We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lanre Oriowo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lanre below.

Lanre, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Actually, the name came before the product. The co-founders, Abi, Lanre, and Tony, and 2 other friends were in a group chat, vigorously and hilariously discussing an instagram post where a man was cautioning his future wife against hanging out with bitter feminists. Abi loved the moniker “Bitter Feminist”, thinking it would make a great name for a rock band. And then, bolt of lightning, Abi said it would be a great name for an alcoholic beverage that focused on sharing fun stories about women.

Clearly, this moment came at the heels of several conversations addressing the unflattering, degrading, or even muted stories about women in social media or in society, in general, seen through the lens of Abi and my experiences in spaces typically inhabited by men. As Black women with degrees in engineering, you could say that our presence in certain spaces was atypical and sometimes unwanted. Yet, the truth about how women, especially Black women, have contributed to many of the things the world relies on, mostly goes untold. We wanted this brand to be the platform, not only for these stories, but also for the celebration of these and many other incredible women.

In truth, it is almost like the alcohol industry was the natural place to situate this brand and its aims. For the most part, the spirits industry is marketed at men even though women participate wholeheartedly. We wanted to turn the tides. We wanted women to stake their claim.

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.

Bitter Feminist Cachaca is the flagship brand of Taburo Inc., a company inspired by two sisters, Abi and Lanre (me), and our (forcibly adopted) cousin, Tony. We are a Black-owned, majority female-led company that launched its first product in April 2022. Abi, the older of the two sisters, is the President and CEO, I am the Chief Operations Officer, and Tony is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Sales. We are actually rather a motley crew of individuals – Abi has a background in engineering and law and currently works as an executive director of state and local tax. I also have an educational background in engineering, business and education. I currently work as a math faculty while trying to finish my dissertation. Tony has a background in accounting and information systems, and currently works as an IT program manager. As our names might have already suggested, we are all Nigerian.

At it’s conception, Bitter Feminist Cachaca had a simple mission which is to “Unapologetically celebrate Bitter, Mouthy women everywhere”. We wanted to shift the narrative of bitterness by drawing attention to the stories of women who became mouth pieces for change, and becoming a platform for the celebration of what women have accomplished, particularly women of color. As we share these stories of women from around the world, in all walks of life, we invite others to join the celebration, bringing their stories to the forefront so future generations of women can be empowered and inspired by the sheer courage and creativity in their DNA. And of course enjoy some delicious cocktails in the process.

We have been careful to make sure that our product, its branding, and its messaging remain tightly aligned to the mission. This has taken some effort especially as our flagship product is a spirit that, while popular in the rest of the world, is not well known here in the U.S. Cachaca (pronounced Ka-shah-sa) is Brazil’s national spirit. It is classified under the rum category because for years this spirit was known as Brazilian Rum. Our Cachaca is imported from Brazil (a requirement in order to be able to call it cachaca). It is twice distilled in copper stills, rested for 9 months, & packaged in glass bottles. The result is a smooth spirit which boasts subtle notes of sugar cane, nectarine, and melon with a light, but persistent finish. Bitter Feminist Cachaca is now an award-winning spirit in over 23 states and growing, with a supportive and growing community, and what we hope is a movement in the making. The awards acknowledge the quality and taste of our product, as well as the bold bottle design responsible for the much praised consumer appeal, appealing to more progressive consumers, both male and female, offering an unexpected taste and quality. If you are a person who likes to try new things and enjoys celebrating with friends, then Bitter Feminist Cachaca is for you!

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We consider ourselves digitally native, meaning all communications with clients began via social media. In fact, we started posting on Instagram before we had a bottle available for sale. We did have merchandise available for sale as a means to start the buzz. Since cachaca is largely unknown, we started with a social media campaign focused on educating future consumers, and showing them the humans behind the brand. We have kept this up with monthly lives on Instagram where we make a couple of cocktails featured in our posts, and share stories. We never want to lose touch with the people who support us. We hope to keep this up even as we grow.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

This probably seems obvious but participating in events where people can see and touch the bottle, try a cocktail and maybe even talk to the co-founders. This is critical for various reasons:

1. Cachaca is new for many people. We can tell you how awesome it is but a taste will convince a person quicker than a sales pitch. Tastings or cocktail sales at events allow people to experience our product.
2. Representation matters – when people see us at events, they are shocked to know that there are Black-owned spirits and even more shocked to learn that we are majority women-led. Not only does it grow brand loyalty, but it inspires others to be bold and to venture into new spaces.

Where funds make it possible, we try to attend events for these reasons. We hope to continue doing this and we trust that it will continue to help us grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bitterfeministdrinks.com/
• Instagram: @bitterfeministdrinks

Image Credits
AClaireVision