Mixing up the soft drinks business, with Raissa de Haas

Raissa de Haas and her twin sister, Joyce, are the Co-Founders of Double Dutch Drinks, bringing personality and flavour to the soft drink mixers category with style and sustainability.

Born and raised in the Netherlands, the birthplace of gin, whilst they were partying at uni they found that most mixers lacked the vibrancy of the spirits they were paired with, and so they developed their now signature flavours – Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil.

Their joint Entrepreneurship Masters’ thesis came top of the year and eventually became their business plan, winning seed money to bring their idea to life. And so,Double Dutch Drinks was born.

Raissa and Joyce also wanted to do business the ‘right’ way, which is why they’re proudly carbon neutral and Certified B-Corp, championing their unwavering commitment to social and environmental responsibility. AND they’ve set up a Female Bartender Scholarship Scheme to support women in their aspiring bartender and mixologist careers.

Overview:

It was fantastic talking with Raissa about their business. In our conversation, she:

• Explains what the Double Dutch Drinks’ business is all about and how it came to be.
• Describes how the partnership with her twin sister works, and the wider structure of the company.
• Highlights the competition they face in the mixers marketplace, and how they focus their brand and marketing.
• Gives an insight into the early days of the business, how they gained traction, and why winning awards has been so pivotal to the business.
• Talks about routes to market, networking, exporting and expansion.
• Enthuses about the importance of R&D and the reasoning behind the various flavours they’ve chosen.
• Reflects on what they could have done differently.
• Goes into detail about getting B-Corp certification.
• Expands on funding and the equity split of the business.
• Shares some lessons learned from her time in business so far, including thinking longer term when you’re hiring.