The Spirit of VeeV:
Imbibing in Sustainability
By Jason Dean
To characterize Carter Reum’s glass as half-full would be pointlessly pessimistic. Consider the following: The 29-year-old entrepreneur and his brother Courtney, 31, are forging a parallel path as the green generation’s new breed of socially responsible business leaders. After graduating from Columbia University and working with consumer product-related matters at Goldman Sachs, the brothers were poised to prosper in the financial securities world. Instead, they stepped out on their own and launched VeeV: The World’s First Açai Spirit™ in 2008. In the six months before they got a California distributor, the boys sold the infused-vodka beverage out of the trunk of their car. Today, VeeV is one of the best-selling independent brands in the country—available in all 50 states, on select cruise ships, and Virgin America Airlines—and the Reum brothers’ cup is brimming with potential.
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Invoking the company’s catchphrase at his L.A. office, Carter says VeeV’s goal “to create a better way to drink” has never wavered. “We want to be about a brand, a movement—an innovative company versus just an alcohol brand,” he explains. For every bottle of VeeV sold, the company donates one dollar to help preserve the Brazilian rainforests. “This was part of our DNA from Day One, in terms of being environmentally conscious.” The first carbon-neutral company in the industry, VeeV also operates the only distillery in the world that runs on wind power.
“We try to surround ourselves with leaders,” continues Carter. “Whether it’s peers of ours like Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes, we’re doing similar things in terms of using consumer product to do good at the same time.” (The Santa Monica – based TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair it sells.) While Carter has his hands in the day-to-day business operations, Courtney is the company’s main presence at events like the TED conference. In that sense, the siblings complement each other nicely. “We have similar backgrounds (in addition to attending the same university and working for the same Fortune 500 company, the brothers played soccer together), but our skill set…lends itself to different aspects of the business.”
It’s irresponsible for any company—start-up or otherwise—to not have an eye on sustainability in Carter’s estimation. “Whether it’s marketing, events-driven, digital media…we always have a filter toward ‘How can we educate at the same time’ because it’s not enough for someone to taste VeeV, we need to make sure they know the message.”
Differentiation is what distinguishes the company’s product, but that strength can also be a liability. Carter realizes theirs is a product that could be perceived by the public as complicated. “It’s technically a liqueur that mixes in drinks like a vodka, so in our humble opinion, we position it as a vodka upgrade,” he explains. “It doesn’t have that harsh alcohol bite, and it has the rich ingredient of açai.”
Whereas vodkas typically add orange, blueberry, or any other taste from a flavor house, VeeV’s custom distillation process infuses the açai in a way that retains as much of the flavor and consistency of the actual fruit as possible. A dark-purple berry packed with almost as many syllables as letters, açai (pronounced ah-SIGH-ee) is an antioxidant-rich fruit grown exclusively in the rainforests of Brazil. Although VeeV will always be the first, Carter noted that Absolut released its own açai-flavored vodka in early 2010. “It kind of created a category,” he says of the competitive landscape. “As long as we’re thought of as the high-end premium, it can be very positive.”
In 2003, the brothers Reum visited Brazil on a surfing trip, where they were first introduced to the healthful properties of açai, which has 57 percent more antioxidants than pomegranate. At the time, only a handful of products across all industries utilized the fruit; today, that number has increased exponentially. “Açai is a flavor that’s here to stay,” confirms Carter.
VeeV is a play on vivre, the French word for life, says Carter. The VeeV Web site’s recipe section has offerings like “Joie de VeeV” and “Adam and VeeV” to get the creative juices flowing with regard to the variety of ways to enjoy the beverage. The company has experienced a 100 percent increase in sales in each of the past two years. “The alcohol industry as a whole lacks a ton of innovation,” explains Carter. “That’s where the opportunity is for a brand like ours.”
How does he see the VeeV brand developing? Carter is ambitiously practical. “I think down the road, we’ll think about diversification or leveraging our distribution to put another product in the pipeline. But we pride ourselves on laser-like focus and execution.”
A New Breed of Cocktails
With the introduction of VeeV Açaí Spirit the Reums have introduced a whole new category. With that comes new, fresh takes on old standards along with fresh ideas.
Açaí Lemonade
1 ½ ounces VeeV Açaí Spirit
Lemonade
Splash of cranberry juice
Lemon wheel, for garnish
Build in an ice-filled highball glass and stir well. Garnish with the lemon wheel.
Açaí Mojito
2 ounces VeeV Açaí Spirit
¾ ounce simple syrup
4 lime wedges
6 mint leaves
5-6 blueberries (optional)
Club soda
Tear and slap mint leaves to release oils and drop into the shaker. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass, top with club soda and stir well. Garnish as desired.
