Brewbound Live 2023 Pitch Slam Winner Announcement and Interview

Speaker 1 [00:11] All right, who's ready to find out who won Pitch slam? I know I am. I'm gonna welcome Ray back onto the stage as well as my colleagues, Justin and Jess, and some of our judges, Carrie and Ryan, and we're gonna find out. Indeed,

Speaker 2 [00:31] it is time to find out.

Speaker 1 [00:35] OK. All right,

Speaker 2 [00:40] Jess with the trophy, someone's going to get that along with a $10,000 industry awareness package, a free ticket to next year's Brewbound Live, and all the accolades that come with winning this pitch slam. That being said, everyone who participated in the semifinals, everyone who participated in the finals today just did once again an amazing job. It's so difficult to come up here, and I thought everyone presented quite well. I thought everyone's products were amazing. And I look forward to being part of your futures. Our team looks forward to being a part of your futures. Once again, thank you so much for being with us. Uh, speaking of our team, I just want to give a big shout out to everyone from Bevnet and Brewbound. Some of us have been here for 2 weeks, um, and it's, uh, it's been so exciting and, and fun to be with this team. Uh, I just want to also quickly note our amazing visual and creative team. Everything that you've seen up on the stage, all the videos that you've seen, the best of video from yesterday, kudos to Aaron Olette, Amanda Huang, and Nate Brescia, who've just done an amazing job under tremendously pressure-filled circumstances. They really pulled everything off. So great job, guys. A folks who are still here in Marina del Rey, after we make the announcement, you can head out into the lobby. We're going to wrap with a, well, wrap party. Lots more beer and other beverages and libations will be available. And then also we're going to do an interview with the winner of the pitch slam after we make the announcement. So live stream viewers stick around for that. OK, let's turn to our incredible editorial team, two of our incredible judges, do a quick debrief about the pitch slam Zoe. You know, I, you see a lot of new concepts come to market, and I think we saw some really interesting ones as part of the pitch slam. You know, what was your overall kind of perspective on what you saw over the last couple of days?

Speaker 1 [02:43] I was really excited by the just array of products that we had and the especially the very targeted consumers that we saw as well. Like we are, we're seeing. Seeing that people are looking to reach other consumers outside of what is typically in the beer space, and it's exciting to see that there are new products out there we're not, we haven't seen everything yet. Not everything is just a repeat of whatever we've seen before and there are new drinkers out there that people can directly market to. So I was introduced to new products. I was seeing how new consumers. are interacting with those products and that made me very excited for Bev Ek.

Speaker 2 [03:20] Yeah, Justin again a wide variety of products in terms of business strategy. We saw an emphasis on innovation, on mission, on community. I mean all these things you take into account. I mean how do you as an editor, as a writer, as an observer of this industry evaluate these things, you know, as a whole?

Speaker 3 [03:38] I just love brands that are, I'm going to call out a couple of brands like People's Republic of South Central, the mission driven brand. I love that, love the lifestyle brand Gai Water. I thought I love Gai Water. I think that that is such a great fun brand. I mean, those two really stuck out to me in this competition. But then I, I lived in Kansas City for 11 years, and I actually know Kemet from way back, like, he, he, I don't think he even realized that we knew each other when he came here, but I've seen Vine Street where he has his brewery, and that area has needed development like that and life, and I think it's very cool what he's doing. So just those were a few of my notes.

Speaker 2 [04:34] Jess, did you get to try much of the much of these products and you know, what do you think of it? Maybe not,

Speaker 4 [04:39] right? Did you not see that I brought my six month old baby? So that's a yes. I tried all of that. Embarrassingly, no, I didn't actually get to, I'm going to make a point to go do it, but it's been a, it's been a week. But to echo what Justin said, I loved how much passion went into every pitch, and I think, you know, today, it's, it's not enough to have a differentiated product. It's not enough to be a super passionate entrepreneur. You've got to do all those things and you've got to do them all really, really well. And I think this year's contestants all Executed all of that flawlessly. The combination of business smarts, but Hart was really, really impressive. I don't think we've seen a whole crew to do that so well since I've been around.

Speaker 2 [05:28] Well, two of the folks who actually picked the winner, Carrie and Ryan, you know, what did you see in the winning brand in general terms, without giving anything away? What did see your question in that brand that really stood out to you.

Speaker 4 [05:44] I think the winning brand in particular brought a sense of passion. All the entreprepreneurs did a great job with the level of passion they brought. This one, I think, rose to the top there. The other thing is, I think to Jess's point, it's about really being unique and sort of knowing your exact audience, your exact market, because you can't come in and just splatter something across, right?

Speaker 1 [06:06] You have to

Speaker 4 [06:06] be really targeted

Speaker 1 [06:07] and

Speaker 4 [06:08] really focused, and this brand did that. Ryan, there you go,

Speaker 1 [06:13] yeah, echo what Kerry said, yeah. Sounds fun, yeah, it's, it's a, you've got to have it. Beverage is so tough. It's so competitive. It's hard to get started. It's hard to sustain it. You've got to have focus. You've got to have clarity of purpose, of mission, of strategy, and I've been doing this, I don't know, a while now. It's amazing every year to see the diversity. not just in liquids and brands, operating models, the, you know, backgrounds of the founders, like the diversity is fascinating every year to me, and it changes every year, and this, this one is another example of that. Yeah,

Speaker 4 [06:49] I think, you know, there's also, it would be remiss not to say it was really great. Like it was the full package from the perspective of like it was the one that we kept going back to and that we kept drinking and we kept commenting on how wonderful the liquid was.

Speaker 2 [07:04] Well, that's great feedback, and I think it's probably now time to announce the winner of Rebound's pitch slam. Before we do that, I just want to remind All right, let's get to it. Don't worry. I just want to remind folks that we're going to ask the winner to come up on stage for some photos and that there is an interview after the announcement. OK, let's do it. The winner of Rebound Live Pitch Slam for the winter 2023 edition is The People's Republic of South Central. Come on up. Congratulations, Greg. Congratulations, Sam. Very well done. The judges would like to congratulate you as well. Absolutely, yes,

Speaker 4 [08:05] I'm coming over. Can I give you a hug. Oh, congratulations. Congratulations.

Speaker 2 [08:12] beer. This is yours. Well done. Let's take one more photo with the judges, if we may. And then Yeah, just go ahead. You can go, yeah, there we go.

Speaker 3 [08:37] Congratulations.

Speaker 1 [08:40] That's right. Title.

Speaker 2 [08:41] Congratulations. You're welcome. Outstanding. Thanks so much, Nate. Congratulations. That's

Speaker 3 [08:50] fucking awesome. Congratulations. Congratulations.

Speaker 2 [08:54] Awesome. And uh we're gonna grab our interview momentarily, and I think Justin would like to say a few closing comments,

Speaker 3 [09:00] some very quick closing comments. Thanks to all of you for coming out. A special thank you to Jess for bringing Cora Corbett to her first baby's first rebound Live conference, so. Give it up to her, give it up to her mom for taking care of business behind the scenes too. Thank you, Lynn. Uh, thanks to all of you again for coming here to Marina del Rey. I'm sure we're probably coming back here next year, so most likely. So look for announcements on that. Um, I gotta go to a 2 year old's birthday, but thank you all. We appreciate it. Let's go get a drink and Chris.

Speaker 2 [09:39] All right. Welcome back. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Bavnet's Taste Radio podcast. You're in Marina del Rey for Brewbound Live Winter 2023 here with the winners of Brewbound's Pitch Slam competition, Sam Chiwenga, Craig Bowers, the co-founders of the People's Republic of South Central. Congratulations.

Speaker 5 [09:59] Thank you. Thank you, sir. We're really excited, isn't

Speaker 2 [10:01] it? Isn't it fun? Like, you know, all the preparation that you put into this, all the hard work making this beer, planning. And getting to this point, I feel like there's a sense of validation here.

Speaker 5 [10:13] Absolutely, um, you know, Sam and I have been working on this idea for about 7-8 years, and, um, you know, as you go along on this journey, you just, it's, it's a very lonely journey, um, so for us to see, you know, some sort of, you know, validation feedback, it's, it's really, um, it's really kind of overwhelming.

Speaker 2 [10:35] Sam, uh, you joined for the 2nd round of the competition. Uh, Craig did the heavy lifting in the 1st round, but, um, you know, when I think about the beer, the liquid itself, that was something everyone raved about. I mean, we're going to talk about the business strategy momentarily, but, you know, everything starts with a liquid.

Speaker 6 [10:53] When you say heavy lifting, it was 1 minute, but 1 minute heavy lifting, I guess

Speaker 2 [10:57] it's actually 2 minutes, but you know, I'm sorry, 2 minutes,

Speaker 6 [11:00] uh, no, it's um. I call it beer. You call it liquid. I love brewing beer. I love beer. I've been doing it for since I was 16 and I've been professionally brewing for 18 years. But to come on the stage and have the people from the industry really respond this way to it is is very humbling.

Speaker 2 [11:23] Well, you know, I, I, there's something about you guys, and I think about your brand that immediately attracts and engenders a positive feeling among people. I think everyone in the room, especially when you guys were announced as the winners, came to you and were like, yes, you know, I feel like this is a good thing. This is a good thing for the industry, it's a good thing for LA, um, you know, how do you get people to believe in what you're doing and see it in a way that Um, you know, will benefit not just the industry as a whole, but like your particular area of focus, which is South Central Los Angeles.

Speaker 5 [11:58] Yeah, I think, you know, the cool word to use about this project is we're very intentional and You know, when I got indoctrinated into craft beer, you know, 10 years ago, which was via Sam. I had never experienced anything like it in what I'll call our own communities, you know, um, you know, South Central, if you want liquor, you go to the liquor store and they're on every corner, um, you know, if you wanna sit down and have a communal conversation with a stranger, where, where do you do that in these types of neighborhoods? And so that was really like the fundamental vision. And then we kept, you know, ideating and ideating and, you know, trying to refine that, and I think what we presented here on the Brewbound stage is that, you know, you're, you're looking at the manifestation of over and over and how can we make it better and how can we make it more distinct and how can we, you know, give it its own voice and, and I think that's what I'm proud of, and I think we do that in the can. Uh, but we also are going to do that, you know, when you come and visit us,

Speaker 2 [13:03] right? And your plan, your, your overarching plan is quite ambitious. Uh, I think that is something that I always, um, find is important and, and thoughtful when I'm looking at, uh, entrepreneurs and speaking with entrepreneurs because if you're not ambitious, if you're not looking at the big picture, the big opportunity, you're looking kind of small and what, what's the point of being a small brand in so many ways, um, you know, talk about. What your plan is and like how you thought about it as being something that is bigger than just beer, much, much bigger than just beer.

Speaker 5 [13:38] Yeah, I mean, it's personal for me, you know, my dad was born in South Central. My mom was born 30 blocks south in, in Watts, um, so for me it was always like, well, like what can we do, you know, like Sam and I can open a brewery, we're gonna be good, but you know what, who gets to come along on a ride, you know, and I think once we started to kind of like lean into that direction and ask those types of questions, it, it became this thing that was like more awesome and more awesome, you know what I mean? and um. You know, I just think that's a I, I think that I, I don't call it, um, big, it's, it's to me it's just more audacious, you know, like who's done this before, you know, um, and if we pull it off, I think it's just gonna be something that the rest of the beer community can look at and say, OK, how do I level up and, and, you know, make even more of an impact, um, in my local region like those guys are doing.

Speaker 2 [14:38] Sam, do you get to pick out the equipment for, uh, for what you're doing? I mean, I, most of it's already in the building from what I understand,

Speaker 6 [14:43] yeah, um, some of the equipment's in the building, you know, we're still doing our, our major cash raise, but, you know, this project for me, um, early on in my life, I always knew I wanted to help people out and, and be a part of making the world a better place. After getting slapped around a little bit as a youngster, I fell into beer and I really love beer, and now coming to this project, I got to do both. So that's what is really exciting to me about this whole thing. But the equipment, yes, I, I love equipment and I like it fancy and new. I,

Speaker 2 [15:09] I, I get a sense that brewers are all about the equipment sometimes. Um, you, you said you're raising some money. How much are you attempting to raise?

Speaker 5 [15:18] Um, so we're out on a $3 million equity raise right now, and we're hoping to close that by the end of the first quarter next year. So we're already out talking to people, but, you know, having this cup here, you know, should make some of those conversations again the validation. I think a lot of people have ideas, you know, we try to come with these minimum viable products and so to get those judges' feedback, you know, I think for the for the less informed investor like it's just a real tremendous amount of validation for sure.

Speaker 2 [15:51] You know, the judges here are no strangers to experience in the industry. They have been there, done that, and done it well. And so to get The sort of thumbs up, I guess, so to speak, does mean something, and I really hope that investors see what you're doing, not that they hadn't seen it before, but see it in a different kind of light. Perhaps maybe those issuing permits in Los Angeles will feel the same way as well, because, no, I mean, it seems like that's been a pretty big roadblock for you guys.

Speaker 6 [16:21] Um, it's not easy to build, build in Los Angeles. Um, I don't think there's a, a city in the United States that's harder to build in, but, you know, there's always issues and they arise and you knock them out and the next issue comes up and you keep on pushing forward.

Speaker 2 [16:33] Just bring the cup to your next meeting with the term.

Speaker 6 [16:36] I think I'm gonna bring the cup everywhere I go for a while.

Speaker 2 [16:38] You should, as well as you should. Uh, Sam, Craig, you know, it was fantastic today. Just, uh, you know, I, I really loved every minute that we got to spend with you guys and, you know, really all of the finalists and semifinalists yesterday. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you.

Speaker 6 [16:54] I want to say just real quickly that coming to the seminar was really eye opening and I've been to a lot of beer seminars, but the business talk here was amazing. So thank you for Brewbound and thank you for Ali for supporting the pitch competition. Uh, we had a great time and, uh, obviously we're super happy winning, but thank you so much,

Speaker 2 [17:12] Sam. You could take my job. You know, that was really good. That was really, really good. I mean, you, you even got the sponsor. I mean, well done, of course, yeah. All right, uh, in all seriousness, congratulations again. Have a great time tonight. Take that trophy with you. Uh, and thanks so much to everyone watching over the last couple of days. Uh, it's just been tremendous being here. Uh, I hope you enjoy it and hope those of you who are watching at home. See us here in Marina del Rey or in LA next year at Bluebound Live winter 2024. Until then, signing off for everyone. I'm Ray Latif, and we'll talk to you next time.