On Wednesday the 23rd of January, I attended the North East Youthtrade summit at the North East region’s Wholefoods headquarters in New Jersey. Youthtrade is a non-profit that supports consumer products entrepreneurs under 35 and helps them take their products and companies to the next level. Fifteen companies attended the summit, and I was impressed by the quality that all of their products had. Here are four of the best:

1. Raaka Chocolates: This company makes premium chocolates in Brooklyn, NY. Raaka has a variety of super flavors including Bourbon Cask Aged and Blueberry Lavender. Raaka’s packaging is clean and distinctive, and I could see the company being very successful although they have lots of competitors.

2. That Indian Drink: This company makes ready to drink lassi beverages. Lassi is an Indian drinkable yogurt beverage and That Indian Drink makes all of their own products, including their own yogurt. Their products are delicious and really stood out in my mind.

3. Off The Cob: This company makes tortilla chips from sweet corn, giving them a distinctive and bold flavor. Off the Cob is already available in all North Atlantic Wholefoods, and founder Cameron Sheldrake is a really cool guy.

4.  Bollywood Delights: This company makes kulfi, a traditional Indian frozen dairy dessert in three flavors: pistachio, mango and original. All of the flavors tasted great. Currently Bollywood Treats is sold mostly in ethnic markets around Boston, but the company hopes to make it into Wholefoods later this year. Their products could be huge although the packaging might need to be changed to appeal to organic/natural foods consumers.

It is a new year, and an exciting time here at King Kava. Today, Thursday January 3rd, we made our Wholefoods debut at Wholefoods Tribeca. We will be doing tons of demos at Wholefoods Tribeca in the coming months. We also will most likely be expanding to a few additional Wholefoods throughout the city so stay tuned!

Most beverage brands are manufactured via co-packing (contract packaging): a beverage brand gives its raw materials, packaging and recipe to a co-packer who manufactures the beverage using superior equipment.Co-packing makes a lot of sense for larger brands, but for a newly launched beverage brand it can be problematic. I believe that manufacturing your own products gives you a competitive advantage. Here are 5 reasons we chose to start King Kava by manufacturing it ourselves:

1) Cost: Co-packers require you to produce a minimum amount of your product in order to manufacture it. That means spending more on raw materials and packaging. It also means spending a lot more on storage. Manufacturing products on your own will greatly reduce these costs, especially the costs of storage.

2) Ability to Pivot: Everyone wants hit products, but what happens if your products aren’t a hit right away? If you make your products yourself, it is easier to make important product changes in response to consumer feedback. You won’t have 10,000 bottles of your newly launched onion juice in storage, and you will be able to change your recipes and manufacture new products immediately.

3) Being Able to Say You Made It: Being able to say you hand-made your product will give you a sense of pride, and it will also give your product a story that will resonate with consumers. People will be more likely to try your product and support your brand when they know that it is local and handmade.

4) Freshness: Co-packers have minimums. Smaller beverage co-packers will generally require you to make at least 500 cases of your beverage for them to co-pack your product. The more bottles you make at one time, the more time it will take for all of them to be sold. That means your products will be on the shelf or in storage for a longer time. Manufacturing your own products in smaller batches reduces the time between production and consumption which means your products will be fresher when they are purchased.

5) Control: Manufacturing things on a small scale allows you to control the quality of your products. If something goes wrong during production, it’s easier to fix the problem because it is on a smaller scale. It is also easier to take a step backwards during production than it would be if you were working on a larger scale with larger machinery and more raw materials.

We have a few extra cases of mint lemon from our first production run that we do not have cold storage space for. These cases taste slightly more tart and less minty than the mint/lemon that is currently on store shelves. For the next 2 weeks(ending August 6th) we are holding a fan art contest to give away the cases. To apply send your King Kava themed fan art to benandnick@kingkava.com. Here is the prize structure:

• 1st place: 3 cases of normal mint/lemon King Kava from the first run. One case of Mint/Lemon that somehow got way extra kava put into it during the production process.
• 2nd place: 2 cases of mint/lemon King Kava from the first run
• 3rd place: 1 case of mint/lemon King Kava from the first run.

*Please note: this contest is for New York City residents only.