Ben Weiss, the founder of Bai Brands, talks about his latest venture and partnership with the Atlanta Braves
By Vanessa Pascale
Ben Weiss is on a mission to take sugar off the streets and he’s calling it a bevolution. The founder of antioxidant-infused beverage brand, Bai –which he sold for $1.7 billion in cash to Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in 2017– is back with more delicious, revolutionary beverages: Crooked Pop and Crooked Tea.
“I would say it’s an extension of the first drink we created, non-alcohol, Bai. With Bai, we kind of answered the diet dilemma. We figured out how to make five calories taste really good without artificial sweeteners, without sugar. And we had a beautiful ride that culminated in 2017; we sold the company,” Ben tells me as we watch the Atlanta Braves [their new partner!] play the Royals at Truist Park on Opening Day.
Ben noticed that Bai consumers were aging into alcohol and seeking a healthier, cleaner alcoholic beverage. “We had a bunch of consumers who were getting smart and learning how to read labels. And they said, ‘I don’t want to drink my sugar; I don’t trust artificial sweeteners,’ and they made their decisions based on knowledge. We call it the Smart Age, in the beverage/non-alcohol space. They attacked beer, the way they did soda.”
The Brooklyn-born visionary set out to fill the void. Four years later, he created his very own unique alcohol, called Organic Super Dry Alcohol, for his new hard soda, Crooked Pop.
“Our alcohol is the smoothest, cleanest alcohol you could drink. It’s fermented from quinoa, amaranth, millet, cassava, all these organic, ancient grains. Super proud of the product. It’s amazing. Then, we took our ability to deliver flavor without sugar. That product now is zero sugar, USDA organic, gluten-free, vegan, less than one gram of carbs, refreshment in alcohol, which, traditionally, has been beer.
I just feel like there’s a beautiful way to ferment alcohol that isn’t a distillation. I don’t think spirits should be in a can. I think spirits should be a high ABV occasion that is consumed in a cocktail… We created this beautiful alcohol that fuels our brand. Right now, consumers are looking to go beyond sacrificing flavor with a hard seltzer. They want flavor back in their life, and that’s what we do, we give them flavor they can trust,” says Ben.
Ben has partnered with a few famous faces, including NBA basketball player Trae Young and former MLB first baseman (Phillies) Ryan Howard, and iconic brands including the Atlanta Braves to help spread the word about Crooked Pop and Crooked Tea.
“Like every brand, you start off, nobody knows who you are, right? Nobody’s asking for that product right now because it’s brand new. It’s not on anybody’s grocery list. They’re not going, ‘I gotta go pick up my Crooked Pop.’ You need partnerships. You need to bring the brand to life, right? That’s what we’re doing here today. This is a big partnership for us. Braves –great brand! We’re trying to be very relevant in the Southeast. This is a good brand to associate with.”
Opening Day at Truist Park had loads of Atlanta Braves fans clamoring for Crooked Pop and Crooked Tea. It’s just what this stadium needed on this eventful night where the Braves beat the Royals 6-0.
We’re at a baseball game, what are you pairing with your Crooked Pop?
Ben Weiss: “That Cherry Lime went really well with that hot dog! That’s what’s great about the pop. The pop is so good with food. It accompanies food so well.”
What is your favorite Crooked flavor?
BW: “So funny! I used to say at Bai, because we had a lot of flavors, I would never tell anybody my favorite flavor. It’s like telling which kid I love the most. To this day, I’ve never revealed my favorite Bai flavor. I’m going to carry on that tradition. My favorite flavor is the last flavor I drank. I know that sounds so lame, but it’s the truth. That Cherry Lime is amazing. You mentioned Orange Cream; I fell in love with Orange Cream two drinks ago. Whatever you put in my hand is my favorite flavor. I will say this, the reason why I don’t pick my flavor is because I trust the alcohol and the flavor is just a bonus.”
[Crooked Pop is available in Cherry Lime, Blackberry, Orange Cream, and Crooked Tea is available in Lemon, Peach, Raspberry.]
“Every one of our flavors have these different food illustrations that have personality – their tongues are coming out. I like to say, the personalities are a bit braggadocious, very confident, but it’s because they’re not hiding anything. When you have a personality where you don’t hide anything, you can be very transparent. We like to say, ‘A lot of people hide what’s inside, we brag about it.’ So, we’re bragging about our product.”
Are you a health-conscious person in general?
BW: “I am, but I will say this, nobody loves a donut more than me. Nobody loves a hot dog more than me. I feel like we are the most obese society in the world because of sugar and sugar is everywhere, whether you know it or not. 50% of sugar that we consume as Americans is in what we choose to drink. I’ve figured out how to provide flavor without sugar. So, I don’t drink my calories. I don’t drink my sugar. I feel like if people just didn’t drink their sugar, you’d see a big difference in the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. There are options now.”
Is there anything you want to add?
BW: “Listen, this industry needs to fill a void that goes beyond beer, and I truly believe we’re the only one that’s trying to fix what’s broken, which is to develop a fermented product that isn’t malt-based, that is as clean as a distilled product. And that’s what we’re doing. And that’s our Organic Super Dry Alcohol. Once you have the alcohol and the trust of the consumer, the branding and the flavor will take over from there.”
Where can we find Crooked?
“We did the deal with the Atlanta Braves, which we’re super proud of. It’s available in Truist Park, The Battery, QuikTrip, Publix…”
Follow along on Instagram @drinkcrooked
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