Hardware Podcasts

Founder Feature: Ranwei Chiang of Abstinence Spirits

The Startup CPG Podcast · 7 Mar 2025 · 34m · Episode 129

What this episode covers

Ranwei Chiang, CEO of Abstinence Spirits, discusses building a botanical-inspired non-alcoholic spirit brand rooted in South Africa's Cape Floral Kingdom. She details the product line, including the Cape Floral gin, Cape Malt, and the hero Blood Orange Aperitif, which won a 2024 Shelfie Award. Chiang explains the company's e-commerce-first strategy, grassroots marketing through tastings, and the recent pivot to in-house warehousing to maintain flexibility and customer experience. The episode covers their current crowdfunding campaign on Funder, team structure, and the financial discipline required to scale in the emerging NA category.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Products
Abstinence Spirits, Cape Floral, Cape Malt, Cape Spice, Blood Orange Aperitif, Lemon Aperitif
Also
Funder, Wallace Dry Goods

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • How I Built This · 1h 04m

    Athletic Brewing Company: Bill Shufelt

    Bill Shufelt, founder of Athletic Brewing Company, explains how he pivoted from a finance career to reinvent non-alcoholic beer after quitting alcohol to improve his health. He details the struggle to find a brewer, eventually partnering with John Walker, and the decision to build a capital-intensive brewery rather than using contract manufacturers. Shufelt describes his grassroots marketing strategy of sampling at athletic events and his wife's critical support during early funding rejections, leading to a company now valued at $800 million.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    7 chapters

  • How I Built This · 50m

    Aden + Anais: Raegan Moya-Jones (2019)

    Raegan Moya-Jones, co-founder of Aden + Anais, explains how she identified a gap for cotton muslin blankets in the US market, sourcing manufacturing from China and securing a major retail deal with Target. She details the painful dissolution of her partnership with Claudia, which led to her buying out the other founder and taking on private equity that eventually resulted in her being fired as CEO. In an updated segment, Moya-Jones discusses her recovery from that trauma and her launch of a new company, St. Luna Spirits, a premium rye-based moonshine brand.

    Starting a product companyFundraising & investors
    7 chapters

  • How I Built This · 42m

    Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle

    Guy Raz is joined by Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle, to answer calls from early-stage founders. Rebecca Smith of Streaky Bay Distillers seeks advice on differentiating her small-batch spirits in a crowded market, while Sri Holima of Mat Zero asks how to balance commercial growth with her humanitarian mission for her heated mats. John Rarek of Cantina Di Rosina discusses strategies for marketing organic wine to younger consumers despite declining alcohol consumption trends.

    Marketing & brandValidation & product-market fit
    6 chapters

  • How I Built This · 1h 04m

    Spindrift: Bill Creelman

    Bill Creelman, founder of Spindrift, explains how he pivoted from a failed mail-order smoked fish business and a successful cocktail mixer brand (Stirrings) sold to Diageo, to creating a sparkling water made with fresh-squeezed fruit. He details the immense technical challenges of preserving fresh juice without refrigeration, the struggle to find bottlers willing to handle pulp, and the strategic decision to drop a profitable soda line to focus entirely on the sparkling water brand. The episode also covers the five-year development of Chime, an automatic chai brewing machine by Gaurav Chawla, highlighting the difficulties of hardware prototyping and supply chain management for physical products.

    Materials & manufacturing processesManufacturing partners & offshoring
    7 chapters

  • People of Packaging · 31m

    259 - It's definitely NOT beer with Not Beer founder Dillon Dandurand

    Dillon Dandurand, founder of Not Beer, explains how he launched a zero-carb, zero-alcohol sparkling water in Dallas, Texas, leveraging his background at Brazi Bites and Jack Black. He details the operational challenge of sourcing a full truckload of 155,600 tall boy cans to meet minimum order quantities, opting for a turnkey manufacturer to simplify logistics. Dandurand discusses the brand's humorous packaging design, which mimics beer aesthetics, and his strategy of using sampling and influencer marketing to drive retail distribution in Texas before expanding nationally.

    Packaging designDirect-to-consumer & e-commerce
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Startup CPG Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.