Alumni Spotlight – Douglas Aitken, Founder of Neon Tiger Soda

Background and Inspiration

• What inspired you to create your drink brand?

I have two young kids, Leah (7) and Sebastian (5) and I was not able to find suitable drinks on the market for myself or my family. Traditional soft drinks (Coke etc.) are too sugary and artificial, whereas the healthy ‘zero-sugar’ sodas use fake sweeteners that do not taste good and have questionable health benefits. There was a clear gap in the market for something in-between those encumbent soda categories, and I saw an opportunity to create a great-tasting soda that is naturally low in sugar and calories from real ingredients; namely premium fruit juice, sparkling water and a bit of cane sugar. We reject artificial sweeteners in favour of the natural sweetness from fruit and cane sugar, in moderation. Neon Tiger Real Fruit Sodas was born!

Development of the Brand

• Can you walk us through the process of developing your drink brand from concept to launch? 

To give some context, I launched Neon Tiger with two partners (my wife as well as a childhood friend) and none of us had prior experience in beverages. We also had a very small budget so it has been a real learning experience. 

A beverage business involves production/manufacturing, branding, sales and marketing, and logistics:

Production/Manufacturing – we had tinkered with recipes inspired by my mother-in-law’s homemade fruit sodas so we knew we could use real fruit juice as the base ingredient. To make an RTD (ready to drink) you have to do a formulation to ensure your drink can scale with consistent taste, that it is cost-effective and that it is safe. As outlined in the next answer this was a huge challenge considering we had no obvious place to start. We ended up leveraging our contacts to talk to anyone involved in beverages to learn all about production and for referrals to formulators and contract manufacturers. We spent time talking to food scientists, visiting local breweries to understand the canning process, and talking to other individuals in HK who had launched or dreamed of launching a beverage (there is quite a robust local beverage community in HK so please support us!). Thankfully, most people were gracious to share their knowledge and we eventually found a partner that could formulate and manufacture our product.

The second part of production is manufacturing (canning) and you have to find the right partner willing to produce your drink in reasonable quantities and at reasonable cost. We flew to Vietnam to meet our partner and were able to build immediate rapport which has since developed into a strong friendship. They are a major beverage manufacturer and did not need to take on our small orders but the personal connection allowed us to share our vision of how we wanted to transform the soda landscape, and they bought into it. Building strong relationships is critical.

Branding – with minimal budget we again had to use our contacts to find designers willing to design the logo and cans without much pay. We were fortunate to meet a guy who loved the concept and absolutely nailed the branding in a short amount of time. Product design is very important and you find talented freelancers online at sites like Fiverr.com who can design products, logos etc. for a reasonable fee. The important lesson about branding is that aside from the package design you do not have to make everything perfect at the start, you can always improve the branding as you go along. In our case we designed our initial website on Shopify ourselves using patchwork images. It looked pretty terrible but at the time we had not yet sold a single drink and had no idea if it would sell so there was not point spending money on a beautiful website and marketing materials. As the company has generated revenues, we have gradually improved our branding with professional photography and we’ve hired freelancers to improve the website design and functionality.

Sales & Marketing – we learned about the commercial aspects (margins, payment terms etc.) of the beverage industry by again talking to anyone who would meet us. We spoke to so many people involved in food, drinks, bars, restaurants, anything related. Armed with this knowledge we knew we could ‘talk the talk’ but we then had to sell via cold calling and by leveraging contacts. Our first formal meeting was actually with Sodexo, a major caterer to corporates and schools, so it was a baptism of fire. We were concerned our company would be way too small, but we were also very confident that they would like the drinks. Thankfully the meeting started with a taste test which we passed with flying colors and as a result they did not grill us on our company’s history or sales figures which were non-existent at the time! They agreed to move forward and it was a major confidence boost for a global caterer to accept our known drink. Shortly after that meeting we met with Feather & Bone, again passed the taste test and they stocked us. Hitting these two milestones at a very early stage is exciting and once you know you have a product that passes the taste test you have to run with it. 

On the marketing side we have no formal marketing budget so our strategy from the start has been to get as many people as possible to taste the product. Our marketing focuses primarily on sponsoring events that align with our core brand values and which reach our target audience – sports events and teams, entertainment events, school fairs, corporates etc. The vast majority of people who try Neon Tiger like it, so sampling and meeting customers is by far the most effective form of marketing for us.

Logistics – how are we going to handle customer orders? In the beginning we did a lot of deliveries ourselves in the evenings, early mornings or on weekends. By talking to many people (the trend here is to never stop asking people for advice and referrals) we were introduced to an amazing local logistics company with a truly entrepreneurial founder. They now handle our warehousing and last mile logistics, offering great service and great value.

To summarize, we were able to tackle the key areas of running a beverage business without any prior experience or large budget mostly by hustling and talking to as many people as possible. If you don’t ask you don’t get, and you will be surprised by how willing most people are to help. We certainly got lucky with some of the introductions but I believe that you also make your own luck.

• What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when starting your brand, and how did you overcome them?

We have faced so many challenges but the biggest was getting the initial production done. We originally formulated the flavours with the Australian team of a global ingredient supplier. Everything was ready for production but when we asked them to supply the formulation to our cannery in Vietnam they told us this wasn’t possible. Some of the ingredients couldn’t be shipped to Asia so they recommend we work with their China subsidiary. The China subsidiary did not carry all of the same ingredients so we had to re-formulate from scratch. After that second formulation was completed we were ready to order but the MOQ (minimum order quantity) from China was many times higher than the MOQ of the Australian subsidiary despite being under the same group, and we could not afford the MOQ out of China. At this point the project was nearly a year behind schedule and we almost gave up, but luckily our Vietnam manufacturer stepped in and told us they could help to formulate the drinks using very high quality locally grown fruit juices. Finally we were able to manufacture our first shipment in late 2023. If we had not built a personal relationship with our Vietnam manufacturer I don’t think they would have gone out of their way to help us.

It took resilience to overcome all of the issues and in hindsight we were fortunate with the delay because Hong Kong still had not opened up after Covid. Had we produced stock a year earlier in 2022 it would have been a very challenging time to sell and introduce a new brand to the market.  

Market Experience

• What makes your drink stand out in Hong Kong’s competitive beverage market?

As mentioned, the soda market is dominated by high sugar sodas or zero-sugar sodas with fake sweeteners. Few brands play in the middle ground as we do. 

We are able to deliver full flavour that you expect from a soda, as well as the right level of sweetness while still being low in sugar and calories, simply by using high quality ingredients; premium fruit juice, sparkling water and a bit of cane sugar. Customers are often surprised that a low sugar drink can taste so good without fake sweeteners. We firmly believe that the natural sweetness from fruit juice with a bit of cane sugar, in moderation, is a better alternative to fake sweeteners.

Ultimately, it all comes down to using quality ingredients and letting them shine through. Our NFC (not from concentrate) juices come from fruits grown locally in Vietnam where Neon Tiger is manufactured. They already taste amazing so it’s not necessary to add much more to them.

My view of the soda industry is that the first wave comprises traditional high sugar and artificial drinks. The second wave was diet sodas driven by fake sweeteners. The third wave will be healthier sodas using real ingredients to deliver great flavour, and we want to dominate this category which we call “Real Fruit Sodas”.

• How do you engage with your target audience to build brand loyalty?

As a startup branding is very important to build a competitive moat and it’s important that customers can relate to your brand story. As mentioned, our marketing strategy focuses on getting as many people as possible to taste our drinks. We spend a significant amount of time attending events that we sponsor which all align with our brand values including sports (trail running races, dragon boat, rugby clubs), charity, school, and music events. We always try to tell customers our brand story so they can relate and connect with the brand on a more personal level. 

Success and Impact

• What milestones are you most proud of since launching your brand?

We officially launched in early 2024 and the first milestone was a small event were the public could taste our drinks for the first time and where we could gauge the genuine reaction of consumers that were neither family nor friends. Thankfully the reaction was overwhelmingly positive!

In a short amount of time we’ve succeeded in stocking Neon Tiger at some large accounts including Pacific Coffee Company, citysuper, Emperor Cinemas, many recreational clubs, and even schools such as HKIS via their catering partner Sodexo. The sales velocity (sell through rate) at each account has been strong.

I get the greatest satisfaction when I see people I don’t know enjoying our drinks or when they tell us they have heard of our brand. That is always a nice opportunity to pause and think that 10 months ago this product and brand didn’t even exist, and now people recognize it and are enjoying it.

• How has your brand evolved since its inception, and what are your future goals?

The brand is still very young and in its nascent stages so we haven’t evolved significantly. We have confirmed our initial belief that there is demand for a better soda, and now our focus is to accelerate expansion of distribution points first in Hong Kong and, if all goes to plan, regionally thereafter. We will also develop some new flavours in 2025. Our mission is for everyone to DRINK BETTER and our goal is for Neon Tiger to become a globally recognized beverage brand.

Personal Reflection

• What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the beverage industry?

Taste is the most important quality to any food product. You can have the greatest nutritional claims or branding etc. but fundamentally the product has to taste great to win over repeat customers. Test your product – make a small batch first and treat the initial stage as a feedback loop where you ask customers for honest feedback on the product (Do you like it? Would you buy it? What do you like about it? What do you not like about it? etc.) This exercise will give you confidence as to whether your idea has legs and whether your initial instinct was right that there is market demand for it. Obviously you cannot take on board everyone’s opinions but use this as a barometer to understand what consumers think. Talk to everyone you can and ask them for advice. Most people are willing to help. Find good partners that you can trust and who share the same passion as you for the project. It is difficult to handle product development, sales & marketing, and logistics on your own and there is no way I could have launched Neon Tiger without my co-founders.

• How do you balance your professional life with personal interests and commitments?

I think this skill set goes back to school days juggling a full schedule, multiple sports commitments, band practice and gigs. You have to stay organized and focus on your priorities. I have a full time job, run Neon Tiger on the side, and our family has two young kids so it’s a full plate. You have limited time so sacrifices have to be made. In my case that has involved cutting out social activities to make time for my priorities of family, Neon Tiger, and exercise. The upside is that when I am able to make time for a social activity with friends I value it more. Another plus is that I feel my lifestyle is actually getting healthier now as a result of adding Neon Tiger to the schedule. Or perhaps it is because I drink so much Neon Tiger!

Community and Culture

• In what ways does your brand reflect the culture and diversity of Hong Kong?

Myself and my co-founders were all raised in Hong Kong so it is our home. We participate in events that promote activities unique to HK such a dragon boating and trail races, we support local musicians by supplying drinks at gigs, and we are starting to collaborate with local artists on joint projects with our chain customers. We’ve been told that people are inspired by our decision to launch a better soda in a notoriously difficult industry, and we are developing a new series “Inspiring People of Hong Kong” where we will interview and share stories of Hong Kong people from all walks of life who have in turn inspired us. It’s not a formal brand ambassador program but rather a way to share stories of interesting Hong Kong people.

• How important is sustainability to your brand, and what steps are you taking to promote it?

Sustainability is very important to me personally. My full-time job is the Sales & Marketing Manager of a packaging company Micro-Pak where I am responsible for developing an eco-friendly alternative to silica gel desiccants that is plastic-free, natural, and packaged in biodegradable Kraft paper. Many people do not realise how harmful silica gel sachets are; they are manufactured synthetically in a production process that is highly resource-intensive and polluting. When discarded they end up in landfill where the silica gel and plastic packaging remain indefinitely, leaching into the soil. A core goal of Micro-Pak is to help global brands and retailers eliminate plastic packaging.

Sustainability is also important for Neon Tiger. From a production perspective we source all ingredients and also manufacture locally in Vietnam which minimizes our carbon footprint. Many food/beverage products ship component ingredients around the world prior to manufacturing. We are also working to eliminate plastic from all of our packaging and will be switching to cardboard insert packaging for our next production run, and also intend to start printing labels directly on the cans in 2025.