Inspired by her worldly travels, Pauline Idogho initially launched Mocktail Club as a way for her to continue to enjoy celebratory cocktails while pregnant. Capitalizing on the low- to no-alc trend among today’s younger consumers, Idogho hopes to build Mocktail Club into a global brand.
We caught up with her to learn more about the product, industry trends, her best business advice, and more.
Read the interview with Idogho below:
My name is Pauline Idogho and my company is Mocktail Club. I came up with the concept when I was pregnant celebrating with colleagues and realized there were limited non-alcoholic options in the market. I had worked at the World Bank and I’m originally from Nigeria and lived in Europe for a while and just wanted it to taste like a number of countries that I’ve visited and been to. The flavors are inspired by my travels. I’ve traveled to over 30 countries and I really wanted to bottle up a number of these wonderful experiences, flavors that I tried in different places in our drinks and so the names are Havana Twist, Manhattan Berry, Bombay Fire, and Capri Spritz, all wonderful places that I had visited.
On entrepreneurship
It can be challenging just balancing everything but it’s extremely rewarding and some of the best things are when your kids see your brands at Whole Foods and in stores and really feeling like they can become entrepreneurs, too, and really build something from the ground up and it’s exciting to see.
On the next five years
Hopefully a global brand and just redefining the social drinking experience across the globe.
On industry trends
The non-alcoholic sector has been booming and it’s expected to grow to over about 30 billion dollars in 2025. I think people are just focused on really revisiting their relationship with alcohol and how much they drink so it’s really about moderation.
On business advice
Be passionate about your idea, believe in yourself, surround yourself with super smart people, take a step back every once in a while and really figure out what your business plan is and you know maybe join SKU and get wonderful mentors to help you think through the process.
Watch more episode of Accelerating Brands here.