When Chloe Bergson and Alison Evans graduated from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2020, they left with their MBA, a business partner, and a CPG brand.
Chloe and Alison immediately connected over their love of food and beverage. Together, they enrolled in a Startup Bootcamp class with an idea for dehydrated mixers.
The dehydrated mixers concept evolved over the years, based on feedback from focus groups, professors, and industry experts to SAYSO, the first and only craft cocktail mix in a tea bag.
Learn more about the 2023 Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition winner and how Chloe and Alison are doing almost a year later.
Enthuse Foundation (EF): Describe your experience competing in the 2023 Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition.
Chloe Bergson and Alison Evans (CB and AE): Participating in the pitch competition has helped increase our brand awareness and allowed us to connect with a mentor who has been very helpful for SAYSO. We connected with one of the judges, Jack Edwards, on the night of the pitch competition and have stayed in frequent touch with him. He has helped make other introductions for us in the industry. We also include being the pitch winner on a recognition slide of our pitch deck, which helps to validate our success. We also met another Enthuse Foundation Board Member, Katie Dunn, who put us in touch with the founder of Juliet Wine. Together, we created the Rosé Spritz Kit that offers everything you need to make delicious, low-sugar spritz cocktails at home, including SAYSO Skinny Hibiscus Cosmopolitan flavor and Juliet Rosé.
EF: I'm so glad you connected with Jack after the event. Last year's grand prize winner, SAYSO, received $10,000 cash. Tell us how you utilized those funds and what their impact was on your business.
CB and AE: We used the money towards in-store demos for Sprouts. We used an outside agency for 50 demos in key Sprouts regions nationwide (CA, FL, AZ). Demos are extremely important for SAYSO. Due to our product's new innovative format, showing customers how SAYSO works and allowing them to taste it leads to increased conversions. We did these demos when we were on the Innovation Set in Sprouts, which is a three-month trial period for emerging brands. Only 20% of brands that graduate from the Innovation Set get purchased for their main set, and we are so proud to say we made it to the main set.
EF: What else has SAYSO done since the Pitch Competition besides the Sprouts launch?
CB and AE: Wow, there are so many things. In addition to Sprouts, we launched into all 163 locations of The Fresh Market, spanning the East Coast! It's an incredible milestone for us, and we couldn't be more excited to bring our innovative craft cocktail and mocktail tea bags to even more stores and households. We took home third place in the NIQ Pitch Slam and were nominated for a StartupCPG Shelfie Award. Additionally, we participated in Expo West for the first time and received a nomination for a NEXTY award.
EF: How have you stayed engaged with the Enthuse Foundation?
CB and AE: Besides the Pitch competition, the Enthuse Foundation provides a valuable network of other women founders to work alongside and a network of mentors to guide this journey. We participated in a marketplace at Diageo for Women's History Month. Networking directly with potential business partners for brand collaborations and future customers was a great opportunity. Also, we were able to pay it forward and, along with Regina (Trillo, 2022 Pitch Competition Winner), meet with other women founders to provide tips on their applications.
EF: We are so happy to have you both and SAYSO in our community and can't wait to see what's next for you.
CB and AE: Thank you so much!
Winning the Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition is something that no one can ever take away. It's hard to believe that there are 11 winners from the event's history, including runners-up and audience choice winners. We are grateful to all those founders for staying connected to the Enthuse Foundation community as blog post contributors, event panelists, grant sponsors, and mentors to other women founders. Here's your chance to win. Apply to the 6th Annual Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition.
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