HARD SELTZER NEWS PODCAST WAS JOINED BY CAMILA SORIANO (CS) AND DIANE SVEHLAK (DS) OF VOLLEY.

HSN: A lot of hard seltzers are marketed towards women — but run by men. Can you talk a bit about why it is important to have a female perspective in a hard seltzer company and what the perspective brings to the table for Volley?

CS: So, it definitely is important to have these women in our company, but we also think that it’s not just women — it’s a diverse company in general. So, we built a company that really rewards hard work and talent regardless of your gender, or your race or your sexuality. Nearly half our company is female. I’m our co-founder, half our leadership is female. So, we think it’s really important to have this diverse company to keep things dynamic and keep the conversation interesting…I mean, it’s just the way that things are going and the industry has changed. Di has been in the industry for a long time, so she’s seen the changes happen. I’m sure she can speak to it a bit more.

DS: I’d be more than happy to. I think that it’s [not just] the seltzer industry, I think it’s the industry at large. We all know the footprint of our history, that it was a very male-dominated industry — as we used to say “The Good Old Boy Network” — and it is not like that anymore…It is progressing in such a rapid phase that it’s encouraging — we call it tribes. We have women tribes in our industry that we stay very close in tune with in a lot of our organizations, and I’m telling you there are VPs that I know that are killing it. There are CEOs that are women that are killing it. And, it’s great to see the recognition. And, I’m not just talking on a distributor level — I’m talking on premise companies, I’m talking off premise companies, I’m talking e-comm companies that really truly have a voice…It is so refreshing to see after so many years that we really truly are making a true difference in what is happening in today’s [beverage industry].

HSN: For Camila — Can you talk a bit about your background coming from a company that made juice-based cocktail mixers? What was that transition like to Volley and what were some of the early challenges of setting up this new company?  

CS: My original background was in finance. I was in the banking world for several years and transitioned to the juice world while…Chris and I were dating at the time, and he had a juice company that he had started in college. And, so, that was really a huge learning curve going from, you know, making trades to making products in a kitchen and figuring out how to make real profit margins instead of just looking at a piece of paper. It’s totally different…That was a really big learning curve for us, and [with] the transition to Volley, Chris and I, we both had the experience in making good products and knowing how to make the products and how to scale a product properly. So, I think the biggest learning curve for us is really being in the alcohol space. It’s totally different than being in the non-alcoholic space. There’s so many more regulations. We are also importing our product from Mexico, so that’s a big change. I would say that transition has been the largest for us. We’re grateful to have a great team behind us to help us scale out and start selling into states. It’s a new ballgame for us, but it’s been a lot of fun.

HSN: And Diane could you maybe speak a little bit about your background and how you got involved with Volley?

DS: Absolutely. I’ve been in the industry for qUite a long time. I had an ad agency, and the Partida family came to me years and years ago, and we put a tequila line together for them. Upon doing that, I fell in love with the industry…I called my banker, and I said, “What is it going to take to get into this industry, and do you have any contacts?” Two weeks later, he hooked me up with a gentleman named Jim Muller, [who] has got a pedigree that is second to none in our industry…We basically partnered and opened up our own beverage company — had some very successful lines — and then, it went IPO…From there, I never looked back. I met Cindy McClure, my business partner with Dress the Drink — it’s a gourmet garnish and blend company. We do all custom garnishes and blends, even for Starbucks. My tentacles go very deep in the industry. And then, I have a brand consulting industry and basically have worked 4 years with Q Mixers on a national front, building that brand on premise…I met Chris years and years ago when he came out with his concept of American Cocktail. And, he was so innovative and so spot on and got some of the world premiere mixologists…We always stayed in touch, so that’s how I met Chris and Camilla. And then, from there, they told me what they were going to be doing…Now, it’s real, and I’m extremely involved in it, and I couldn’t be more honored to be a part of their team.

HSN: Volley has a different approach to the traditional malt-based hard seltzer. Why tequila, and why market it as a hard seltzer in particular, rather than a premade cocktail?

CS: First of all, I’m a tequila drinker. And the tequila industry is just exploding. But, we also wanted to make a product that was, quote un quote, better for you…Tequila is actually better for you than all the other liquors — if you use a good quality tequila. So, we are using 100% agave tequila. We are one of the only ones using 100% blue agave tequila out there. And, you know…if a company doesn’t say, “100% blue agave tequila,” it means they are using mixto. And, mixto can have up to 49% other sugars in there, which is why it’s called mixto. It’s mixed with other sugars…We wanted to come out with something clean. Tequila is clean, and that’s why we use clean ingredients. The reason that we are marketing ourselves as a hard seltzer is because we find that in RTD — ready to drink cocktail — can put you in a corner of something that you may not want to drink at noon. We really want to capture that beer moment, which we find is much more diverse…You can drink a beer at any time of the day, whereas a cocktail you might want to save for a specific time of the day. Volley is super refreshing, and it is capturing that beer moment. So, that’s the reason why we’ve stayed with the hard seltzer [category].  

HSN: Can you talk a bit about how you’ve tied the company to causes and values that are important to you? What are some of the positive impacts you’ve seen?

CS: So, I guess, [sic] first, the crux of our brand is to partner with Leave No Trace. It was something that I was extremely passionate about when Chris and I set out on this idea of creating a canned consumer product that, you know, people are hopefully going to be drinking a lot of. I didn’t want to see cans sprinkled everywhere…We used to live in New York, and it can be kinda dirty. And, I didn’t want to see — just like we see White Claw [cans] on the ground — I didn’t want to see Volley. So we found Leave No Trace, a non-profit out of Colorado. And, they’re [a] great partnership with us. They lead outdoor stewardship events and education, and it’s just been great. So, we haven’t been able to plan a clean up yet due to COVID, but we will be planning beach clean ups, and park clean ups and city clean ups with them, just to get people together to respect the outdoors and to drink some Volley and enjoy…And along with that, I guess, because we have positioned ourselves as the cleanest seltzer, we are clean in many ways — in the environment, and in our products and even in our production…We have a solar powered production facility, so that was really important when creating this brand, and its really created a whole lifestyle and experience. And, we think we have been able to convey that, and we will continue to convey that in the brand.

HSN: Love how you mention on your website the dark secret behind “natural flavors” on food and drink packaging. What do you think hard seltzer companies can do to keep exposing and combating the FDA’s loose definition?  

CS: Great, yeah, because, to be honest, no one really is. And, I think it’s because of the price point. Obviously, it’s much cheaper to use a natural flavor, and we are totally against that. We don’t want to see any of that on our packaging — because we know what’s in it. We’ve worked with the flavoring companies. I mean, to start exposing them, people should stop using them. But, we just don’t think, because of the profits, that anyone really is going to. So, we are very proud to be [some of the only ones] not using natural flavors. It’s something that we are very passionate about. When we were working to approve our label, we were actually required to put “tequila with natural flavors” on our label…We were like, “No, because we don’t have any,” and they were like, “Oh, but that’s just the category. That’s what it’s called.” And, I was like, “No, no, no, no, no. We are not going to have natural flavors on our packaging because we don’t have any in the drink.” So, we were able to get approved to say on our packaging, “tequila with real juice,” and, you know, that’s the best we could do. But, we will continue to fight for more transparency because we think it’s so important, and everyone wants to know what they’re putting in their body these days. We’re clean, and we’re honest, and we want to keep moving everyone else in the right direction.

HSN: Volley has very summery, active marketing — how do you think that will translate for fall, especially in New York and New Jersey as stay at home orders may keep people inside as the weather turns cold? 

DS: I love that you just asked that. Volley is year round. We’re not just one flavor. We have four flavors — three ways to serve. With COVID, everybody is still at home. We have no understanding of what the future is, but we do have one understanding. People love tequila and they love crafted cocktails, and volley is a crafted cocktail all in its own right. It’s three serves. You can pop it and drop it with a shot and use it as a chaser. Secondly, you can put it on ice and just do a wedge of lime, and it’s glorious. Or, the home consumer is getting creative. They just don’t have all the materials they need to make their crafted cocktails. So, they use Volley as a base. We don’t consider Volley as [just] a summer cocktail. Nielsen doesn’t consider RTD [just a summer cocktail]. It’s here to stay, and I think that it’s just a matter of having a lovely cocktail in an RTD, and people are not familiar with ultra premium RTD. 

CS: Yeah, I think when the seltzers all launched, everyone thought it was going to be a summer thing, and they’ve proven to not be seasonal at all…Everyone drinks a tequila seltzer in the winter. I mean, I’m a tequila drinker, but I see lots of people going out and drinking tequila seltzer [in the winter]. So, we really think that it’s not a summer brand. It’s going to be [cross] seasonal. And, yes, our [marketing] content is, of course, very summery and bright right now. But, we have lots planned for the fall and the winter. And, yeah, we don’t think it’s going to slow down. 

HSN: Is there anything else you’d like listeners to know about Volley and about your mission?

DS: I think price point is really, really important. If you think of going into a store and getting four 12oz cans for $11.99, how much is a can? And, if you do a 6oz pour, and you put it on the rocks…It’s being sold at $3.00 a can at retail. What a treat that is — to be drinking high premium cocktails for that type of pricing. So, in the perfect picture, I think retail driver is going to be really important to the consumer. And, I think that they’re going to be able to be offered a multipack. And they’ll be able to actually be able to enjoy the lime, the grapefruit, the mango, the ginger. Then, from there, they can make their favorite opinions, and go back to the stores and get their favorites. Or, they might want to stick with just multipack because it’s very hard to choose. 

HSN: Yeah, I mean, if you think about it too — when you are marketing it as a premium cocktail product, it’s still so much cheaper than going out to a bar and buying a 12 to 18 dollar cocktail. So, I think right now with COVID, it’s been really great to see these types of ready to drink cocktails that are really speaking to people because they’re not able to go out.

DS: Oh yes, I think it’s also [the] organic pressed juice. I think that people, if you’re in that wellness category, you know that it settles. And we never settle…At the end of the day, Volley may be very simple — but it’s never basic. When you flip and do that three flip to that can, and you actually taste the essence of what organic, fresh pressed juice really does to carbonation and to the tequila alone, the game’s over. 

CS: I think, on that, talking about the tequila and the caliber of the ingredients, it’s been so important to us. We wanted to create a high quality brand that was accessible to people. And, because we really believe that people want to know what they’re putting in their body, there’s a huge wellness/lifestyle value that’s popped up, and I don’t think its going anywhere…So, we really want to put those premium ingredients in there and make it accessible…When we went to Mexico to create the product — or at least the recipe — we tried 15 different tequilas. It was a blind taste test, and we chose three of the top tequilas, two of which are some of the nicest tequilas in the world. And then, one was a private label that we could use. So, our tequila, it’s on par with some of the best in the world. It’s an exclusive tequila that only we can use, which is awesome. And, you can really taste that flavor when you have a Volley…As Di was saying, the organic juice makes such a difference. It’s a single strength pressed juice, so it’s as if you squeezed a grapefruit in there. There’s no concentrates, and you can really taste the difference…We wanted to make sure that was coming through, and that’s how we really think we stand out from everybody out there. And again — just to reiterate — you need to flip the can to try it because when you buy a fresh orange juice, that orange juice settles at the bottom so you need to [shake things up]. You maybe wouldn’t shake a carbonated can up as much, but you flip it or shake it very gently and open it up, and you’ll get all that full flavor. We hope you enjoy it!

Stephanie Meade
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