Seth Goldman (Just Ice Tea) on Selling Honest Tea to Coca-Cola, Starting Again, and the Future of Food

Seth Goldman built one of the most iconic beverage brands of the last two decades… only to watch it get discontinued by Coca-Cola.

In this episode, Seth tells Sammi the full story: bootstrapping Honest Tea in the late ’90s when the category didn’t exist, educating consumers one sample at a time, and eventually partnering with Coca-Cola to scale what he believed could become a billion-dollar brand. Then came the gut punch: years after the acquisition, Coca-Cola made the decision to shut Honest Tea down.

Instead of walking away, Seth did something few founders would do— he started over. He shares how he launched Just Ice Tea, rebuilt his supply chain using decades-old relationships, and scaled faster the second time around.

Sammi and Seth also get into what it really takes to build a sustainable CPG brand, why most beverage startups fail, and the one mistake founders make before they even launch: focusing on branding before validating taste. Plus, Seth shares his long-term perspective from his work with Beyond Meat—and why he still believes the biggest consumer shifts take decades, not years.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Seth:
00:00 Seth Goldman’s Social Currency

00:50 Building Honest Tea Before The Market Existed

03:03 Creating Demand Through Sampling

05:00 Bootstrapping And Staying Scrappy

06:06 The Coca-Cola Investment Story

09:26 Inside The Coca-Cola Acquisition

10:48 Culture Clash With A Corporate Giant

11:00 The Day Honest Tea Was Discontinued

12:10 Why Seth Decided To Start Again

15:26 Why Beverage Is The Hardest Category

19:29 Launching Just Ice Tea Differently

20:53 The Mission Behind “Just Ice Tea”

23:17 What Makes The Product Different

25:00 From Eat The Change To Just Ice Tea

26:46 Betting Early On Beyond Meat

28:05 The Rise, Fall, And Rebuild Of Alt Meat

35:05 What It Takes To Build A CPG Brand

36:45 The Power Of Relationships And Karma

37:00 Would Seth Sell Again?

39:11 Seth’s Daily System For Clarity

40:03 The Future Of Food

41:18 The #1 Thing Founders Must Validate

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