In this new series Food & Drink Business revisits its Rising Star alumni. Our regular Rising Star feature in the print magazine profiles founders and their young companies, selected for innovation, creativity, tenacity, and potential. This week, we catch up with hangover remedy Bae Juice’s co-founder Tim O’Sullivan.
Tim O’Sullivan, Sumin Do and Liam Gostencnik started Bae Juice in May 2019 with less than $5000 between them and a goal to provide a hangover remedy in easy, accessible 120 millilitre packs. The remedy was simple – 100 per cent Korean pear juice.
Where is the company today?
It’s almost five years since we launched Bae Juice and it’s been nothing short of a rollercoaster.
We’re proudly in more than 3500 stores across Australia and have recently completed our first round of investment, which will allow us to expand into the US.
We have been lucky enough to visit the US twice since the last quarter of 2022 and have successfully landed a distribution deal throughout New York which can see our product in over 500 stores.
Along with our distribution deal we will be available on Amazon nation-wide, so it’s a very exciting time for the brand.
What have been the high points?
It’s funny how simple the greatest moments of a business can be. For us, it has been being able to pay back some friends and family we have owed over the journey and finally, after four years of full-time work, officially able to pay ourselves a wage to work on the business we started in 2019.
The team has also dreamt of a US launch since the day we first consumed Korean pear juice and seeing it as a great product idea. Landing a deal there was pretty special for us to take the next step in our journey.
What have been the challenges?
Restructuring the business from an exciting start-up to a growing business has been extremely time consuming. Things like getting our accounts streamlined and perfected, to bringing in roles internally has taken lots of strategy to really make sure we get it right before we experience huge growth. We now have advisors, a growing board, and have even begun building our team in the US.
Usually, we’re participating in events and doing fun marketing campaigns, but the last 12 months has had a huge focus on getting the business super sharp.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
I think it’s crazy when people say they have no regrets. We would have done lots of things differently because essentially, this is our first business.
We would have brought a lot more roles internally earlier, I believe marketing a fun exciting brand needs the founders’ characters and personalities, which can sometimes be lost when taken externally.
Along with that, since we have had some advisors in the business helping guide us, it’s been incredible. Our thinking has matured, and the business is more profitable.
Current goals?
Smash our New York deals and then look to expand into LA and throughout universities and other great avenues for the brand. In Australia we still have huge goals to land more retailers, host our own events, launch new marketing campaigns, and really become a household brand.
We feel like its Day 1 again and the team is absolutely pumped to take the brand to where we always knew it could get to!
