DEALS Ep.21-Waku
A chat with Juan Giraldo, Cof & CEO of Waku Tea
Catch the interview on Youtube or Spotify. Subscribe to DEALS here.
What Stands Out
A refreshing approach to RTD tea…
Waku makes teas with vibrant flavors by blending powerful herbs with fruit juice to deliver gut-friendly brews that actually taste good.
Inspired by horchata lojana, a centuries-old Ecuadorian tea brewed for its medicinal qualities, childhood friends and brand founders Juan Giraldo & Nico Estrella created Waku to bring taste of their culture with the masses.
“Waku means ‘together’ in Quechua. It’s a reflection of how we work with farmers back home and what grounds everything we do.” - Juan
The Problem with RTD Tea
The $9b (US) ready-to-drink tea market has long been dominated by high-sugar, legacy brands like Arizona, Pure Leaf, and Gold Peak — many of which contain over 50g of sugar and 200+ calories per bottle.
While many of those consumers will always stick with the old guard, a growing subset of more health-conscious humans are looking for alternatives.
"The leading teas out there? Many have 200% of your suggested daily sugar intake," Juan says. "That’s just not what the new generation is looking for." - Juan
But a BFY wave is brewing, and if tea follows anywhere near a similar trajectory to soda (👋 Poppi, Olipop), it won’t be long until multiple breakout winners emerge…
Chuquiribamba Farm in Loja, Ecuador
How Waku is Flipping the Script
It all starts with the product.
Waku teas are made with a blend of functional herbs like lemongrass, chamomile, and white basil — all to support gut health and fight inflammation in the body.
The fruit-forward lineup:
🍑 Peach
🍍 Pineapple
🍇 Raspberry
🥭 Passion Fruit
5g of prebiotic fiber. 3-4g of sugar. 30 calories. Caffeine free and in a shelf-stable format.
Well positioned for the more mindful consumer.
First launched in 2019, Waku has experimented with numerous packaging formats and designs before finding the ultimate combo recently:
“The rebrand in 2024 was a turning point. The team moved from plastic to aluminum, dialed in their design hierarchy, and leaned into vibrant visual cues that made the product scream from the shelf. The result? Velocities surged overnight.” - Juan
Waku product lineup. Try for 20% off code ‘PAPERBOY20’.
The Road to $100 Million
While the brand is taking a disciplined approach to ‘dominate the Northeast’ in the short-term, larger aspirations loom on the horizon.
The goal? Double revenue each year until hitting $100m by 2031.
It’s a tall task but given the product/team quality and potential for category expansion the potential is significant.
"We’re just getting started," Juan says. "We’ve never had a business this good. The product is working, the brand is resonating, and we’re obsessed with building this the right way."
Waku may be early in its journey, but it’s playing a long game — one steeped in flavor, function, and impact.
