We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Juan Giraldo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Juan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Nico my business partner and I, met back in Ecuador when they were in middle school. While in college, entrepreneurship brought us together—we were both passionate about entrepreneurship, business, and social impact. Our real friendship and partnership started in 2015, when Nico and I started working together at a previous company. We both always have been entrepreneurs, so they decided to start a company together with a special mission behind.
With my business partner Nico, we’ve always believed in the power of business to drive positive change. Our journey began with a mission to uplift indigenous farmers in Ecuador, where 42% live under the poverty line. Through our strategic choice of the Food & Beverage/Agriculture industry, leveraging Ecuador’s reputation for growing the highest quality natural ingredients, we aim to make a lasting impact.
Everything started when we decided to go in search of the original “horchata lojana” recipe, a centuries-old Ecuadorian tea recipe with gut health properties. In 2017 we traveled through the Andes Mountains. After tasting 52 local variations, they found the best tasting tea, the one to be shared with the world. After that, we raised some investment from friends and family and spent over a year developing the Waku brand and an ethical supply chain, by sourcing the herbs directly from the communities of farmers in a region of the Andes Mountains where horchata lojana was invented. We made our mission to build Waku, putting a modern twist on an ancient tea—using a centuries-old Ecuadorian recipe, the finest natural ingredients, no sugar, and prebiotics to maximize the gut-healthy benefits.
Waku embodies the spirit of Innovation, Inspiration, and Integrity, not just in its product offerings but in our mission to create a positive ripple effect in both local and global communities. We are not just crafting tea; we are crafting a legacy of mindful consumption, ethical sourcing, and transformative impact.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Waku is a deliciously replenishing herbal tea with prebiotic powers and 0g of added sugar. Each bottle of Waku is crafted using a powerful botanical blend that offers both anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits. Rooted in a centuries-old Ecuadorian recipe, cherished for generations in the Andes Mountains for its gut-health benefits and great taste.
Consumers seeking ready-to-drink (RTD) tea options are increasingly drawn to healthier choices—those that are low in sugar and calories. However, within the $7 billion RTD tea category, most leading brands prioritize flavor alone, often overloading their products with sugar, empty carbs, and artificial ingredients. This is precisely why we developed Waku—a product renowned for its delicious taste, absence of added sugar, remarkably low calorie content, and use of all-natural ingredients ethically sourced from independent farmers in Ecuador. Moreover, Waku boasts 5 grams of prebiotic fiber that actively supports digestive health.
Waku tastes sweet and fruity, like a Snapple but good for you. Waku teas are crafted with 5g of prebiotic fiber, all natural ingredients, and contain just 1-2g of sugar per bottle. These teas are caffeine-free, gluten-free and vegan friendly. We currently offer 6 delicious flavors: peach, passion fruit, pineapple, raspberry, mango and lemon.
With my business partner Nico, we’ve always believed in the power of business to drive positive change. Our journey began with a mission to uplift indigenous farmers in Ecuador, where 42% live under the poverty line. Through our strategic choice of the Food & Beverage/Agriculture industry, leveraging Ecuador’s reputation for growing the highest quality natural ingredients, we aim to make a lasting impact.
Waku embodies the spirit of Innovation, Inspiration, and Integrity, not just in its product offerings but in our mission to create a positive ripple effect in both local and global communities. We are not just crafting tea; we are crafting a legacy of mindful consumption, ethical sourcing, and transformative impact.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
In September 2020 marks a pivotal moment in our journey. After packing up our Boston apartment, we embarked on a 15-hour drive to Michigan, where we’d be living in Nico’s uncle’s basement. It was a tough transition, and we couldn’t shake the feeling of defeat. For two years, Nico, my business partner and I poured our hearts into Waku, but the road ahead seemed uncertain. We couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed and a sense of defeat.
In 2018, we left Ecuador for Boston, leaving behind friends and family to start Waku from scratch. Even though we had previously started another successful company before, the U.S. beverage industry was uncharted territory for us.
Back in 2019, we were making strides, selling Waku in over 300 New England stores and seeing a huge impact back home in Ecuador!
But then, the pandemic hit, and we learned a very important lesson the hard way. The most important metric in the beverage industry is not how many stores you are in. Getting into the shelves is the easy part. The most important metric is called velocity: it’s all about how many bottles you are selling in each store. You need to learn how to break through the noise and have consumers come back after they try your product for the first time. If your product is not selling fast enough, you’ll get kicked out of the shelves.
With lockdowns and dwindling returns, our sales took a hit, and we faced tough decisions. We lost most of our customers and were running out of money fast.
We had to let go of our team and couldn’t afford to stay in Boston anymore. For the first time in all the years we’ve known each other, we were seriously considering throwing in the towel. It was a hard choice, but we didn’t give up. I remembered a lesson from soccer: the game isn’t over until the final whistle blows.
Despite setbacks, there was still hope for Waku in the beverage industry.. Brands like Olipop and Poppi were thriving, sharing our vision of healthier drinks. Olipor and Poppi were bringing prebiotic sodas with low sugar and natural ingredients into the soda category. Basically, the same concept as Waku but in a different category, the tea category.
We just needed a bit more time to figure out why the product was not working. We needed to tweak our formulations and branding. Nico told me, let’s keep going until we figure it out. Even when the future seemed challenging I had his back. We decided to move to Michigan and keep working hard. For months, we worked tirelessly, listening to our online community, improving our products, and rebranding.
With each tweak, we saw promising results. We felt we were onto something big. It wasn’t easy, but we kept pushing forward. Today, Waku is stronger than ever. We are currently selling Waku in Whole Foods NY, NJ and CT and our journey reminds us that perseverance pays off.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Fast forward to June of last year, a defining moment for Waku came up. We made the official launch of Waku 2.0 at the Fancy Food Show in New York, one of the biggest trade shows in our industry. And guess what? The new Waku was a hit! We earned recognition as one of the hottest brands of the show and clinched the People’s Choice Award.
Following this success, we connected with Whole Foods—an aspiration for any beverage brand. They wanted Waku on their shelves, starting with a small trial. In January 2023, Waku debuted at Whole Foods New York City in 22 stores, testing the waters with their customers.
In just 4 months, Waku became the top-selling tea in the Whole Foods RTD category, surpassing renowned brands like Joe’s Tea, Just Ice Tea (formerly Honest Tea), and Guayaki. The overwhelming response led Whole Foods to expand Waku’s presence to all stores in NY, CT, and NJ, with plans for further expansion in the North Atlantic and Mid Atlantic regions in 2024.
Our success at Whole Foods has also caught the eye of other esteemed retailers like Wegmans and Sprouts. The journey continues, fueled by our commitment to delivering quality and innovation to our customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://livewaku.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkwaku/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drinkwaku/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanjgiraldo/