Andres Izquieta & Juan Jaramillo @ Chiki Chiki Boom Boom
Regenerative "Reggaeton In A Bottle"
Andres Izquieta & Juan Jaramillo are the Co-Founders of Chiki Chiki Boom Boom. Chiki Chiki Boom Boom is supporting regenerative agriculture with their line of enhanced water beverages packed with regenerative and organic botanicals.
The Brand
Chiki Chiki Boom Boom is an organic, plant-based tropical water marketed to consumers as "Reggaeton In A Bottle." They currently sell 3 SKUs: Mango Passion Fruit, Strawberry Lemon, and plain Lemon. Their enhanced waters are refreshing and hydrating, with 3 grams of sugar and 20 calories. Currently, the brand is concentrated in Southern California, Florida, and New York, and is also sold nationwide in CVS.
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A Beautiful Beginning
Juan and Andres met by chance at the Standard Hotel in West Hollywood and quickly realized their paths had crossed for a reason.
Juan is a native of Ecuador, home also to Andres’ family heritage. Having launched 10 fashion brands, Andres was motivated to do something with more impact. Juan’s family owned the country’s largest sugar cane company and was very involved in Ecuadorian agriculture. Growing up, Juan drank a native “punch” brewed from herbs and flowers. Over the years, this home-brewed, sugar-free beverage became popular in hotels across Ecuador and became the shared inspiration for Chiki Chiki Boom Boom.
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Regenerative All-Around
Hailing from the Valley of Longevity in Southern Ecuador, Juan has seen how this “blue zone” has become both a popular place to research and a desirable expat destination. It’s also one of the most biodiverse places in the world. While he acknowledges that it may not be the most obvious spot to demonstrate regenerative ag given the rich soil, it didn’t stop them from committing to their ideals.
Starting on their 40-acre farm, Juan and Andres focused on reforestation, planting more than 80,000 plants and 8,000 trees. They also implemented micro-irrigation to replace the gravity irrigation method that used too much water and encouraged erosion.
“We are trying to imitate nature in the wild forest, taking advantage of the native mountain microorganisms. Here in South America, like 30 years ago, the soil was considered a place where you could do whatever you wanted. Nowadays, with organic and regenerative agriculture, people are getting very mindful about the soil as a living body. What we’re trying to do is show all the farmers around here how to grow these botanicals in the right way, because they’ve been taught bad practices and lack technical resources.“ – Juan
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Telling their Story
As Andres points out, brand awareness is like “dripping them into discovery.” In addition to their website, Chiki is using social media for storytelling, documenting the work on the farm. By September, they aim to post five TikTok videos a week – all focused on explaining the regenerative farming behind their ingredients. They’re also doing a three-part series to educate consumers, inspired by the movie Kiss The Ground. In addition, they’re playing around with their labeling, figuring out what resonates with and helps educate consumers on regenerative.
"Because with a lot of 'better for you' products that are very sustainable and socially impact minded, it's a little boring, it's a little granola, it's a little too nature. Reggaeton is a Spanish musical genre that blends depo to reggae to salsa – kind of like Spanish hip hop. A lot of times music communicates everything from love, to relationships, to culture, etc. So why don't we make it fun and loud and bold and use these 'languages' to be able to communicate cool things and to make this much more pop culture?" - Andres
Doing it Right
Regenerative ingredients don’t just do good, they taste amazing. For Chiki, they’re controlling how every single herb and botanical is grown on their property to deliver superior flavor and lessen the need for added sugar.
“All those nutrients and minerals in the soil are moving, impacting each other and getting the flavor right. It’s so important to do it in this manner because it impacts the consumer’s lead buying decision – flavor. So regenerative isn’t the hero of what you communicate, it’s the hero on the back end.” – Andres
Andres and Juan acknowledge that a lot of brands are going to try to ride the regenerative wave, but to do it right and source from a true regenerative organic supplier is 10x harder. But in the end, it’s all about the quality.
“Our product is more defensible because there's no one else that can say that they do that. So the moment that consumers and retailers start to put this as a higher priority and take action on it and for example, curate a regenerative section in our store, that’s gonna give opportunity for these people and brands and founders that are doing the right thing to get the spotlight. That’s how we're gonna win in the long term.” – Andres
Chiki is also playing a critical role in fair trade. They provided the capital and support to rejuvenate a women-led organization that grew and dried botanicals. They’ve also committed to not repeating the sins of past start-ups that came in purchased raw materials or made obligations they couldn’t meet.
“With our business model, we can pay double what these people have been paid before based on what the flowers represent in our drink. We can change the lives of these people for the better.” – Juan
Our Path to 50% Market Share 4 Regen
Andres believes the momentum starts with the buyers (retailers) and their efforts to make regenerative a priority. Fortunately, with their minority-owned certification, Chiki has been prioritized in certain retailers – but regenerative is going to need the retailer spotlight.
“If a retailer decides to spotlight it, it makes it more important and it provides more light for the consumer. For example, I personally think Whole Foods is very responsible for putting the organic movement front and center. 20 years ago, an organic section in a conventional market didn't really exist, but these retailers followed Whole Foods because they started to notice that a lot of consumers started to go there because of that.
Then, of course, it’s up to the brands to create that education and awareness. You need to have founders that are fired up, but the reality is the heart and soul of a lot of CPG companies isn't there. It's more about the money and the exit as opposed to the impact. Again, doing the right thing is so hard, it's 10 times harder than doing the easy thing.”
You can check out the full episode with Andres & Juan from Chiki Chiki Boom Boom HERE.
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This ReGen Recap was produced with support from Kristina Tober