Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Tinus.
Hi Mark, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2014 I started a craft spirits brand after working in the drinks business for the first decade of my corporate career. As we were working on building the brand, it was evident that educating on the proper cocktail was time-consuming and intimidating to say the least. We were unhappy with the off-the-shelf mixer offerings that were packed with artificial flavors and super high sugar content, so we started up Simple Times Mixers to be a simple just add alcohol solution that would use only real ingredients and have the same quality as a fresh juice restaurant handcrafted cocktail.
We started out of a commissary kitchen in 2017, making single batches and running out to a farmer’s market to sell what we had in stock and then rushing back to the kitchen to restock. One farmer’s market grew into two and then three, and so on. We started working with some of our local farmers to purchase their produce to create new offerings of products but always sticking to our ethos of real ingredients processed for the first time (whole fruit) in our kitchen to make the world’s easiest (3 parts to 1 part spirit/soda water) and highest quality cocktails or mocktails.
In 2019, we opened our own manufacturing facility in Gahanna to expand out of farmer’s markets and start working with the retail and e-commerce sides of the business. We have had a long relationship with Giant Eagle and have since expanded into regional chains and independent liquor and grocery stores around the area while maintaining our presence in the farmer’s markets. We have continued to maintain a huge sense of community, and we work with over 15 small to larger distilleries in pairing existing and new flavors with their spirits as well as working with over 6 local farms in Ohio to source multiple ingredients from Blackberries to Honey. We have dedicated ourselves to environmental responsibility and work with local distilleries to use our waste like peels and pressed fruit to make their spirits as well as a large campaign to reuse glass which has resulted in over 15 tons of glass repurposed to date.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Any start-up to small business has plenty of obstacles along the way, but growing through the pandemic has created more bumps in the road than ever imagined. From difficulties in hiring, financing expansions in our production to supply chain difficulties, even finding glass to put our product into (to name just a few), this has truly been a new challenge on a daily basis. That being said, it has amplified the major strengths of our brand and organization, which is to stay flexible and think of our consumers first, which has led every decision thus far. This could be a much larger answer, but I suppose I will leave it as this for now!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
All natural. Handcrafted. Cocktail mixers. We use only real ingredients to create unique recipes that can be enjoyed anywhere. Based in Columbus, Ohio, we take advantage of the bountiful produce-growing community mixed with the love of craft cocktails to bring everyone a step closer to enjoying the things they love. Surprisingly Simple, Freshly Crafted, and Home Grown help to set us apart as a brand and member of the community.
The process of starting with only whole ingredients and juicing everything by hand ourselves, as well as very small batch processing for the freshest taste really sets us apart. We cut no corners in making all of our own products right here in central Ohio. We are very proud of the transparency of our brand; from the ingredients we use to our environmental efforts, we include our consumer in every step of the process.
Additionally, we try to keep everything very “user friendly” to reduce the complexity of making a handcrafted cocktail. Every recipe we have ever made (over 80 to date) has been created to be 3 parts mixer, 1-part spirit, or soda water.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I view myself as quite a calculated risk taker. There is so much risk associated with running a small business it is hard to actually document all of it. There is everything from taking on debt (personally guaranteeing all of it) for production expansion, equipment, and working capital to hiring new employees and ensuring we have the capital to keep everyone gainfully employed. But my personal perspective is that it is even more risky to sit around and not grow which would allow competition to catch up or pass us. You have to have the confidence to keep pushing forward and grow doing the things that you are the best at, which in our case is just making super high-quality mixers with the best ingredients.
Pricing:
- $14.99 per bottle (making 8-10 cocktails)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.simpletimesmixers.com
- Instagram: @simpletimesmixers
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simpletimesmixers/
