Business & Tech

If You Ask "What's Your Sign?" This Drink is Made for You

It sounds like an "only in Santa Cruz" story, but founder Eric Wlck is hoping to take his astrologically-correct juice drink nationwide.

Eric Wick was sitting at the breakfast table watching his mother and sister pore over their horoscopes when he had his Eureka moment.

People love astrology, he thought. They may not really believe in it, but they are fascinated by the prospects.

And in that minute two years ago came the idea for the latest beverage craze sweeping Santa Cruz – StarNectar, with a different combination of fruit juices designed for each ancient and mystical zodiac sign. It sounds like one of those only in Santa Cruz things, but the drink's founder is already moving into San Jose and has plans to distribute nationwide.

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"I've read that 30 million people check their horoscopes regularly," he said. "That's a pretty big market."

Wick, 29, is a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate from Livermore, who was making a good living in Santa Cruz selling accounting services to businesses, but he decided, like many salesmen, that he'd do better selling his own product.

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That was part of the motivation behind his new juice drink called StarNectar. He did his own market research right after the idea hit. He went to a gas station that was selling lighters, some with birth signs and some without. The ones with the signs cost a dollar more.

"What's the difference?" he asked the clerk.

"There is no difference, but people pay more for the ones with their sign on them."

So began an uphill battle to penetrate an already crowded drink market. There is a limited amount of space on grocery store shelves and Wick wasn't asking for one slot, but for 12. It wasn't going to be easy.

First, he formulated the drinks, paying part of $30,000 savings to Grace Venus, who owns Santa Cruz's Venus Research & Development, Inc., which specializes in formulas for healthy foods. Her father, John Battendieri, started Santa Cruz Organics and she created products for one of the oldest organic food companies, Walnut Acres.

She also made drinks for Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Costco, Safeway, Purity and SunOpta. Wick wanted more than just a combination of fruits and berries. He also wanted herbs that related to the signs and had healthy properties. He found an ancient Greek text that listed herbs and their seasons and corresponded it with the signs.

It took him a while to convince Venus to take him on as a client. He had no background in drinks, but he showed her his passion for sales, marketing and healthy products.

"I was very passionate," he said. "I explained to her that if I couldn't get them into supermarkets, I would put mini coolers in bike shops and small stores."

He took his entire life savings and put it into the formula and the ingredents, which cost another $20,000.  His first two signs were Scorpio, with black courants and cherries mixed with Galangal root, Damiana leaf and Tyrosine and Aquarius, with blueberry, lavender, Kola nut, ginseng and nutmeg. The herbs reflect characteristics of the sign and body parts they are connected to.

He's up to eight signs now, with Aries, Sagitarius, Capricorn and Taurus coming soon. The drinks are available now at Whole Foods, Staff of Life, Lunardi's, New Leaf Community Markets, Zanotto's and Scotts Valley Market. The drinks are bottled in Watsonville at H.A. Rider & Sons.

Whole Foods was a tough one to crack. It took weeks of persuasion, recalled the store's demonstration supervisor, Renie Schober.

"Eric's hard work paid off. He showed his energy by coming here and talking to our buyer and team members and getting them excited about the drink and his ability to support it demos and marketing."

At a store demo, some people bought the drinks based on their signs and others just liked the combination of juices.

The Capitola store's marketing director, Melissa McConville added that besides being local, Wick's product "has something that really sets it apart."

By sitting at a table at various stores and businesses, from Roundtable Pizza to a gas station by Leigh High School in San Jose, he's found BMX bike riders who like his drinks enough to make videos for him. He's also made his own  and created a Facebook page.

StarNectar falls into what is one of the hottest new drink categories called New Age drinks in the business. Drinks such as SoBe and Vitamin Water are commanding serious attention, as are organic and health food markets.  Started by an entrepreneur from Queens, N.Y., Vitamin Water sold for $4 billion to Coca-Cola.

So far, Wick, who sells the drinks out of his own car and keeps markets stocked himself, can only dream of such a thing.

"My father told me not to try this until the economy got better," he said. "But it's something I had to do. I'm not anywhere near making a profit, and a lot has been lost, but I really believe that this is a great product that people will love."


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