From One Star to The Star Review

Last week we left off with the fallout from our first one-star review on Amazon. “Doesn’t work.” Those two words became fuel. That review turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I made up my mind: the only way forward was undeniable proof. Not a little UGC. I was going for a landslide.

Our Instagram was slowly growing but with just hundreds of followers (I see you and love you) we weren’t going viral. We were barely visible since we couldn’t boost posts.

So we stopped waiting for micro influencers to take pity on us and started looking for one big domino whose reaction would be undeniable. That’s when we landed an unexpected gift: an A-list celebrity post.

It wasn’t through a publicist or a cold pitch. It was thanks to Ari Raz, a mentor and co-founder of a CPG company. He stopped by our HQ and we talked about his time growing Once Upon a Farm with the amazing team there. He made no promises but a couple weeks later I got a notification. At first, I thought it was a Jen G. fan account tagging us.

But no. It was her. The Jennifer Garner. 

Super short video. Lemons. Then chewing the berries. Then the delight of lemonade. And then she said the words: “Remember where you heard it first. Nature’s Wild Berry, it really works!”

I called Juliano over and shoved my phone in his face. His legs gave out. We watched it again, together. That 17second clip did what 12 months of pitching never could. Overnight, we had clout.

And no inventory.

We sold out on the second day. Influencers who ignored us started replying. Micro creators offered to post for free. The only problem? We had no product left. Not for them, not for customers.

Was that all it took to learn our lesson? No. We sold out another 25 times before getting it right. How we solved that is coming soon so you don’t repeat our mistakes. Then again, maybe the scarcity helped but no time to ponder. We had to get back in stock.

Now onto this week’s flavor test…

If the last two were inspired by my grandma’s warmth, this one came from the heat of summer.

You ever wake up so hot you skip breakfast and go straight for the fridge? That was me. And what did I find? Cold brew. Already brewed. Already cold. A blessing.

Cold brew is basically crack so people drink it either way. But what happens when you coat your tongue with the berry and take a sip?

Fireworks. It gets smoother and somehow richer, like tasting the purest version of cold brew ever made. I couldn’t believe it. I went back for seconds. Full disclosure: that’s not advice. Just the truth.

If you already love cold brew, you owe it to yourself to try it with Nature’s Wild Berry.

Next week I’ll walk through how that celery juice can actually taste bomb on the berry, not a big deal, wouldn't want to miss it though.

And as always, your hidden 48 hr 20% off alphanumeric code is hiding in plain sight. Look closely at the text. Did you spot a word that’s formatted oddly? Enter it exactly as shown!

– Hank