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WNC Business

Craft soda company embraces innovation and employee relationships to grow

Apr 26, 2023 05:39PM ● By Randee Brown

After finding that many local breweries had no options for non-alcoholic beverages other than water, Devil’s Foot Beverage Company Co-Owner Ben Colvin saw a need to create something better. He said that he was already using a home-brew process at home to make cocktail ingredients, and thought that he could use that existing system to create N/A options for something bubbly that people can have to celebrate with, and for a wider variety of consumers than just kids and pregnant women.

“We have found that our biggest customers are drinkers,” Colvin said. “People may be taking a break from drinking, spreading out their cocktails, or just in the mood for something different. The non-alcoholic beverage scene is growing in popularity for many reasons, and we are trying to stay creative and ahead of the growth curve.”

Seeing the potential for Devil’s Foot to expand with the growth curve, the company recently moved into the new manufacturing space/tap room combo, The Mule. This grew their facility from 2,500 square feet to 15,000 square feet.

“We went from seven barrel tanks which hold about 165 gallons to 15 barrel tanks which hold 400 gallons,” Colvin said. “This doubled our volume. We have also added more tanks, doubled the speed of cold carbonation, and doubled our efficiency.”

Colvin said that the current canning machine exponentially increased the number of cans produced. He said that at the old facility, the team would manually can about seven cans per minute. Now, with the new machine, they are able to can 44 cans per minute. 

With the new larger space and upgraded equipment, they have multiplied their production by six times their former rate. The company has consistently grown 60% year over year. 

“It’s pretty unusual in the food and beverage industry,” Colvin said. “It is common in the tech and medical industries to see that kind of growth in revenue, and we are grateful to be seeing a similar growth for our craft beverage company. We are scaling with intention and direction and the right crew.”

The company’s mission is to do more good and less harm, according to Colvin. Their crew and the facility work to get the full potential out of the fruit that goes into their beverages. He said the juices are fresh pressed from organic fruits on site in order to have the best quality, and the pressed berries and zests are vacuum sealed and sold to other companies that utilize those products. “This allows them to have a much fresher option than dried ingredients, and allows them to get more creative with their own brews,” he said.

The 12 current Devil’s Foot employees are a fantastic team, according to Colvin. He said that he understands the worker shortage, but the combination of the environment and attitude of the company seem to help with employee retention.

“We started a three-month trial of the whole crew working only four days a week,” Colvin said. “These are not four ten-hour shifts like some models, just a four day week. As long as production is met they can take off, and they are also aware that some days may be longer than others.”

The company received a workforce development grant from the Land of Sky Regional Council that allowed the company to cross train all of their employees. Colvin said every employee can do any task, and the ability to interchange roles throughout the workweek keeps the week less mundane for the employees.

Another perk for Devil’s Foot employees is a ‘firehouse-style lunch’ every day. Colvin said having the employees get together for lunch every day not only offers a break, but gives the opportunity to sit down and just be a team.

“We are able to get more in tune with each other,” Colvin said. “It’s more effective to casually talk to each other to communicate, streamline processes, and really be able to understand each other. This helps to create relationships that make working together more of a joy than a chore.”

Colvin said it is imperative to take good care of his employees and compensate them robustly. He said that by finding ways to take care of each other, allowing the crew to listen to themselves and hold each other accountable, and providing ways for them to really be a part of the company is crucial to Devil’s Foot’s success. 

“There is historical economic pressure for ‘churning and burning through staff, especially in the service industry,” Colvin said. “Hiring and training new staff constantly is expensive, and I’d much rather support a team that flourishes with knowledge and responsibility. I couldn’t imagine the sort of growth we are seeing without the retention of this incredible team.”

Through the company’s innovative working models and coupled with the new aspect of the ability to engage with customers in their tap room, collaborations and new ideas have space to flourish, according to Colvin. He said the staff are responsible for creating their own bar menu, and they are also working toward each staff member creating their own soda. They work together to create their own recipe and can develop new styles and flavors. “We can really branch out and try some really wild stuff,” he said.

Collaborations with other companies are now more accessible as well, according to Colvin. “Doing great things with great people is good marketing,” he said. 

Devil’s Foot can offer products to other breweries that complement what they are already doing. “We are doing tastings with other brewers and creating co-branded non-alcoholic products, cloning sours or fruited beers, and mimicking what they are already doing but with an N/A version. With our new facility, we are able to do tank rotations more quickly which allows us to innovate and collaborate more frequently.”

The nature of these options leads Colvin to reach out to beverage distribution companies for sales as opposed to grocery stores. He said that the N/A customer base is growing and taking advantage of many new options like kombucha and CBD seltzers, and he and his company are eagerly jumping on that boat. 

“We have a passion to cater to that customer,” Colvin said. “We are not just slopping something together; we are asking questions and being very intentional in figuring out what works best. Distributors can presale different options to retailers, the retailers keep getting new and innovative products, and we are getting lots of great feedback.”

In addition to the plethora of N/A products that are being created, the company can now bring partially-filled kegs to area high-volume vendors. On site, the vendor’s bartenders can mix a predetermined amount of spirits into the soda keg and offer on-tap mixed cocktails to their customers and maintain a standard alcohol-by-volume percentage

Devil’s Foot is also expanding to create canned or kegged mixed drinks with their new Devil’s Food distillery — Friend of the Devil. Working with a like-minded organic distillery in SC, the company now has the ability to can pre-made cocktails like Moscow mules, vodka lemonades, and mojitos.

“By offering more options with a variety of collaborators, we are helping each other to grow together,” Colvin said. “We are also making sure to keep the vibe of who we are along the way.”