Just a few short years ago in 2010, Clayton Christopher, founder of Sweet Leaf Tea, which was acquired by Stamford, Conn.-based Nestlé Waters North America in 2011, joined with Chad Auler, founder of Austin, Texas-based Savvy Distillers and its Savvy Vodka brand, to form Deep Eddy Vodka, Austin, Texas. The two entrepreneurs were motivated to simply make the world’s best tea vodka by utilizing the best-available, all-natural ingredients in what they saw as the early stages of a tea vodka craze that offered very good growth potential.
Since the initial launch of Deep Eddy Vodka in 2010, the partners have realized their dream. The original company was staffed by seven employees and now requires more than 90 employees to keep up with demand. The company’s goal is to continue to maintain quality by committing to utilizing only high-quality ingredients to produce a quality product. The team uses its experience and strong passion to support its culture and mission and believes that has driven the success they have experienced, according to Chief Executive Officer Eric Dopkins. “As simple as it sounds, getting ‘liquid to lips,’ meaning getting customers to try new products, has helped us share our commitment to quality with consumers.”