Taste Radio

Ray DeRosa, the founder and CEO of dandelion-based tea brand Lion Tea, knows that it’s an uphill battle getting consumers to understand why they should drink his products. How do you communicate the detoxifying and digestive health benefits of the beverages without a significant financial investment in consumer education that start-up companies like his rarely have?  As DeRosa explained in an interview included in this episode, he’s tackled this issue by using a simple, yet powerful and efficient method to create brand loyalists: direct conversations with potential consumers. “There’s really nothing that compares in the early days to just talking to 50 or 75 people about your product,” he said. “It took us a long time to realize that if we let people try our product and understand the functionality, they’re going to come back for it.” As part of our interview, DeRosa shared his journey as a beverage entrepreneur and how he weathered early stumbles on his way towards securing national distribution for Lion Tea