Beverage Startups
Luhv – Drink With Purpose
Healthy food and beverage trends have become one of the main causes for reduced sugar levels, natural ingredients and new mixtures for many beverage brands. Cold pressed beverage category has been getting a lot of attention for many reasons. Consumers are eager to try natural, tasty beverages without any artificial ingredients. Today, I have the pleasure of talking with Chris Beech, Founder & CEO at Luhv.
1. Every single beverage brand has a story to tell. How did the whole journey of Luhv begin?
Good question. I guess it mostly began because it was hard to trust anything I was reading on the back of a packet because I really didn’t know how much of it was just put there for kicks or how much of it was actually trying to be helpful. I know enough about being healthy that I could look out for the obvious things, but I really couldn’t understand why companies just wouldn’t explain in plain English what the ingredients do. So because I couldn’t find it, I decided to do it myself. I approached Kings College London with my idea and they luhv’d it. I wanted to find out (biomedically) how natural ingredients worked and then make drinks for people that were an easy way for them to get their essential daily nutrients. I don’t want to just create drinks for people, I want to create a brand that they can trust because we tell them exactly how stuff works and help them make healthier decisions from it.
2. Experience is very important releasing your own products. Did you have any experience in beverage industry before starting Luhv?
Yeah I actually grew up in and around the drinks, so you could say it was in my blood from an early age. My Dad owned some pubs as I was growing up and I was always interested in the drinks industry. I grew up making drinks and it seemed like the obvious thing to use my experience to make healthy drinks.
3. Luhv has 3 different flavors: your HEART, your SKIN and your MIND. Can you tell us more about each? Which one is your favorite?
That’s like asking which of my niece or nephews i prefer. haha. I think it was fun creating our ranges and although we only launched with 3 drinks out of 6 from our first range (Your Body) we also have just launched this month 3 drinks (from 6) in our ‘luhv Shots’ range.
I guess out of MIND, SKIN and HEART my favourite might be HEART because we mixed beetroot (a marmite kinda reaction flavour) with pure cocoa (and our other ingredients) and created a drink that really gets a wow reaction from people. It’s really rewarding to put ingredients together, that not only have huge health benefits towards that targeted area of the body, but also people might not necessarily think to put together.
4. I have noticed that shortly there will be 3 new flavors of shots released. Can you tell us more about them?
Yeah sure. We have just released our shot range called Luhv Shots and launched with 3. AWAKE, FOCUS and CALM. I think the rational behind this was that we all luhv having shots, so I wanted to make some really healthy ones that have a impact on how you feel throughout the day. We call it the mood range in the office. They’re packed with essential nutrients and enzymes that everyones body needs on a daily basis, but we tailored them to work on specific moods, or how you’re feeling what your body needs.
5. Owning cold pressed beverage brand has many difficulties. What challenges have you faced?
Probably all off them, and no doubt there’ll be plenty more! Although I think as the brand is growing and gaining recognition, it helps that people start to see how our brand luhv stands out. The aim wasn’t to produce cold pressed drinks and try and wow people with our wonderful recipes, it was to really help everyday people like me and you have more information about ingredients and more importantly what they actually do for the body.
6. In my opinion, the hardest part should be finding distributors. What was your strategy in finding them?
Speak with retailers, find out who they use. Work with independents and get a bit of a following and then build momentum. It’s still very early stages for us, but we have some great customers in the UK like Heineken HQ and Google Campus. We’re just trying to spread the word of luhv as much as we can and we’re talking with new businesses every day.
7. It’s no secret, that there are many cold pressed beverage brands. What makes Luhv stand out?
There really are, and it’s growing all the time. However the main reason I founded luhv was to help cut through the white noise of what ingredients do and how they work for you. No company was willing to break down all of the ingredients in their recipes and tell people in simple English how they work. I know that our customer really luhv what we’re doing and I think that’s really what makes us stand out from anyone else.
We drink things every day. Luhv just tells you what our ingredients do…it’s that simple. Our drinks taste fantastic and we have lots of really cool ranges all lined up to come out. Hopefully we’ll lead the way for other great brands to follow.
8. What is your advice to other beverage startups?
Think about what problem your solving. Put your heart and soul into it and really believe in what you’re doing. When people can see your passion I think they start to fall in luhv with what you’re doing. Hopefully your products taste great too, that always helps!
For more information visit Luhv website.
