Experience Sunrise on the Inside: Waku, a Modern Twist on an Ancient Tea

Tell us a little bit about yourself, WAKU, and your mission.

WAKU is a Boston-based beverage company co-founded by childhood friends, Juan Giraldo and Nico Estrella, in 2018. After Juan graduated from Babson College, they set out to bring their culture’s holistic tea and its benefits to America. Juan and Nico traveled all over Ecuador and sampled 52 different brews of horchata lojana, an Ecuadorian herbal tea drink, before landing on the best recipe… and WAKU was born!

Juan and Nico’s mission is to replenish the world with the time-tested knowledge and homegrown flavors of Ecuador. WAKU is a deliciously refreshing, all-natural herbal tea, packed with powerful botanicals and anti-inflammatory benefits that naturally soothe your gut. Consuming a bottle of WAKU enables you to experience a delicious, all-natural revival of body and spirit that starts in your gut, leaving you feeling calm, replenished, and ready for whatever comes next.

The global functional beverage market is expected to reach $173.23 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 7%, and we’re seeing many new companies hoping to capture a share of this promising market. How is WAKU uniquely differentiated from other products in the category?

More than half of Americans experience digestive issues. At the same time, science is increasingly uncovering the link between gut health and overall health and wellbeing. Many so-called gut health drinks are either bland or off-putting, and the tasty ones such as iced teas, are unfortunately loaded with added sugar, artificial flavors, and empty calories.

At WAKU, we stay away from added sugar and empty calories and use instead real ingredients, anti-inflammatory botanicals and (soon) prebiotic fiber to maximize gut health. Our functional ingredients and focus on taste and health highly differentiate us from other products in the tea category.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact your operations and growth plans? How did you respond to the disruption in your activities and what did you optimize for?

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our entire operations. Overnight, New England’s foodservice channel, which we were heavily focused on, almost shut down in its entirety. Although retail outlets kept their doors open, their operations changed dramatically to cater to the massive influx of shoppers and their modified shopping behavior. Consumers were no longer interested in discovering new products. Instead, they focused solely on procuring essential products and familiar brands, and getting out of the store as fast as they could. In addition, all field marketing activities were canceled because of health risks. Overall, our retail performance dropped considerably to a point where we decided to pull back our retail products and shift our focus to selling direct-to-consumer (DTC). We quickly realized that we needed to develop a strategy to identify and engage our customers online so in May of 2020, we began optimizing our business for e-commerce. We needed to learn how to operate an entirely different model, as fast as possible. It was a race against time with the ultimate goal to master the art of selling DTC. Thankfully, we succeeded.

What are some of the sales and marketing strategies that you leveraged to increase your discoverability in the marketplace, develop your customers, and continue scaling up your brand?

When we first pivoted to DTC, we relied on paid social to acquire new customers. This was the fastest and most efficient way to get our customer acquisition engine up and running. As soon as we gained a solid understanding of this acquisition strategy, we began leveraging content and influencer marketing as a means to drive organic traffic to our website. In this regard, we carefully designed our website to deliver an optimal user experience.

Once customers enter our sales funnel, we further engage them in a variety of ways such as email and SMS marketing as well as product bundles, upsells, and subscriptions. All of these, combined with an excellent customer service, enable us to increase the customer lifetime value and continue scaling our brand.

Any lessons learned as you pivoted your sales to DTC? What advice would you give aspiring food and beverage entrepreneurs who are considering online sales? 

Invest in the resources needed to set up a DTC channel and take your time to learn how to successfully develop it. DTC is, by far, the best way to launch a CPG brand regardless of whether your product is e-commerce friendly or not. Selling direct-to-consumers enables you to have a direct feedback loop with your customers and to collect the data you need to further refine your product and succeed in retail.

You’re gearing up for a crowdfunding campaign. Why did you choose this fundraising vehicle? And how do you plan to use the funds?

Crowdfunding is a great fundraising vehicle, especially for entrepreneurs in the consumer products space. You will most likely end up with hundreds, if not thousands of supporters who are invested in your brand. With a growing customer base, we also saw crowdfunding as a means to further engage our customers and give them the opportunity to get a share in our success.

We are raising capital to further support our DTC growth and get back into retail in the NorthEast region. We will also use the funds to support an awesome brand refresh (can't wait!) as well as launch our new and improved formulation. Finally, we hope that these funds would strategically position WAKU for early stage VC funding next year.

How can our audience connect with WAKU and support your growth efforts?

Please check out our investment campaign at www.republic.co/waku and drop us any questions you might have in the discussion board. Also, please visit our website at www.livewaku.com and if you get the chance to try WAKU, please share your feedback at hi@livewaku.com.