Distribution is a challenge
for many start-up companies.
Often companies have to be innovative,
working around established distributors.
Seth Goldman,
Co-founder of Honest Tea,
shares
“We could make the product,
but how do you get it on the shelf?
We went to the traditional distribution folks
that did AriZona [Iced Tea] and Snapple
and they wouldn’t look at us
—we weren’t sweet enough
and we were too expensive.
We ended up finding other ways.
We’d go through a cheese distributor
to get into a gourmet store.
We’d go through a charcoal distributor
to get into a grocery store.
Pretty soon we were stealing shelf space
from the other beverages
and those original distributors came calling.”
Be open and creative
when trying to solve distribution challenges.