tom Eddleston
And Caitlin, one thing we didn't touch on is we actually have a functional range that we're expanding upon as well. And so we want to cater to exactly you. So, there are a lot of people who averse to THC for any number of reasons, whether that's being federally drug tested with their job and yeah, so we're, we really think that, you know, functional and hemp beverage are kind of, you know, yin and yang. And so a strategic decision as well as one to kind of cater to a wider audience for us was saying let's create a functional beverage with, you know, ingredients that we would want to use.

33:46
Tom Eddleston
So we touched on the CBG version and then forthcoming, we're looking more at the conventional kind of functional space and looking at a SKU that will have lion's mane, cordyceps and altheanine in that same, you know, hop based beverage and targeting that same kind of occasion of like the 2pm slump and a bit of, you know, afternoon ritual rather than that coffee.

34:11
Caitlin Bricker
I love it. I also don't drink caffeine, but I do like to tell people I don't smoke weed anymore. I don't drink alcohol, I don't drink caffeine. But I promise I am still fun. I'm still a good time.

34:25
Haylee Jordan
We believe it.

34:25
Tom Eddleston
We have the drink for you.

34:27
Caitlin Bricker
Oh yes. All right, before we go, I need you. I know we touched on this before, but I would love for you to tell everybody where they can find you online where they can stay up to date on all things fabric.

34:39
Haylee Jordan
Amazing. Yep. You can find us at www.drinkfabric.com inkfabric on Instagram and the socials and we would love for you to visit the site and learn more about our POW campaign with clarity.

34:53
Caitlin Bricker
Amazing. Thank you both so much. So excited to have you here for people to try fabric. And thank you so much for sharing your story with us.

35:02
Haylee Jordan
Thanks for having us.

35:03
Tom Eddleston
Cheers Kaitlyn.

35:03
Caitlin Bricker
See you later. All right everyone, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, do us a solid and leave us a five star review on ratethispodcast.com startup cpg I'm Caitlin Bricker, the host of the Founder Feature series and editor at Startup CPG. Feel free to find me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on Slack and get on my radar. I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for new and emerging brands to spotlight. If you're a potential sponsor who would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnerships@startupcpg.com and finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our free CPG community on Slack. You can sign up via our website@startupcpg.com see you around.