South West Most Exciting Companies: Caleño

Insider Media

Launched in 2018, Caleño is a range of distilled non-alcoholic spirits inspired by “the sun-drenched spirit of Colombia”, and has been at the forefront of the ‘nolo’ movement, gaining listings in UK supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose and global recognition, including in the USA. Founder Ellie Webb spoke to Insider about the next phase for the business.

Transcript

00:00So, Klenyo is a range of tropical non-alcoholic spirits and rinsed drink cocktails.

00:19I started the company just over five years ago and it was really in response, I guess,

00:25to what I saw was a need for better grown-up non-alcoholic drinks, you know, doing dry

00:31January, being on a night out with friends and finding that a Diet Coke or JTRO just

00:36wasn't cutting it anymore.

00:38But also importantly I wanted to make it fun for people and show them that actually it's

00:42not boring to not drink and it can be fun, it's just the options aren't great.

00:47From that, Klenyo was born.

00:49We are a South American, upbeat, fun, inspired brand that's all about bringing joy to not

00:56drinking.

00:57Highlights?

00:58Certainly, you know, gaining our first major listing in Sainsbury's in month two.

01:04We went straight into 500 stores, that was quite a big moment, it was just myself and

01:08the business at the time.

01:10I think launching into new markets, so the U.S. has been a big one.

01:15We are now in a major national retailer over there and we're planning to grow that market

01:20quite substantially.

01:22Growing a team, growing a culture and, you know, being part of that process has been

01:29a really important learning curve for me as well.

01:31So there's been so many moments, it's hard to kind of pinpoint just a few.

01:36Yeah, so I mean if you think about the alcoholic spirits market, we're in the non-alcoholic

01:44spirits segment.

01:46That is actually, I mean, it's a billion-dollar industry.

01:50It's actually stagnating at the moment, it's not really growing, whereas non-alcoholic

01:55spirits are growing 30% annually and in some markets it's growing as much as 170% year

02:02on year.

02:03So there's a huge opportunity for growth there and we're just seeing in terms of some of

02:08those cultural changes around drinking are really shifting.

02:12So, you know, you hear a lot that younger people are drinking less alcohol and they're

02:16switching to non-alcoholic alternatives and so we see it as a real opportunity to be there

02:22at the right time.

02:23Calenya was an early entrant into the industry, we're well-established in the U.K.

02:28So we really want to grow with that industry and if I think about how far it's come in

02:33just five years' time and I think about the next five years, it's going to have changed

02:38dramatically again during that time.

02:41So really excited for what's to come.

02:44In terms of what I'm hoping for the company, I mean, I started this business with I guess

02:49a pure intention of being able to walk into any bar, restaurant or supermarket and without

02:57a shadow of a doubt be able to buy a non-alcoholic grown-up alternative of some kind.

03:02We're in the non-alcoholic spirits business.

03:06So I won't stop until there is a non-alcoholic option in every bar, restaurant, pub all around

03:12the U.K. and the world and I would love for Calenya to be a large part of that shift.

03:18So yeah, for me it's more of a paradigm shift around how we drink and how that's changing

03:26and I think if Calenya has helped drive that shift in some way, that will definitely mean

03:33success for me.

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