Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephanie Tangen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stephanie, 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.

A few years ago, I got sick and found out that I was gluten intolerant. Our favorite meal of the day is breakfast, and you would find us on many Saturday and Sunday mornings at our local restaurant or home entertaining with a Bloody Mary’s with our breakfast. After one of these mornings at a local restaurant I became ill and researched and found out that the Bloody Mary Mix had gluten. We decided to come up with our own recipe that did not contain gluten. Through many taste tests we came up with our recipe. We began serving this to our family and friends who thought it was the best they had ever had. They encouraged us to come up with a name and market our Bloody Mary mix. We decided to give it a try.
The name UFFDA Juice came about at a family Christmas. Everyone was throwing out names and UFFDA Juice stuck!
In May of 2020 I started making it in our kitchen and selling it at Farmers Markets. People loved it and it took over my life! I could not keep up. So, I found a Co-packer and from there started putting it into stores. We are now in over 140 stores throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in St. Peter, Minnesota and now live in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. I am married to my husband Chris and between the 2 of us we have 7 kids and 7 grandchildren. Everyone asks me how did you choose Bloody Mary Mix and I say “I didn’t! It chose me!”

Customers love our Bloody Mary Mix because it is thinner than most Bloody Mary mixes. It has a ton of flavor and now that we have added UFFDA UFFDA, our spicy version, we have the HEAT! We also have a seasoning, UFFDA Shake, that everyone loves! You can literally put it on anything!
UFFDA Juice, the company, is about building relationships. Relationships with our storeowners and with our customers. I love my stores and their owners. I try to visit them and get to know the store owner and their business. Our UFFDA Juice makes people happy! It has surprised me the following that we have. UFFDA Juice is about building relationships 1 bottle at a time.

This year we will be giving back. We will be coming up with a limited-edition bottle that will support breast cancer. Giving back has always been one of my goals from the inception of UFFDA Juice. Breast cancer has affected too many friends and family.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Number one is our mix. UFFDA Juice has a ton of flavor and you don’t have to add anything to it, except your favorite olive, pickle or piece of cheese. Our seasoning, UFFDA Shake, is a big hit too! Number two is our name! Most people in the Midwest, especially in Minnesota, have someone in their lives that say UFFDA all the time! Number three is that we are about building relationships! I still have people that I sold to at the Farmers Markets that I see, and it is like we are old friends.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I love to go into a town and walk through the stores and when I find one that I think would be a good fit I stop in and tell them about UFFDA Juice the Bloody Mary Mix and UFFDA Juice the company. I get to know them and leave them with samples. Most times they place their first order with me before I walk out the door. My customers are also a great source! They love their UFFDA Juice and will recommend me to stores or tell me about a specific store that I should try to get our products in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.uffdajuice.com
• Instagram: @uffda-juice
• Facebook: UFFDAJUICE@ISHDATSGOOD

Image Credits
Jeff Mozey photography