When April Wachtel founded Swig + Swallow in 2014, she believed she had found an innovative format for replicating bar-quality cocktails at home by providing half-full bottles of mixer that allowed consumers to add their spirit of choice. It appeared to be a novel approach, and for some time it was, until this past year when the problems with the concept finally came to a head and Wachtel said “enough is enough.”
Last month, Swig + Swallow rebranded to Cheeky Cocktails Co., dropping its entire product portfolio and the half-full bottle concept in favor of a new line premium syrups and juices, available in eight flavors for $7.50 per 4 oz. bottle.
Among the core issues with the original product was its positioning as a high pressure processed (HPP) refrigerated beverage, Wachtel said. As well, the company had in the past attempted to scale too quickly and brought on too many employees who Wachtel could not ultimately afford to keep. After a “disastrous” production run last year, she said she nearly called it quits.
“I actually considered shutting the business down, but I took a few months to just not push sales, not grow the business, and to really just consider that there’s so many easier ways to make money in the world,” she said. “So I had to ask if this is something that I still love and a worthwhile problem to solve. And at the end of the summer, I came back and was like, ‘Yes, I still love this thing.’”
The new products are shelf-stable and focus on the basics of cocktail mixers. The line includes Simple, Ginger, Honey, Agave, Honey Ginger and Cranberry Lemon syrups and Lemon and Lime juices.
Wachtell, who is Cheeky’s only full time employee, said the company may look to add larger pack sizes in the future, noting that, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, she had been planning to launch the products in 375 mL bottles which could be mixed with spirits to make multi-serving pitchers for social gatherings, but quickly pivoted upon the introduction of social distancing measures.
The pandemic has also led the company to keep the old Swig + Swallow products on hand for sales to national accounts which are embracing the half-full bottle concept in order to “minimize the touch experience,” she said. However, Cheeky is not actively marketing the old line or selling it direct-to-consumer.
Cheeky will support the rebrand through online affiliate marketing and is working with bartenders to run consumer education programs, which will include lessons on making specific cocktails using the brand’s syrups. According to Wachtel, bartenders who share a link to Cheeky’s website will receive 20% of all sales generated from the referral. The program will also help to quickly improve the brand’s search engine optimization, which was lost with the name change.
Prior to the rebrand, the product was primarily sold online and through the corporate channel, with WeWork being among the brand’s best customers, and had some limited retail distribution in natural channel accounts including Whole Foods.
Moving ahead with Cheeky, Wachtel said retail will not be an immediate focus. Instead she will focus on direct-to-consumer sales, which she said offers higher margins than retail, and corporate and hospitality accounts. Despite disruptions to those channels created by COVID-19, Wachtel said orders have already started arriving from offices seeking to recreate communal work experiences at home.
“It’s only been a couple weeks but we’ve already been getting a lot of incoming sales for corporate gifting from companies that are trying to facilitate virtual happy hours,” she said. “They want to send out a physical item so that people can have a shared experience all at the same time.”