Arthur Gallego was also the co-founder and CEO of SunDaze.
In 2020, Arthur Gallego was asked by a venture capital group, to create and run SunDaze, an alcoholic beverage start-up. Gallego lead the incubation of SunDaze pre-market during the pandemic, and brought it to market in fall 2021, amid changes in alcohol purchasing behavior and global supply chain challenges.
He and his team found early success by summer 2022, SunDaze was sold in over 700 retail accounts. However, the brand exited the market in late 2022 because of funding and market conditions.
SunDaze was a dynamic new line of award-winning, ready-to-drink juice cocktails made with a patented fermentation process exclusive to the brand. Arthur Gallego was the beverage start-up’s CEO and co-founder. The SunDaze fermentation tech (developed by SunDaze co-founder, a food biotech expert) transforms fruit juices' naturally-occurring sugars into alcoholic refreshment while simultaneously lowering the overall sugars in the cocktail. The result: one of the simplest, fruit juice-based alcoholic beverages on the market, with some of the lowest levels of sugar for a juice-based drink.
As CEO, Gallego was charged with bringing the brand to market and spent the majority of 2020 preparing for the brand’s fall 2021 debut. He lead day-to-day business operations, creative direction including packaging design, brand and marketing strategy, early investor activities, and hiring for key team members.
Gallego was actively involved in the brand's day-to-day distributor and sales efforts, working directly with store buyers and was often been seen at in-store product demos building relationships with consumers and retailers after the brand entered market.
Distribution: As of September 2022, SunDaze was aligned with five distributors and sold in over 700 retailers including Whole Foods Market, Total Wine & More, BevMo!, Zanotto’s Markets, Berkeley Bowl and hundreds of independent grocery and liquor retailers in three markets: California; Austin, TX; and Nashville, TN.
SunDaze and its breakthrough proposition: A juice-based cocktail (6.0% ABV) with all the flavor you’d expect, but with much lower sugar and no added sugar. The brand’s touchstone was the mimosa, except that the SunDaze version improved upon that iconic cocktail by creating the alcohol through fermentation and adding light carbonation, and totally eliminating the need for champagne or sparkling wine.
The SunDaze brand: Gallego created the SunDaze brand, inspired by Southern California, mid-century design, fashion & streetwear, film, and surf culture.
Early sales success: Through its distribution at Whole Foods Market, SunDaze demonstrated strong early sales metrics (often over 2.0 case equivalents per month) that positioned it on par with some of the top selling cocktail brands in many of the chain’s California locations.
Arthur Gallego, Co-Founder & CEO
Arthur Gallego co-founded and was CEO of SunDaze. He developed the brand for a venture capital incubator and lead it from pre-market in 2020 through 2022, by which time SunDaze was sold in over 700 locations including Whole Foods Market. Gallego’s co-founder is the formulator of the fermented orange juice cocktail.
The SunDaze Logo
Gallego worked closely with designer Valentina Vicent on the branding, heavily inspired by mid-century design, fashion & streetwear, film, and surf culture. The intent: to create a brand that might extend beyond beverage, and authentically into the fashion and lifestyle industries.
Award Winning
Just a few months after debuting in Southern California, SunDaze was recognized by beverage industry authority BevNET as one of the “Best New Products of 2021”. The brand was also recognized by the Chilled100 Spirits Awards in 2022.
Buzz
SunDaze earned praise in the media: “SunDaze cocktails are some of the best drinks…” (Yahoo! and The Takeout). “The label screams summer. The citrus taste says better version of a mimosa.” (UrbanDaddy). One of the “12 best canned cocktails for summer.” (San Francisco Chronicle). “SunDaze reimagines the classic social drink, breaking citrus-based cocktails out of the brunch category once and for all.” (SoCal Life).
REDEFINING CANNED COCKTAILS
SunDaze was a pioneering drink, and a challenge was precisely “where” it fit on store shelves. Per national TTB standards, the drink was classified as a wine. In many states, it was classified as a beer. And being dubbed a cocktail in homage to the mimosa and for consumer familiarity, many retailers and consumers immediately assumed it contained a spirit, when it did not. And the concept of a cocktail without a spirit, is still something new.
Drinking Occasion
The concept of the mimosa has been tethered to brunch for decades. SunDaze challenged that use occasion by positioning the brand in the ready-to-drink cocktail section of groceries, against citrus-flavored, spirit based cocktails and newer trends like hard kombucha that retailers and consumers associated with fermentation.
CONSUMER CONNECTION
When you launch a product and brand, you have a thesis. Sometimes you nail it. Sometimes it evolves. The SunDaze thesis, evolved. We assumed consumers would love the fermentation proposition. But what we found was most salable about the product was its positioning as a '“better for you” mimosa, with much lower sugar than the traditional version.
INCLUSIVITY As AN Ethos
Gallego is a proud member of both the LGBTQ+ and Asian American communities and ensured inclusivity and diversity was always a factor in all of the brand’s business efforts. This includes its hiring practices, selection of partners, its marketing efforts, content and sponsorships.
SunDaze at Whole Foods Market
In May 2022, SunDaze arrived at Whole Foods Market in the chain’s Southern and Northern California regions, demonstrating impressive early velocities through summer 2022.