Sometimes a relative stranger, during a small collection of conversations, can make an outsized impact by suddenly awakening a light within you. If you think that sounds like hyperbole…how about I share my recent experience with this phenomenon. In the last several years, I’ve had a handful of beverage industry friends tell me to check out this tea-plus brand named Equitea. Admittedly, in a rushed state…I would glance at the product pages and say something relatively positive about the emerging category and/or its product composition and packaging. But it wasn’t until Danny Stepper asked me to moderate a panel at The Beverage Forum that changed everything. As I’m putting together the conversation framework…I start digging deeper into Equitea because its co-founder and CEO, Quentin Vennie, was one of the panelists. This is when I learned about the founding reason for Equitea and then the more recent tragic event that evolved the brand purpose. Maybe it was partly due to the proximity of myself becoming a new father, but suddenly I felt this amplified connection to Quentin’s story. Getting to know him better (on- and off-stage) became the unexpected (but in a totally good way) top highlight of mine from The Beverage Forum. And as you’ll quickly notice, this recorded conversation feels like it just rolls right into it…and that’s because it was a totally authentic human interaction that Grant captured after we got off stage together. While that might feel a bit different than typical story arcs in previous episodes, this whole “Pivotal segment concept” was created because I wanted to break down barriers and show the human beings that exist beyond these CPG brands. With “great products” becoming ubiquitous across the CPG industry, they must evolve into a vehicle to build rich compelling stories that create consumer connection. In this case, it’s packaged tea-plus products called Equitea that exists to destigmatize mental health, expand pathways to wellness, and help make cognitive wellness-centered products more accessible and equitable. Finally, for those that want to hear more from Quentin, the accompanying Joshing Around "The Beverage Forum 2024" vlog episode (that will be uploaded to my YouTube channel very soon) should help fill that void and likely add more context to portions of this recorded conversation.

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