Hardware Podcasts

#123 Jeff Church's Lessons on Entrepreneurship, from Suja Juice $140 Million/year Success to Shutting down Rowdy Energy

The Startup CPG Podcast · 9 Jan 2024 · 50m · Episode 8

What this episode covers

Jeff Church, CEO of Suja Juice and Rowdy Energy, discusses his journey from building Suja into a $140 million/year brand to shutting down Rowdy Energy. He details the strategic pivot to High Pressure Processing (HPP) and the critical importance of gross margin, noting that early focus on cost of goods sold (COGS) could have halved Suja's capital raise. Church explains that Rowdy failed due to entering an overcrowded energy drink market with insufficient velocity and high slotting fees, leading to a painful closure despite significant investment.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Whole Foods, Coke, Goldman Sachs, Monster
Products
Suja Juice, Rowdy Energy, Nico Water, Evolution Fresh, Blueprint Cleanse, Celsius
Tools
HPP

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