How Craft Beverage Company Eliqs Allows Each Consumer to Build Their Own Brand

More and more consumers are looking for ways to customize the goods they purchase, whether it’s getting initials engraved on a new wallet, or having a celebrity’s face decorated onto a batch of cookies. Among the companies serving this increasing demand for customizable goods is Eliqs, a company dedicated to rebuilding the beverage industry for the digital world by transforming the traditional operations and processes of the beverage space and thereby place the power in the hands of consumers.  

“Our company was created out of a desire to connect and share,” explained Schwappach. “At the core of that is self-expression and giving anyone the opportunity and ability to express themselves, through creating their own beverage for the moment or building an entirely  new brand.”

Eliqs is a craft beverage company founded by Max Berg, Dave Goldman, and Joe Schwappach who wanted to develop customizable, branded beverages for any occasion. Since the company first began, Eliqs has set itself apart by offering its customers something that has never been done before. 

Berg, Goldman, and Schwappach initially came up with the idea for Eliqs during their thesis project while attending UCLA Anderson School of Management and decided to pursue the company full-time upon graduation. “As we neared graduation, we started to get enough traction and the idea had enough merit that we decided to forego other full-time offers at much more established companies and decided to create something completely new,” said Schwappach. 

Eliqs initially focused primarily on supplying custom, craft beverages for events; however, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, the company was forced to pivot. 

“We had to find another way to allow that connectivity, sense of community, and self-expression that we’re always focused on, to flourish. All of a sudden we had to take what were completely custom orders and move everything online to make it a much more shareable, e-commerce experience” explained Schwappach.

To adapt to the changes caused by the pandemic, Eliqs launched a crowdsourcing campaign that challenged freelance designers to design COVID-themed cans. This allowed the company’s founders to recognize the potential for non-custom, topical, themed cans for the first time and allowed Eliqs to expand their digital and social media marketing strategies. 

“The pandemic allowed us to further develop a lot of our e-commerce capabilities,” said Schwappach. “We were no longer selling, producing, and delivering 400-600 cans to an event in LA, we were now trying to ship twelve cans to someone five or six hours away. It forced us to create capabilities that were exciting and allowed us to continue forward with building a digital-first experience and brand.”

While many companies struggled to adapt to the shifting landscape of the pandemic, Eliqs was able to leverage these changes to evolve the company’s capabilities and fulfillment processes. While Schwappach explains that the initial months of the pandemic drove a “survival mode” mentality, the company was able to adapt quickly and “become comfortable operating in a life of uncertainty that allowed the company to not only survive but also start growing significantly.” 

In the post-COVID era, Eliqs has begun to merge its existing e-commerce-based business with the events-based model that the company began with. “Now that the event-based world is starting to reawaken, we are able to layer that original customer base back onto a much more developed beverage creation platform. It’s just really exciting to see,” explained Schwappach.

Eliqs’s ability to adapt to the uncertainty of the pandemic was no small feat, but Schwappach credits this to the company’s commitment to being adaptable and unique at all times. For Schwappach, “I think the biggest thing we have learned is that you can’t be afraid to do things differently. Eliqs is in the beverage space, which is dominated by a few, massive old-world beverage companies, but we decided to think about it differently. That can be daunting, but ultimately it is very possible and certainly what all customers deserve.”

Looking ahead, Eliqs strives to continue transforming the beverage industry by granting customers the power to develop their own beverage for their moment or occasion. For Schwappach, “that moment of delight that our consumers feel and share is the most energizing and rewarding piece of the business,” which is why Eliqs continues to uplift its customers, providing a moment of self-expression, community, and connectivity with every can.

Pillow Talk is a content series from Rem and Company, A social impact initiative focused on supporting small businesses and the communities in which they exist. We're on a mission to keep doors open and dreams alive. If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur with a story to tell, email us at press@remandcompany.com.

As a social impact initiative, Rem and Company also offers free consulting services and resources to small businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19. Our pro-bono consulting teams provide small businesses with the opportunity to identify and prioritize issues facing their business, propose innovative strategies, and facilitate execution. If you are a small business or nonprofit in need of assistance, learn more about how we can help.