Our cofounder Liam recently sat down with Sean Klimson, whose podcast Together Talks spotlights the entrepreneurial journeys of food and beverage CPG founders across all stages of their businesses! This podcast is hosted by Klimson Logistics Solutions, providers of comprehensive nationwide freight brokerage and supply chain management services.
Listen to the podcast here, or read some highlights from Liam and Sean’s conversation:
On Taking The Leap
Sean: "What were your concerns to transition to starting your own business?"
Liam: "I think entrepreneurs always have differing stories, but they tend to align around some key themes. For me, the tipping point was asking: if we don't try this, who else is going to? Of course, before that, we did a lot of research. We asked, is there a stable enough supply of it [yaupon] to scale? We found that the answer was yes. Then the question was, do the unit economics make sense? Is there a viable business here at the end of the road? That took a few months of modeling to really be certain and say, okay, this does pencil. We had to do a lot of that blocking and tackling first—building relationships, learning the lay of the land—to ensure that if we expended the capital to produce it [Goldholly], there was a chance it could make money.
But all of that is still a little insufficient to take a risk. Starting your own company is risky in any industry, but it's especially risky if you're trying to sell [yaupon], a product that relatively few Americans have heard of. This is not a proven product category like coffee or ice cream; this is its own new category. So even though it made economic sense and was feasible logistically, we had to ask: is it still worth taking the jump? Essentially, I looked at how [Goldholly] is going to improve the world if we do it, and I found that the list of answers to that question was pretty long.
First, [Goldholly] provides jobs to family-run American farms. Love that. That's really awesome. Second, it supplies consumers with a new source of caffeine with a different profile—lighter, more refreshing—that fits a clear market demand. Third, it is better for health because it's organic, meaning no pesticides and no fertilizers. Even from the inputs perspective, yaupon is super drought-resilient where it grows, so you don't even need to do irrigation, which is a bonus.
I love tea and coffee—don't get me wrong, they are great products. There's a reason they've been so popular for so long. But every unit of Goldholly yaupon sold is theoretically a little bit less tea and coffee. Those industries are going to be fine, but frequently tea and coffee are grown unsustainably. They’re clear-cut on former rainforests or they deplete aquifers. If our product incrementally leads to just a little bit less of that, plus fewer transportation miles heading into the States, that’s a win.
Basically, any way you slice it, selling one of these cartons is a net benefit. I wake up every morning, go to our Shopify and Amazon, and see what's been sold overnight. That's my favorite part of the day because I can say every single one of those cartons is making an impact. It sounds like a cliché, but it's very true. I was doing that math in the early days, and I said: if I can do this, make these impacts, and [yaupon] may still be a profitable business, I think it's worth the risk. Because if we don't, I don't know if anyone else is going to. That was the clinching factor.
On How to Enjoy Goldholly
Sean: "What's the best way to consume your product?"
Liam: "Our [Goldholly] products are sold in containers of 20 tea bags each. We sell three roasts: Light, Medium, and Dark. The Lighter roast is more similar to mate, which is a botanical relative of [yaupon]. It is minimally roasted, so you get more floral, bright, and crisp notes. Our Medium roast is right down the middle. It's more balanced than the other two—moderately roasted with great floral notes, but a little bit of earthiness. Finally, our Dark roast has been roasted for the longest time. That is definitely stronger, more akin to an English black tea with smokier, toasted, and richer notes.
Because of the lack of tannins, our teabags can steep longer than regular teas. We recommend six to seven minutes, but especially for the light roast, you can steep [Goldholly] up to 10 minutes. You won't get any of the astringent bitterness that you find when you oversteep green or black tea.
It also makes a terrific cold-brewed tea. There are two ways to do that. You can either brew it cold by putting a few tea bags in a pitcher of water overnight, letting the caffeine and botanicals diffuse into the water that way. Or, you can brew it hot, let it steep for six to seven—maybe even 10—minutes, and then pour it into a separate container to refrigerate and enjoy on ice.
This means that while [yaupon] makes a fantastic cold-weather hot beverage—which is how I'm drinking it now—it is also a terrific iced tea alternative during warmer months. It is really refreshing and light, but still energizing. You can even add sugar or honey to make a native spin on the classic Southern American sweet tea.
There are a lot of different ways to consume it. In the future, we'd love to look into putting [Goldholly] into a powder or maybe even a bottle or can for ready-to-drink options. But right now, we stick with tea bags because everyone knows how to use them; they are very convenient and get the results our customers are looking for."
On Challenges:
Sean: "What have been the biggest challenges?"
Liam: "The biggest challenge has been scaling up supply. We were all new to CPG. Sourcing, organic certification, shipping, co-packing, and logistics were all steep learning curves. Every component has to arrive at exactly the right time. We're getting better at it. We've had no major hiccups, which is great. But it's the entrepreneur's job to stay tenacious and solve problems as they arise."
On Moments of Joy:
Sean: "Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?"
Liam: "I'm going to give a cheating answer to your question and share two moments. Moment number one was when we visited our third-party fulfillers. It's very important to us that every stage of the [Goldholly] supply chain be good in some way and give back. Our 3PL partner is a nonprofit based in Poughkeepsie, a two-hour train ride north of New York City. They were founded by IBM in 1950 to provide jobs to disabled veterans who had come back from World War Two with limited employment opportunities.
Since then, they've expanded to include folks with disabilities of all kinds. These days, their primary bread and butter is third-party logistics—picking, packing, and shipping goods. We're limited on space here in New York City, so it was not feasible for us to handle our own logistics. We ended up entering a partnership with this organization, and they have been fantastic partners. The day after our first production run arrived, we took the train to Poughkeepsie and walked to the facility. Seeing our first two pallets of production goods there was an enormous moment of pride for me. Prior to that point, it's all immaterial. You're scaling up and getting excited, but until you have that production run, it still feels fake. Seeing the physical [yaupon] product made it real.
The other moment was when we got our first organic customer review. We started sales in April and received a review in May. We'd gotten nice reviews from friends and family, but this was different. I checked with my co-founders, Andrew and Jeffrey, and none of us knew who this person was.
This was a random customer who saw [Goldholly], decided to buy it with her hard-earned money, and felt that it fulfilled her expectations. She said the tea was terrific, refreshing, and did everything we promised. It was a great alternative to her existing options. Seeing positive feedback from someone outside our circle is incredibly affirming. I'm sure you've seen the same thing with Klimson. You have no real link to the person, but you provided quality service and they loved it. That's why we form companies: to make customers happy. That moment was unbelievably noteworthy and fulfilling for me."
About Klimson Logistics Solutions:
Klimson Logistics Solutions is a client-centric freight brokerage that differentiates itself through a transparent, partnership-driven approach to supply chain management rather than simple transactional booking. They provide comprehensive nationwide transportation services, specializing in Less Than Truckload (LTL), Full Truckload (FTL), and expedited shipping, with deep expertise in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and relocation sectors. Learn more at their website at klimsonls.com.