Founder@ Interview
With Richard Clark
“I operate my business with a question – why bother? Ultimately, your business idea has to make a real difference to consumers’ lives. My advice would be to believe in yourself; have a plan; have a back up plan and surround yourself with great people...” – Richard Clark
Today we feature Richard Clark, the founder at Smashed Drynks. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
My name is Richard Clark and I am the founder and managing director of Smashed Drynks, an innovative British alcohol free brand.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
It all started in the 90s when I worked as an area sales manager for Bass, Molson Corrs and Whitbread Brewers which meant long days driving between pubs in the North West. I would tiptoe over the bar looking for a decent alternative to Britvic 55 and soft drinks but was always left frustrated. It sparked an idea which has burned inside me ever since…what do you drink when you’re not drinking?
This idea brewed for over 20 years but it really took shape when I was hospitalised for 12 weeks. This provided the perfect catalyst to leave my high-profile job as Marketing Director at Halewood International realise my dream to create the holy grail of alcohol-free drinks – a 0% drink that looks, acts, smells and tastes just like its alcoholic equivalent.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
Smashed Drynks is based in Manchester. We are a British alcohol free brand producing a portfolio of drinks under the brand ‘Smashed’, the UK’s only range of 0% beer, lagers and ciders. Smashed Drynks is the only British drinks business that have invested in a state-of-the-art cool vacuumed distillation plant which gently removes alcohol from fully alcoholic (around 5% abv) British craft beer, lager and ciders.
Beginning life as real alcoholic drinks, this process gently lifts out the alcohol whilst making sure all the flavours and aromas are kept locked in. Treating its drinks with respect throughout the whole distillery process is what results in such a delicious multi-award winning product.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Smashed Dryns wouldn’t be where it is without the team behind me. My Smashed team and I invested 18 months of our time researching the various ways to deliver our core idea; a range of alcohol free 0.0% beers, lagers & ciders that taste authentically like the real thing, that are low in calorie, vegan and gluten free (where possible).
The alcohol free options around when we first launched were limited and the ones which were available lacked in the taste and flavour that you’d expect. We knew there was a gap in the market for a craftily made range of alcohol free drinks that were refreshing and packed with flavour.
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So we spent our time investing in a range of mini trial production kits with ingredients suppliers working with brewers & cider makers across Spain, Denmark, Germany and in the UK. This also included speaking to as many consumers as we could about what they were looking for in alcohol free drinks.
Throughout our consumer research, we found that people were searching for genuinely 0% drinks; they wanted to buy from brands who weren’t affiliated with alcohol brands but instead, had their own distinctive brand persona that delivered positive messaging about choosing alcohol free.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
It is all about believing in your team and your core concept. This takes time, so self belief is a prerequisite. This is also essential as new challenger brands are not only striving to influence consumers in the medium to long term to have a relationship with the brand, but also to redefine wider thinking of the trade gatekeepers in the retail and wholesale channels.
We are continuously challenged on improving our product, our financials and being in what is becoming a competitive market but as a business owner, I always look to outsource expertise wherever I can and I don’t proclaim to know everything which is why the team of experts around me are so essential to the business.
I wish I realised how I held myself back through a lack of confidence in my own abilities and decision making. It is good to question yourself but you also have to believe in yourself too.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Always believe in the abilities of your team and yourself. Never look back, learn from your mistakes and adapt.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Alcohol free is extremely difficult to undertake; alcohol protects you from contamination whereas alcohol free has no protection. Our cool vacuumed distillation plant is integral to our business and we wouldn’t be able to continue without it.
That’s why technology is so important to our business to produce our five alcohol free liquids and to deliver them around the world, with no additives safely whilst still tasting great – this is our core mantra. We also work with a dynamic digital and social media agency and a specialist food and drink PR agency who collaboratively work together to keep us relevant in the conversation about no-lo drinks.
We work as a team to come up with creative ideas for the brand and to collectively drive the vision forward for what’s to come next for Smashed Drynks. Our trading relationships are key so this involves speaking to people and getting people familiar with the brand and our product.
Our product is our number one currency so sampling is super important and is a key part of our marketing strategy. Social media also plays a role too for building that brand awareness but access to our product and getting it in front of people is the true door opener as I say.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I wish I realised how I held myself back through a lack of confidence in my own abilities and decision making. It is good to question yourself but you also have to believe in yourself too. 
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Seeing Sainsbury have Smashed Pale Ale & Smashed Lager on their fixtures in the UK.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
Aside from Smashed Drynks, I’d love to be a practising teacher to 16-18 year olds, leading discussions on lifestyle management and other important life skills that I don’t think school always does the best job of teaching.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
I operate my business with a question – why bother? Ultimately, your business idea has to make a real difference to consumers’ lives.
My advice would be to believe in yourself; have a plan; have a back up plan and surround yourself with great people. In my team I started five years ago, I made sure to surround myself with experts in their craft; Les Norton, our liquid genius, Alex Kennedy, an expert in packaging and John Thornton, a 24 hour planning guru.
Our collective efforts are what got the business out there.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Smashed Drynks”
To learn more about Smashed Drynks Visit: smasheddrynks.co.uk
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