The global market for non-alcoholic beverages is booming as more people than ever are giving up alcohol for good. The trend has run in paralles with a bevy of beverages hitting the market to provide something to drink that purportedly provides a bit of a buzz, without the hangover. Drinks infused with various legal mushrooms have become popular in this category, but Spencer McManes decided to create one using a lesser-used ingredient, with kava as a base.
Kava comes from a plant and also has medicinal effects, but it still has few competitors, giving Spencer runway to be an early leader in the space. He has a loyal fan in Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas - who as of March of this year is also his fiance!
We had a chat with Spencer to learn more about Kaviva…and his proposal.
What led you to start Kaviva?
It was around the summer of 2022 I was thinking there has to be a better social beverage out there than alcohol. I had done a life assessment for myself and noticed that everything in the not going great column tied back to alcohol.
People are going to want to go out, be social and feel some sort of buzz, that's not going to change, but alcohol isn't the right answer. So, I started experimenting. I was drinking Kava tea after a rugby match with one of my teammates from Fiji and I thought, 'Gosh, this would be so good if I were at the bar in downtown Austin'. But, I didn't like the taste, so I went home and started googling Kava extract and saw a few drinks, from my now competitors, and thought I'd like to make my own.
Are you enjoying entrepreneurship?I do. I love it. I've created quite a few business plans of different things I was interested in If I thought it had a 5 percent or even 1 percent chance of working, I would make a business plan as if I was going to do it just to figure it out. This is the one that made the most sense and got the furthest. Then I told a friend I was going to go raise a bunch of money and do a big production run and he suggested I raise $3000 and do it in my kitchen. So, that's what I did, and Kaviva came to life.
So you self-funded? It's bootstrapped with friends and family and no outside capital at this point. I'm trying to take it as far as I can figuring it out so that when the time comes to raise money I know how I'm going to use it, what ad spend is and what that means, what my cost per can is and all that stuff.
Poppi started in the founder's kitchen and just sold for nearly $2 Billion. The beverage industry is so interesting. There are big incumbent players, like a Pepsi and Anheuser Bush that wait and let people like me figure out what the market's asking for and build it up, and then if you're lucky, you get a great opportunity to sell.
And you also still have a day job?I do. I still have a day job as a customer success manager at Data Grail. My boss has been very supportive. He's a big kava fan as well. I want to make sure I've done everything I possibly can do before I leave my full-time job. Of course, that means I'm basically working two jobs, but I don't want to leave full-time and have there be a bunch of low hanging fruit that I hadn't done yet that I could have done on a weekend
You went to Yale where you were quarterback of the football tam, and Gabby went to Harvard. What's that rivalry like at home. We have that rivalry for sure, but it really only comes up one day a year, and that day we're always are wearing opposing colors.
And you met on Instagram? Yep, that's right. I saw her name pop up on Instagram, and I had to ask her why she followed me.
She's said your proposal was the first time you've surprised her. How long were you planning it?Truly planning it was about six weeks, but I'd known for quite a while that she was the one for me. Then the timeline evolved through our conversations on what we wanted out of life.
Do you guys ever train together?Yeah, I try to join her for track practices because they're so, so challenging and it counts for a whole week of workouts for me. It will just be a handful of sprints on one day, all out and I absolutely love that. It's fun. We'll mix in another workout here and there during her off season.
Anything you'd like to add? The reason I keep pushing on Kaviva is because I love it, but also I love the fact that there's a different challenge every day and that I have to be the Chief Marketing Officer and the Head of Sales and the Chief Operating Officer. I love wearing all the hats, and the more people and customers I talk to that love Kaviva, makes it keeps me going/ And, one day it won't be just online, but people will be able to get it at the bar or a restaurant still feel some sort of social uplift without having to rely on alcohol. And honestly, I think one day, the generations behind us will probably look at alcohol the way millennials look at smoking cigarettes. The average number of Americans who smoke is continuing to trend down. Alcohol is starting that trend as well. No one knows if it'll stick, but I think it will. So, it's fun being on the cutting edge of something. Not everyone knows what Kava is, so I get to explain it all the time.
What's your favorite go to flavor?There's a new flavor that's probably my favorite, the Kavita Rita.
Does Gabby have a go to favorite?
Gabby likes the Pineapple Coconut.
Kaviva is currently available on https://enjoykaviva.com/ and on Amazon
Article by Jennifer Birn
Originally published in Austin Lifestyle