NEWS
GreenTalk with Wonderful Drinks/PonaBack to News
26 Oct 2021
What inspired you to create an organic accredited range of sparkling juices.
I have been traveling a lot and recognized, that there is a lack of high-quality beverages which you can consume on the go. Most of them had a lot of sugar, were made (or are still made of) concentrates with flavours and other additives. Most of them in plastic bottles (no recycled PET at that time) … I asked myself – is that necessary? Why not just make it right.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
We use unfiltered organic direct pressed juices in best quality. So sourcing is a big challenge, but also transport and filling. There aren’t many productions who can and want to work with these all-natural juices with a lot of pulp. We found a partner who can deal with it but is limited to certain bottle sizes and certain materials. So yes, this is definitive one challenge that we are still facing. Also, pricing. Our ingredients are expensive, and its prices vary from season to season depending on the harvest.
What were the most memorable, defying moments during this time?
There were a lot of defying moments in the beginning of our company story. But lately I would say, the year 2020, especially spring when COVID hit Austria and the first lock down was announced.
We just entered in a very successful sales season; spring was looking very bright for us – all of this after some tough years. So, we literally thought - finally, our hard work of these last years paid off. Then, March 12th – everything closed, first in Austria and then other countries, which we export to, followed.
I wasn’t sure, if we will survive 2020, to be honest. But we came out stronger in the end and even had an overall growth of 23% vs. 2019.
What helped you to see it through to the end?
I am a very optimistic person by nature. I thought – ok sales were strong, motivation was high, I won’t let this pandemic kill these vibes. We have fought too hard for this… So will pulled through, together as a team, with our customers and clients and of course our employees. Believing in a positive outcome helped me through it. Also having hard times before – we were kind of used to crisis mode, so we could adapt to it: We had an even closer eye on our budget, planned even more carefully. But we never stopped believing and being positive.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
Growth and development. We are in a crucial state now. We have launched 3 new products within the last 3 years – now we need to sell them. We have a momentum right now – trends and consumer habits work in our favor. Now it is time to use this. Also, we are experiencing a lot of change in our team, which is good but also has its challenges. We will further focus on our export sales and might have another product idea in our sleeves.
www.pona.at | www.wonderfuldrinks.com
I have been traveling a lot and recognized, that there is a lack of high-quality beverages which you can consume on the go. Most of them had a lot of sugar, were made (or are still made of) concentrates with flavours and other additives. Most of them in plastic bottles (no recycled PET at that time) … I asked myself – is that necessary? Why not just make it right.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
We use unfiltered organic direct pressed juices in best quality. So sourcing is a big challenge, but also transport and filling. There aren’t many productions who can and want to work with these all-natural juices with a lot of pulp. We found a partner who can deal with it but is limited to certain bottle sizes and certain materials. So yes, this is definitive one challenge that we are still facing. Also, pricing. Our ingredients are expensive, and its prices vary from season to season depending on the harvest.
What were the most memorable, defying moments during this time?
There were a lot of defying moments in the beginning of our company story. But lately I would say, the year 2020, especially spring when COVID hit Austria and the first lock down was announced.
We just entered in a very successful sales season; spring was looking very bright for us – all of this after some tough years. So, we literally thought - finally, our hard work of these last years paid off. Then, March 12th – everything closed, first in Austria and then other countries, which we export to, followed.
I wasn’t sure, if we will survive 2020, to be honest. But we came out stronger in the end and even had an overall growth of 23% vs. 2019.
What helped you to see it through to the end?
I am a very optimistic person by nature. I thought – ok sales were strong, motivation was high, I won’t let this pandemic kill these vibes. We have fought too hard for this… So will pulled through, together as a team, with our customers and clients and of course our employees. Believing in a positive outcome helped me through it. Also having hard times before – we were kind of used to crisis mode, so we could adapt to it: We had an even closer eye on our budget, planned even more carefully. But we never stopped believing and being positive.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
Growth and development. We are in a crucial state now. We have launched 3 new products within the last 3 years – now we need to sell them. We have a momentum right now – trends and consumer habits work in our favor. Now it is time to use this. Also, we are experiencing a lot of change in our team, which is good but also has its challenges. We will further focus on our export sales and might have another product idea in our sleeves.
www.pona.at | www.wonderfuldrinks.com
