Episode 97: Maui Brewing Company: From Startup to Success with CEO Garrett Marrero

Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
00:00
Coming up next on Hawaii's Best. Hawaii has adopted us and it's been really good. I think the early years especially, you work so much you forget why you're here. You know and start of anybody starting a business understands what that means. You know you might have moved here because you love the water, you love this, you love that, but guess what? You don't get any of that when you're starting a business. To the level that we did.
Hawaii's Best
Announcement
00:24
Aloha. Welcome to Hawaii's Best. Here you'll learn what to know before traveling, as we discover Hawaiian culture, local businesses and the experiences that make Hawaii one of the most incredible places in the world. And now your host, brian Murphy.
Bryan Murphy
Host
00:42
Today we are taking it all the way back to January of 2020. And, like I mentioned in last week's episode, I'm taking this month, july, off and working on some new episodes that I'm going to release for you and just taking some time with family and kind of just regrouping, trying to enjoy the summer. So I wanted to reshare this episode with Garrett Marrero, the CEO and co-founder of the one and only Maui Brewing Company on the island of Maui. Chances are, you probably have heard of Maui Brewing Company. They are pretty well known, even off of the islands on the continental US. So I thought it'd be cool to reshare this episode and as I was going back and listening to this conversation with Garrett, it just reminded me of what it was like visiting pre-COVID. We visited my wife and I for anniversary in late 2019 when this interview happened, and it was cool. I went to go see him at the corporate office in Kihei, a beautiful facility if you haven't been there Definitely would highly recommend it Great food, obviously, some great drinks. I remember sitting in the waiting room waiting for Garrett and he took me up to his office, my wife and I, and really cool as we got going and talk story. It was just great hearing more about how Maui Brewing started in his heart for connecting back to Hawaii and also being an advocate within the community. Be sure to hit follow on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify so you'll get notified when the new episodes launch in August. I hope you're having a great summer and I'm going to kick it back to myself a couple years ago as we learn more about Garrett and Maui Brewing Company.
02:37
Recently, on a trip over to Maui, we got to spend some time with Garrett in Kihei at their main facility, and it was an incredible experience and I can't wait for you to hear more about what is going on at Maui Brewing Company so much more than their great product. They are actively involved in the state of Hawaii and we get to hear more about his story personally and how Maui Brewing Company all came about. As I mentioned, garrett is the co-founder of Maui Brewing Company and you can simply find Maui Brewing Company by going to MauiBrewingCocom or on Instagram. Follow them at Maui Brewing Co. Throughout our conversation we talked a lot about some new products that Maui Brewing Company has coming out and, since the release of this episode, have come out with some of those things that we talked about in this interview. So to find out what those products are or to find out what's happening next with Maui Brewing Company, just go to MauiBrewingCocom and you can find out everything there.
03:41
Garrett and I connected off air for some time as well when we were visiting with them, and it was just so evident and so cool to see the respect that his staff have for him. As we're just walking around the facility, he's greeting everybody by first name, he knows who's having a baby, and it was just such a cool experience. You got this family feel for a company that has grown so large so fast that Garrett's intentionality and his care for his staff and his care to not only grow and make a larger impact but to grow at a pace that is healthy and to grow at a pace that values their customer and as well as the staff on the same hand and that is an interesting balance to find and it's cool to see Garrett flourishing in that. So I'm just excited for you to listen to our conversation. So let's go ahead and head over and talk story with Garrett from Maui Brewing Company.
04:47
Garrett, thank you so much for coming on Hawaii's Best Today. How are you doing and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself, I'm doing pretty well.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
04:53
No shortage of things to do, of course, here at End of Summer beer drink and season. Still the CEO and co-founder of Maui Brewing Company. 2005 is when we started and here we are almost be, 15 years in January later, still cranking it out. That's amazing.
Bryan Murphy
Host
05:10
How did it all start back in 2005? I'm sure there's a story before 2005.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
05:14
Sure, I was 26 when we started the company, but it really was just a vision, a dream of mine that I had back in probably 2002, maybe three. I'd been coming to Hawaii on vacation for several years and just fell in love with Maui and realized that there was no local beer that was actually being produced in Hawaii and most of it was being shipped over and called local. Me, coming from San Diego, saw that as a huge opportunity, because craft beer that term, craft beer was just starting to be used and I felt that it was about a sense of place, about integrity, and it really needed to be local if you were going to say it was local. So I saw that as a good opportunity. I was in finance, my girlfriend at the time was in finance, but on the analytical side and one day I told her, hey, we should move to Maui and start a brewery, and that was in 2004. It was early 2004. And by December of 2004, we had moved here and we co-founded Maui Brewing Company together.
06:16
Wow. So opened the doors on January 28th 2005 and been going ever since. You had the idea in 04.
Bryan Murphy
Host
06:22
03. 03. 03. Yeah, and you opened two years later. Yeah, that's incredible.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
06:26
Yeah, it was pretty quick. I mean, I was in finance, like I said. I was an investment consultant and wanted to do something different. You know, I was at the time thinking to see 04, 03. I was 20. Five, just turned 25. I think when I really started thinking about this, and maybe even 24, so long ago. But you know, like any young man at that age, you know you can do no wrong, you're invincible, you're infallible. Make no mistakes, of course, I'm sure you're probably a lot like that right, at least back then you're right.
06:57
Yeah, and you know of course, I've downplayed that over the years and learned how much I didn't know is. I think the next step in a Man's life is finding out everything you don't know, but you know, it was that, that youthful, maybe a bit of a grassy aggressiveness, but also that youthful confidence. I think that helped to say you know, I can do that right, I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I can do it. And we took a big risk and sold everything we owned, borrowed every penny we could and started up Maui Brewing Company from a essentially a bankrupt brew pub that was operating in just outside of bankruptcy after Coming out of receivership in Kahana, okay, and so that was something that we saw as an opportunity because it had a brew house, had a restaurant, and so there was already some traffic there. And if we cut out all those other partners and Trimmed the fat, rebranded because it was not Maui Brewing Company, simplify things and really focus on making killer, authentic, local Hawaiian beer, that maybe we had a chance.
07:52
And At the time there were about 1200 breweries in the country and so you know, back then it was really very new. You know there was, of course, you know, guys like Sierra Nevada, ken Grossman and family and Greg Cook and Steve Wagner over at Stone. You know they'd been doing this for many years, even prior to Decade two, decades prior. We just wanted to do that here in Hawaii, okay, and it wasn't being done. I would say the way Micro beer, micro brewing, was being done in Hawaii was, I think, less With probably the least amount of integrity it could have been done because it was being Brewed in the mainland, shipped over and called local, label local.
Bryan Murphy
Host
08:31
Yeah, okay, label.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
08:32
You know, I'll just say it, liquid aloha, okay. And you know there hasn't been a bottle of Kona Brewing Company beer brewed here since God knows but before we started, you know, say 20 years now, mm-hmm. So for us, you know, we saw that as an opportunity to really lead with hey, we're local, we're authentic. You know, we weren't trying to appropriate the culture or appropriate the, the local name in terms in terms of like that, we're from here, but it was a place that we fell in love with and Wanted to give back to that community by making a craft beer. I think beer brings people together. You know, all alcohol does that liquid courage in some ways. I mean, I know Relationships start because, you know, people break down their barriers and are able to have a conversation when they've had a few drinks. You know, and like Frank Zappa said, you need, you know, to be a real country you need an airline, a sports team and a beer, and we wanted to give that to Hawaii was our contribution, if you will.
Bryan Murphy
Host
09:27
So when he came on Island during those vacation years, to Maui specifically, you saw the opportunity, you saw the problem. You're like I can, but where did, where did this whole micro brewing passion? Where did that stem from?
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
09:41
My grandpa actually okay, so my growing up as my stepdad's dad we call him Opa Bob. He worked at Scripps Oceanographic Institute in San Diego, oh yeah, and so he did purchasing for them, and so the captains of the boats that would come in and doing provisioning and stuff with him would always bring him beer from all Around the world, and so he'd bring this beer home. And I'm thinking back to probably 13 ish maybe I had already. I mean, we grew up in a very European family, so wine and beer and you know, responsibility was always trained to us, etc. But grandpa would bring these beers home and we try them and I remember drinking like Mgd, which was my uncle's beer, and thinking that I will never drink beer in my life.
10:22
This is the worst thing I've ever had. But then my grandpa gave me some beer and I was like, oh, this is good, I like this. You know what is that? You know? And over the years, as I grew up, got to try more and more beers, and you know, sierra Nevada is, of course, a core beer for me. I mean, that's a beer that I just love so much is still perfect to this day Pete's wicked. Back in those days, pete's wicked winter beer was my mom's wedding beer at her second wedding. Okay, stone brewing company in San Diego. They opened up in 96, the year I graduated high school, and my grandpa bought a keg of their IPA. I was one of the first ones they sold out of the brewery to the public for my graduation party. So I had this love of good beer early on, so much so that I was definitely a beer snob when it wasn't, was being yeah, I couldn't drink the natty lights and booty chow we called it was Meister brow and all kinds of other stuff that was.
11:13
You know, when you have to pool your money in for 60 bucks, you go get a half barrel. It's not gonna be good beer. So I was always like I'm gonna go get a six or 12 pack of this or whatever and hide that and I'll drink that, you know. But yeah, fast forward. When it was, I fell out of love with what I was doing in finance and I Loved how dynamic that was and I loved the pace. But I didn't love what I saw happening in the industry and I didn't love that.
11:35
No matter how hard I work, more and more of my cut essentially went to someone else and I wanted to really step out on my own and do something for my life, for me, and this was kind of that oh that thing where I could make it or lose it all, but at least it was on my shoulders, I think, starting out with the idea of just making local beer great, authentic, local Hawaiian beer. But then the sustainability initiative started to come into play and looking at the issues here in Hawaii from a cultural and workforce standpoint and the cost of operation here and the Hawaii brand and how that was being diminished by all of this squatting essentially on the brands because they weren't actually from Hawaii. It really didn't offer anything back to the community. So we started just becoming more and more entrenched into not just being a brewery but also being a supporter of Hawaii and supporter of the community. We wanted to lead by example in manufacturing and create jobs and create tax revenue and, like I said, of course, authenticity. And then sustainability, like I said as well, being a leader in manufacturing and doing that with sustainable resources.
12:47
So now, just a couple of weeks ago, we've become grid independent, where we produce 100% of our electricity on site through solar PV, as well as battery and then biodiesel generators. We are still grid connected. So if we need to import, we can, but we're a for profit business. We have to run, but at the same time, our goal at some point in the not too distant future would be even like an island mode where we don't even have a grid connection. So it's a dream, but you know we'll see. Grid independent, grid independence the term we use because we are technically still grid connected, although we don't really pull from the grid.
Bryan Murphy
Host
13:22
As I'm looking around your amazing facility. When we talk about grid independent here, I think maybe if we can give someone who's listening to this right now just kind of a scope of this facility and what's going on here.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
13:36
Yeah, so because the the Kihei site for us is really unique. We kind of like the mothership here. So this is our third location on Maui. We started in Kahana, which we still operate. It's a restaurant up there. We've been there for since the beginning January of 05. It has a seven barrel brew house over there that we don't brew in any longer. Then we moved to Lahaina for production brewing when we launched cans and that started in 2007. We then since sold that to Kohola, which is a startup brewery here on Island. They've been around for about three years now.
14:05
Since three or four years when we were building Kihei, we exited our old location. So we have two facilities on Maui, one being a restaurant and then the Kihei site. Kihei has the full production brewery distillery, a joint venture coffee company called Origin Coffee Maui, and we also have now we're doing we're going to be launching hardwater, which are hard seltzer, Maui hard seltzer, and we have Coupou spirits, like I said, through the distillery, which is our canned cocktails, as well as our gin and whiskey, all of our offices and admin and that kind of stuff. Here we are about 82,000 square feet in total. 60 ish of that is production space and the rest is offices, restaurant. You know other areas, but the main area, largest consumption of area, is the production of all of our liquid, if you will.
14:51
We have become a craft beverage company, more so than just a craft brewery. That's always going to be our core, but we do other things as well. We have about 1.2 megawatts of solar here, so I showed you the picture. It's like the entire roof is covered with solar as well, as we have a bunch of awnings that we've built, whether they be solar carports or shade structures for operations outside, like loading docks and wastewater and other equipment storage. So those are all under solar awnings to create more roof space for us.
Bryan Murphy
Host
15:21
Anything you can throw a panel on.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
15:22
Pretty much.
Hawaii's Best
Announcement
15:23
Yeah, it's gotten to that point. We're like what can?
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
15:25
we fit, more we look at the drone shots sometimes we're like can we get like nine more panels right there? You know, and it's just something that has been since the day the building was vertical here we've been in constant construction on solar because we had to break it up in phases to be able to afford it but also to maximize our tax credits, you know, to use that financial strategy behind what we do here as well.
Bryan Murphy
Host
15:47
I'm sure, probably from your perspective, always forward thinking, okay, what's next, what's next? But it's incredible to think the last 15 years, how much you guys have made an impact, positive impact, in this area, but around the world, your brand and your product. If we go back to those early days, the 05, maybe 05 to 10, how was that first relationship like here on Maui?
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
16:11
You know it was pretty difficult in the beginning.
16:13
You know the first two years not so much, because it was just like we were two ships passing the night just working like dogs at the restaurant. And it wasn't until we opened the production brewery where we could actually launch cans that we really had to have that kind of those, those harder conversations with people in the community. We love the beer when they came in, you know guests, whether they be residents and or visitors alike, you know, loved coming to visit us and try our beers. But when you go into the distribution mode and you're now selling direct to another restaurant or a bar or hotel, you're competing against all these other brands, including those fake local brands. Right, your costs are higher, so your beer is more expensive, but you have this huge education on why your beer is more expensive. You know, from a quality perspective, maybe from a from a local perspective, you're also having to overcome certain, maybe more closed minded people would think that why would I sell your beer because you're a competing restaurant? You know, as opposed to just realizing, that it's beer.
17:14
So we had a lot of that as well, and then we decided to lead with cans. I mean, we were the 10th brewery in the country to put beer in cans, craft beer in cans. So here it was like only junk beer was in cans and like why would you put this beer in cans A, b, why is it more expensive? It's in cans, right? You know all of those things. So we had to really educate the not only the consumer, the craft beer drinker, but the the account level buyers as well and say this is why it's in a can. Pour it in a glass, just like you wouldn't drink out of a bottle of wine. You know, pour it in the right glass. Here's why the cans better.
17:48
It's sheltered from light. You know. It has lower oxygen content typically than bottles. Of course, packaging equipment dependent. They're made locally. Cans are made over on Oahu, so you're supporting local manufacturing there as well as a more sustainable resource versus glass, where cans are infinitely recyclable. So you know, we had this huge education before we could even sell beer again, especially in cans, and took a long time to overcome that. But now you're sitting 8000 breweries in the country with at least 1000 of them canning very different than it was when we started Interesting.
Bryan Murphy
Host
18:20
So okay, it's a whole different world than it was five minutes ago. So yeah, and from your perspective maybe more on a personal level coming from vacationing on Maui to starting a business on Maui and becoming part of the culture, Hawaii's best is all about someone who's coming to the islands for the first time, or maybe coming on vacation, and they come year after year. But from your perspective, on this side of it, what are some things that you've learned about Hawaiian culture?
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
18:48
You know. I think one of the things I fell in love with about Maui in particular was that you know You're treated how you treat others. You know, and and for what I realized too early on was that you know If you're struggling carrying your cooler at the beach, someone's gonna come help you and not expect anything in return and they could give it damn. Whatever you do for a living, it's you know. I was living in San Francisco prior and you know first question out of someone's mouth is what do you do? Where do you work? You know, and then it's very quickly You're you know in a, in a conversation about money, and you know what caries you drive and it was status driven type things were here was just who you are and you're going to be accepted and treated well if you treat others well and accept them. So I think if you come here as a transplant if you will, and you think you own the island and you're Behaving inappropriately or you're disrespectful, then you're going to be put in your place. And that's where I think some of these stories of people being not accepted or the local mentality, what I I think it's, it's people who don't respect the culture and respect that their guests here and that they're not bringing any positivity. That's what's going to make it a bad experience for you. You know, I fell in love with it and it's not that I wanted to, like I said, appropriate it for myself and change it. I wanted to be a part of it and I wanted to support it and see that go forward.
20:02
You know, especially coming from a city like San Francisco which I still love San Francisco but I love to visit, eat some great food and then, you know, get back to Maui or somewhere else. But it's fun, fun, people watching city. Hawaii has adopted us and it's been really good. I think the early years especially, you work so much you forget why you're here. You know, and start of anybody starting a business understands what that means. You know, you, you might have moved here because you love the water, you love this, you love that, but guess what, you don't get any of that when you're starting a business of the to the level that we did. So you know it took its toll.
20:37
Definitely so, yeah, learning to find that again, though, you know, yeah, and that's where, like once, we had more team members and we had, you know, it wasn't just two of us trying to duke it out about, you know, eek out of living. You know, we we grew from, I think, 23 on our team, something like that, to now we're close to 800, with the four restaurants that we have to on a wahoo to here, plus the brewing operations, so, as we were able to be more successful and hire the quality people we needed, that's when it started becoming like, you know, we could go to the beach again and you can go diving again, and still, a lot of those things didn't happen For many years because business was the priority. But you know, that's that's that's being an entrepreneur. If you're not willing to sacrifice everything, you might as well quit before you start, and that's the only way you're gonna be successful. How do you currently unplug? Like literally right now?
21:28
I'm flying a lot. It's been a dream of mine to get my pilot's license. That's amazing. Yeah, my dad was a. He flew when he was young and he always talked about it very, you know, romantically, and he had stopped flying, I think, right around the time I was born. But I always heard the stories and so I, when I had the opportunity to learn to fly, you know I just fell in love with it, and so I'm finishing up my pilot's license now, and to me it's both a it's. It's an interesting thing, because to fly you really have to manage risk right. You have to be thinking about you're traveling in three dimensions, you're dealing with a lot of expensive equipment and you know the fact that you're facing death by any moment.
Hawaii's Best
Announcement
22:06
It's very safe.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
22:08
Yeah if you do it right, and one of the things that it requires is risk management, like I said. But that includes your mental state and you have to have a clear head. So, going up in the air and worrying about stuff and like getting on your phone and texting and all that, you don't have the time to do that. No, do you want to do that? Because you're looking at this beautiful landscape, you're looking the ocean, you might be. You know, last last whale season I was flying over whale pods and doing my well-wishing from the air instead of by boat, and it's a whole different perspective.
Bryan Murphy
Host
22:37
So I clear my head by flying because, on so many levels, you have to be in the moment. You got to be in the moment, yeah.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
22:42
I mean you can put it on autopilot and take a drink of water and sure you know, look at stuff whatever, but you had. You know, to be a good pilot, you need to be present, yeah, which means having a clear head focusing on what you're doing. A lot of parallels there, huh.
22:55
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely and I'm finding that a lot more right now, and you know, the other part of it too is I lost my dad about six years ago, seven years ago, almost now, and it's kind of a connection to him as well, so that I get to. You know, when I'm up in the air I can think about that, but it's, it's happy, you know like he's living his dream through me.
23:16
Yeah exactly so one and you know I think beyond that I've been the last couple weeks, tried to be at the beach as often as possible. So you know, not reconnecting with the water is probably the most important soothing aspect For me. I always used to say that on, in or near the water I was always happier, and I'd missed that for a while.
Bryan Murphy
Host
23:36
So trying to get back to that, those roots, yeah well, if someone's coming to Maui for the first time, what are some? Obviously they need to come here, sure.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
23:45
What are some other?
Bryan Murphy
Host
23:45
things you want to put on their list from your perspective.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
23:48
Honestly like I think, skip all the obvious stuff. I mean, I think you know you could go on the you know hundred best things to do type sites and those are fun, but I think really just being present is the most important. I see a lot of people come on vacation here and then their last day they're just spent like they want to go home so they can get some rest, you know, and they plan too much. So I would say first plan to not have a plan, because most things here with the exception of like Lou, ours and and things that you really do need to have a reservation for, depending on time of year Just take a day by day and try not to cram it all in, just plan to come back and see something else.
24:26
You know, I always recommend trying to stay like on the west side. If you're only here for a week, stay three or four days west sides, but it's to pin the rest of the time south side. Do or don't do the road to Hanna. It's beautiful but it takes an entire day and you're tired the next day. But honestly, grab a six-pack of bikini, blonde lager and a poke bowl from Timura's or food land.
24:45
And yeah, go sit at the beach and just drink it all eat it all and get some sun.
Bryan Murphy
Host
24:49
That's probably the number one, yeah absolutely yeah, rental paddle or permission, yeah, just just let yourself decompress.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
24:56
That's one thing that Hawaii has over everywhere else. You go to the beach and you, you feel the energy just kind of relaxing a little bit. And I, you know, I go to the beach in San Diego when I'm home or whatever, and it's just a different feel, is the water's warm, you know you can sit out at Christmas and sit in 78 degree water, you know. And then in the summer, you know, like right now, that water is probably sitting somewhere on 80 degrees, maybe a little more. So you get in that water. You don't need a wetsuit to go diving, it's just, it's the most amazing place in the world To me. You know, to each their own, they, you got to come, experience it.
Bryan Murphy
Host
25:29
So yeah, we're talking about being present and also thinking about what's next and vision. You mentioned a little bit ago about some new products that now a brewing is, I don't know. You guys are kind of testing out or where you guys at with that.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
25:44
Yeah, you know, we realized years ago that we needed to be doing other beverages, and the reason being is you look at the craft beer market, you like. I said we started there were less than 1200 breweries in the country. There's now almost 8,000. I sit on the board of directors for the Brewers Association as well, so I'm pretty intimate with the knowledge. There's about 2.2 new breweries opening every day and there are not one or two closing every day. So you know, the pie is getting sliced infinitesimally smaller every day.
26:11
And you know where we were seeing these rapid growth in other markets. We're still seeing growth at home because of this hyper local movement. And the reason I say hyper local is it used to be local if it was in the state, you know. And then I remember being in California and someone saying like there was in San Francisco actually, and they're like oh well, we don't serve any beer from Southern California. Because I asked if they had like Firestone Walker or whatever, and they're like oh no, that's too far south, we only serve beer like north of whatever and I'm like it's not local anymore.
26:39
Now it's by the neighborhood, you know. Now it's literally hyper local is oh oh you, oh, your beer's brewed in Poway. Well, we're in Escondido, that's that's not local man you know it's that you know it could be across the street.
Bryan Murphy
Host
26:51
But it's a different neighborhood.
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
26:53
It's crazy how it's happened. So how much that's hurt us in the mainland. It was significant, but we've always sold very little in the mainland compared to what we sell in Hawaii. But it's helped us a ton here locally because of that hyper local movement. People are asking us for local beer and we're the largest producer of local beer in the state of Hawaii.
27:11
At the same time, like I said, beer consumption is declining over. If you look at the, the 21 and up, less people are drinking beer. Most 21 year olds are actually switching to spirits right out of the gate or premium wine, interestingly enough. So creating more opportunities to drink beer is important to us, but we realize that we can't make that change alone. So we started looking at other beverages that are being consumed, namely anything being produced in the mainland, that is, that has traction here in Hawaii.
27:39
So, like hard water, hard seltzer you know the distillery movement with the craft cocktails and craft distilling, ready to drink canned cocktails. If those are going to be shipped into Hawaii, why don't we repeat what we did with beer and make an authentic local version of that for our guests? So Maui hard seltzer will be launching later this year. We have three different flavors of hard water 5% gluten-free, under a hundred calories, under one gram of carbs, no sugar added. Check in all the boxes that the what you call the better for you or BFY Category is looking for right now. And let's be clear alcohol is never going to, so that's why.
28:17
I take Not offense, but I take pause.
28:21
Yeah, the better, for you are getting beer is not bad for you, you know, just anything in balance. But then on the distillery side, you know we have our locally produced gin, using local flora and fauna to influence the style hibiscus, lemongrass, oranges from my house in Kula so Really makes a very unique gin. And then our whiskey as well, as made from our malts, various malts that we make our beer with. So we figure, if those are going to get shipped in, we might as well be a local option.
Bryan Murphy
Host
28:47
That's a smart yeah, especially with your branding already behind it. That's so. Integra's yeah, I bring company. When you brand of that, was this in mind or you kind of a pivot?
Garrett Marrero - Maui Brewing Company
Guest
28:59
no, it wasn't in mind when we said Maui brewing company and we're gonna. Definitely fits. I mean, maui made sense because we wanted to be very simple and be clear of where we were and what we were doing. And since we had that such a focus on local, we needed to have the, the geography, mentioned in our name right. So Maui brewing company just made sense. So now that we have, you know, we have, like Maui hard seltzer, maui H2O, which is our drinking water that we're gonna start canning to eliminate help eliminate plastic water bottles from the state.
29:30
The Maui brand is, from a marketing perspective, actually more recognizable than even the name Hawaii. So for us, you know, it makes sense to continue to build off that Maui brand. The one deviation we had on that is the kupu spirits, because Maui brewing doesn't necessarily make sense for A distillery and we didn't want to have a mouthful that was Maui brewing and spirits. So we decided to go with kupu, because the kupu essentially means New growth or offshoot from an existing base, and that existing base is Maui brewing company. That's giving and nurturing the kupu the offshoot. Think of it like a fern Right. So you have that base and that new offshoot from the middle. That youthful kupu is protected and nurtured by the base as it continues to develop into its own.
30:16