Drinkin' Buds with Co-Founder, Matt Swanson, feature 94 of Together Talks

KLS
Jan 11, 2024
6 min read

Updated: Apr 14

"Together Talks" feature 94: Drinkin' Buds presented by KLS, freight company

Some Background on Drinkin' Buds

Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview Drinkin' Buds and Co-Founder, Matt Swanson. Drinkin’ Buds is on a mission to bring THC Cocktails to your favorite bar, liquor store, festival and tailgate!! They want to re-invent what a non-alcoholic drink is. Their classical cocktail flavor and quick onset you can skip the hangover, not the fun!

Two Wisconsin guys had a dream to grow some great hemp. They didn’t set out to be Drinkin' Buds, that’s just what destiny had in mind. When the cannabinoid commodities market forced Justin and Matt to come up with a use for their hemp, opportunity was born. They couldn’t just do what everyone else had been doing, they needed something special. They needed special products as well as a special brand. Over cold beers on a hot summer afternoon tending to their rapidly growing crop, it hit them.

They would make CBD cannabis beverages. They were Drinkin’ Buds.

Now they have continued to evolve on their path, but still have one goal in mind: to create the most exciting, delicious, high quality, hemp derived beverages on the market today.

Starts with an acre

2018 was the beginning of Matt and Justin Hopf's foray into starting a business together. This was the year that Wisconsin passed a farm bill allowing hemp to be produced and sold. The duo watched from the outside for that year to get a feel and understanding of the new industry. Both came from corporate agriculture and in 2019 they purchased and grew hemp on an acre of land.

Their initial intention was to sell something in the commodity stream. CBD crude was the only salvageable option, but Matt shared it would have cost them money to produce it versus what they could sell it for. Both agreed it was more profitable to sit on the crop until they found a better way forward. One day after hand cropping the plot of land they relaxed with a beer. One of them made a joke saying, "Hey look at us, we are drinkin' buds."

With that, their name was born. But they still needed to find their product.

Matt explained that old-fashioned is a popular drink in the state of Wisconsin. They found a way to bring CDB to a dry powder mixed with the bitters to create a replica of an old-fashioned. The product was well received, but Matt said it required a lot of in-person education to convert a sale. Farmer's Markets were a great platform, but getting into retail was going to be much more challenging. Again both agreed, this wasn't the path forward. They considered jumping right into the RTD (Ready to drink) market. They recreated their very popular margarita dry mix flavor in their first RTD formulation. They also shifted the formula to include 5 MG of Hemp derived delta 9 THC, launching in June 2023. In total, the company has 3 SKUS, with a fourth on the way this spring/summer

Challenges and education

Operating in the hemp industry means understanding state's legislation. Matt said that is a hurdle they must overcome as they work on expansion. He also mentioned that misinformation from big cannabis can be a distractor as new companies emerge in this aggressive space. With so many companies entering the non-alc and rtd space, it means consumers can not fully understand what they are consuming. Matt believes that the more that companies enter the space instead of letting large conglomerates dominate the space, the better it will be for consumers in the end.

When asking Matt about the strengths of their company, he circled back to their story. He equated it to The American Dream. Two men who had an idea and are bootstrapping their efforts to build an innovative company to serve millions of consumers. He also mentioned how it was important for them to put an extreme focus on not only taste, but quality as well. When seltzers had all the momentum, everyone started flooding the markets because they can be easily made, whereas their products take time to get it just right, but in the end he believes it is worth it.

The consumer buy in initially was challenging as we already touched on. Even when they pivoted to RTD, there is still the misconception of cbd and thc that Drinkin' Buds has to try and continue to provide the correct and educational facts to consumers. They still have an uphill battle dealing with the stigma behind products in this space, but it is part of who they are. Drinkin' Buds will continue to remain transparent in who they are, what they stand for, and what they hope to give. Matt further explained, "There is nothing about our product to be ashamed of".

Big growth

Interestingly when starting the company, the Co-Founders considered entering the RTD space was a pie in the sky type of goal. While producing the dry mixes, they dreamed of the day they could get into this uber competitive, but growing market. When they decided to pivot it was a huge challenge, but one they ultimately succeeded with. Matt told us they recently partnered with a distributor and finding success with this lofty goal felt incredibly good for the duo.

While they were incredibly proud of that accomplishment, Matt admitted he could do a better job of celebrating the victories as they occur. Their equity partners at their annual meeting last year brought up the importance of acknowledging the milestones. Matt and Justin admitted something has been missing and plan to start to implement new procedures to embrace the growth and success of their company. The Co-Founders anticipate that the next tier of growth is national distribution. They are excited to see how they can scale the brand. In addition to more expansion of brand and accessibility, and hopefully products as well. Matt shared they hope to introduce a 4th flavor to their product line in 2024.

Commitment to building

The aspect Matt enjoys most about being part of Drinkin' Buds is the uniqueness and constant change that accompanies the daily tasks of running a business. Being a Co-Founder in a smaller company includes wearing many hats. Matt enjoys the new roles required to keep the company operating smoothly. But as he mentioned, always looking forward, he is eager to focus on finding talent to develop and ultimately delegate. As they grow their company he is beginning to value the ability of specialization, as they grow the complexity intertwined with specializing talents and duties of each employee.

We inquired if Matt or the company encountered any fear from growing the crop, to pivoting to dry powder, to chasing their dream of RTD. He explained that all decisions can either be a point of fear or a point of seeking opportunity. Matt enlightened us, "Things that push away can be fear based, but if you look in the other direction it can be an opening, an opportunity, light at the end of the tunnel." His perspective overlapped with telling us that it is never a straight line journey. Being able to embrace the unexpected and prepared to steer the proverbial ship when it is called for. He commended that their destiny is becoming more controlled in a sense that the industry is receiving more and more clarity and acceptance as time goes on.

Matt explained a memorable moment to us that depicted the importance of balance amongst Co-Founders, "If I write a book there will be a chapter called, 'coffee shop girl'. We pitched in WI for a grant and we felt we crushed it. Ultimately we lost to a woman who proposed to convert a gas station to a coffee shop. Initially we were so deflated, we thought we crushed it. Justin I think even was ready to go after the decision. I ringed him in a bit, which is our strengths we never are riding the same wave, it keeps us balanced. We networked after the event with the judges and they told us not only was our pitch great, but we really are on to something. We just had to change our perspective and there was validation available."

The Drinkin' Buds sales pitch direct from Matt:

"It is a better way to drink, better way to relax. Thc is less intrusive on inflammation and how you feel the next day. TI truly believe this, as a 44 year old national level power lifter. Switching to THC, sleep and training for me have both gotten better. Drinkin' buds will be a wonderful fit in this emerging category."

Piece of Advice

The conversation with Matt ended with him sharing his piece of advice.

"I was in the Marines for 6 years and there was a term we used, "Semper Gumby", which means stay flexible. If you can adapt and stay flexible, you are never out of the fight."

Drinkin' Buds recently released their spiked lemonade which is only 35 calories. Try it today by using the promo code below!

KLS10 - 10% off

In Closing

KLS wants to thank Matt Swanson, Co-Founder, of Drinkin' Buds for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for the Drinkin' Buds journey with their social handles below!