S8 Ep20: The Buzz Without the Bite: Clean Cocktails for Conscious Drinkers with Jennifer Roman-Matito Part 1
“When one person makes the decision to be more mindful, more conscious, it starts to have a little bit more of a ripple effect.” —Jennifer Roman-Matito
Conscious drinking is gaining popularity as people recognize that alcohol consumption is a choice where informed decisions matter. Younger generations especially are looking for drinking experiences to satisfy their desire to socialize without sacrificing how they feel. This trend speaks much about the mainstreaming of preventative health habits and considering ingredients in all areas of life, including how we enjoy social beverages.
Jennifer Roman-Matito is the co-founder of Mother's Milk, a groundbreaking coconut water-based cocktail brand designed for health-conscious individuals who enjoy vibrant experiences. With a passion for creating unique products that reflect her island heritage, Jennifer utilizes her expertise in hospitality, marketing communications, and event management to distribute the brand, foster partnerships, and generate excitement within a diverse and adventurous audience.
The conversation explores the growing trend of conscious drinking. Tune in as Justine and Jennifer define conscious drinking and discuss how conscious drinking is impacting the food and beverage industry, social gatherings, and the overall health and wellness of consumers. They also talk about the rise of ready-to-drink cocktails and non-alcoholic options, as well as collaborating on future events and partnerships to further the conversation around mindful alcohol consumption.
Connect with Jennifer:
Jennifer Roman-Matito is a dynamic entrepreneur and co-founder of Mother's Milk, a pioneering coconut water-based cocktail brand aimed at health-conscious individuals with a penchant for revelry. Armed with a degree in Communications and Media Studies from CUNY-Hunter College, Jennifer combines her passion for innovative products with her rich island heritage to craft beverages that resonate with a diverse and adventurous audience.
As a self-funded and female-founded initiative, Mother's Milk is a testament to Jennifer's entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to creating distinctive offerings in the beverage industry. Leveraging her hospitality, marketing communications, and event management expertise, Jennifer spearheads the brand's distribution efforts, forges strategic partnerships, and orchestrates impactful marketing campaigns to propel Mother's Milk into the spotlight.
Through Mother's Milk, she offers refreshing libations and cultivates a community of like-minded individuals who embrace wellness without compromising on enjoyment. With Jennifer at the helm, Mother's Milk continues to captivate taste buds, spark conversations, and carve its niche as a trailblazer in the beverage industry.
Episode Highlights:
00:46 What is Conscious Drinking
04:28 Conscious Drinking and Its Growing Popularity
11:06 Conscious Drinking and Its Impact on Social Gathering
19:45 Conscious Drinking and Collaboration with Brands
24:15 Conscious Drinking and Mindfulness
Tweets:
Preventive wellness is the future! Join @jreichman and Mother's Milk co-founder, Jennifer Roman-Matito, as they discuss how cleaner options are transforming social gatherings. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season8 #MothersMilk #consciousdrinking #mindfuldrinking #cleancocktails #nonalcoholicoptions #RTD #preventivehealth
Inspirational Quotes:
02:35 “Generally, we are way more aware of what we're putting inside of our bodies, which has had a major impact and translated over into the space that is alcohol.” —Jennifer Roman-Matito
09:24 “People are just becoming more comfortable in exercising their rights to enjoy cannabis and CBD.” —Jennifer Roman-Matito
11:40 “It is a no-judgment zone, you're allowed to drink whatever you want, it's totally up to you how much you want to suffer the next day. But in the most general sense, the entire idea of being a mindful conscious drinker lays in the foundation that it's a no judgment.” —Jennifer Roman-Matito
12:09 “You can still have the alcohol being conscious, it's still consciously drinking. It's not making necessarily the better-for-you choice. It's making the choice that you wish to follow. And I don't think that that's a bad thing. It's just really great to be able to have this category of options.” —Justine Reichman
19:14 “When one person makes the decision to be more mindful, more conscious, it starts to have a little bit more of a ripple effect.” —Jennifer Roman-Matito
22:45 “Even these huge, massive brands are recognizing this category in this space, and that they have to get involved. They're missing an entire segment of the population if they don't.” —Jennifer Roman-Matito
24:35 “Together, we can make something happen.” —Justine Reichman
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman: Good morning, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman. With me today is Jennifer Roman-Matito. She is the Co-Founder of Mothers Milk. And we are here to discuss conscious drinking.
Welcome, Jen.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Thank you so much for having me today.
Justine Reichman: It's my pleasure. And this is such an exciting topic. It was when you mentioned it to me before, I didn't really think about it even if I'm mindful or conscious about what I'm doing when I drink. I didn't think about the entirety of the context, the idea of pumped up being actively consciously drinking. So with that said, for those not familiar with this term, like it was new to me, would you just give us your definition of what conscious drinking is?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Yes. So you may hear it as conscious drinking or mindful drinking. I actually like to call it wellness conscious drinking. But ultimately, it is truly just being more aware of what you're drinking, putting actual thought into whatever it is that you're choosing to indulge in, specifically in the category of alcohol.
Justine Reichman: I mean, it sounds like it's something we would do naturally, right? Think about what you're drinking, what you're eating. We look at ingredients when we buy products, but we don't necessarily think about it when we order that cocktail. But we do think about when we order Coke, you make a choice. I don't really want all the sugar. So the question is, why didn't that apply previously to cocktails?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: So I think that when you go to enjoy a cocktail, you've got a mission a lot of the time, and not to have a nice bus, that is to loosen up a little bit. So I think that specifically just the world is a little bit more of a conscious place. We are way more aware of a lot of the preventative care that goes into taking care of our bodies, what we're putting into our bodies. I just think about my childhood and the fruit roll ups.
Justine Reichman: Oh, my god, I forgot about
Jennifer Roman-Matito: The yummy treats. I hate to say yummy, but they were yummy.
Justine Reichman: What about SpaghettiOs? Have you ever eaten Spaghettios?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: My father actually used to love Spaghettios too. So we always had them in the household. And now just generally, I think as a society in America, we are way more aware of what we're putting inside of our bodies, which I definitely think has had a major impact and translated over into the space that is alcohol.
Justine Reichman: What's interesting to me is this mindful movement, mindful meditation, just being more mindful. I think that maybe on the West Coast, maybe it was a little bit more forward. They were more forward thinking and accepting, and open to this. And I think it's newer in some other places, depending on the culture. But I'm wondering, when did conscious drinking start? It feels to me like a time around COVID because people are at home having cocktails, they're having cocktails on Zoom, they're doing all these things at the edges of their driveway if they live in the country or something. So I don't know when was the first time you guys started talking about this area, this industry's conscious drinking?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Idea. It is absolutely an idea. I call it a category, but absolutely. So I couldn't agree with you more. It started for me personally during the era of COVID 2020. But I also think that it's twofold. One, the younger generation, right? I hate to put it this way, they're so much smarter. They're so much more well educated, and I think that the younger generation is truly setting the tone here. That's my personal opinion in so many different facets. But I think that there's been a surge in the concept that one is conscious drinking post COVID. That's what really hit me. I think I've expressed this to you, but I used to be a spicy Margarita girl. Yeah, I love spicy Margarita, throw the jalapenos, the salt on the rim. And then as I just started to get older, I started to have a physical response. Every single time I had a spicy Margarita, and I was listening to my body that was saying no, thank you, please. And then around COVID, a lot of people sometimes at 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon are cracking open a seltzer. And I realized that even after I had one or two seltzer, I was not feeling great for another 24 hours sometime. And selfishly, when we launched our brand, Mothers Milk, which is a clean ingredient coconut water cocktail, that is an option for the wellness conscious drinker. We really thought that we made up this term. We were like, it's conscious drinking. You do a quick Google, and you realize that one in three alcoholic drinkers, so somebody that indulges in having a drink so often, one in three identifies actually as a conscious drinker. So this is actually an entire category.
Justine Reichman: So you're saying like you, me, you and me and a cocktail, and at least one of us knows about this idea, this concept, this category.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: At least one of the three of us is looking at the cocktail that we are going to order, and specifically making a choice to choose the better for you option.
Justine Reichman: I can't agree with you more. Recently, when I went out to order a mocktail. That's consciously drinking because I'm scared that I'm gonna get a migraine. I think I'm gonna wake up more tired. I know that it doesn't really work for me so I ordered a mocktail. But even within a mocktail, their sugar and other things, so when I'm ordering my cocktail, I'm like, no added sugar, please.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Yes, 100%. I also always make the joke that when my friends, I'm in that phase where like everybody's gotten married in the last five or six years in my life. And to get the wedding ready, I tell all the brides, no more wine. If you drink beer, get off the beer. And if you're going to drink something, it should just be vodka water. It's the simplest option that we can offer you or the world can offer you that doesn't have all the added yuck when you're trying to be as beautiful as possible to fit into that dress. And so that was a lot of the thought process behind Mothers Milk as we were cutting out all of the junk. And then we realize how coconut water is actually energizing, pumps with electrolytes, hydration, antioxidants, vitamins. And so instead of chugging the coconut water with our hangovers the next day, let's mix it together. And it's made a world of difference in my life. I feel less guilt or worry when I have one, or two, or three Mothers Milks, and I tend to wake up the next day feeling absolutely amazing. Now, you can't necessarily promise that for every single person. But I can tell you, our market research in our community has actually proven that we're really onto something here.
Justine Reichman: I'm curious, I know that you guys have been doing this for the last few years. You've done your research. When you first put conscious drinking into Google, what was the most surprising thing that you saw or learned?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: That there were statistics about it immediately. As I mentioned before, I thought that we came up with this genius, branding concept. And really, it just flowed because it already existed. And there was actual real life data being put behind. One, the beverage industry. And two, specifically around this newer, younger generation that's coming up as more wellness conscious drinkers. And a big star that actually stood out to me is that the younger generation of 21, 22 up to 25 year olds are actually drinking less. And I personally, from the opinion, that because there's just not the options out there. And so that was a lot of the thought process behind our business.
Justine Reichman: I wonder what role CBD plays in this, and THC, because the younger generation isn't drinking, that was not an option when we were younger. I'm just curious what role that plays. I don't know if you have an idea of what role that plays, but that's okay.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: I don't necessarily have any real statistics. I have a few friends now that have launched their own CBD lines. Actually, I have a neighbor that launched her own non alcoholic sparkling wine that is CBD infused. And so it's a nice little cocktail mix, especially right before bed. I have another friend that actually launched their own cannabis store in New York City. So I will tell you that there's definitely a surge in the market, I'm sure you've experienced it, very much similar to the line of conscious drinking. People are just becoming more comfortable in exercising their rights to enjoy cannabis and CBD.
Justine Reichman: Is this a conversation that you're having with people around drinking? Or do you feel like it's new to people if you bring it up? Do you feel like there's a familiarity with it?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: I have two fronts of education. One, this category that's called RTDs. in the alcohol space is relatively new. It really blew up over COVID.
Justine Reichman: For those that are listening that are not familiar with what RTD is, could you just explain that please,
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Completely, it's ready to drink. That's it. And so this particular category of cocktail RTD, or ready to drink, thank you, is new. So there's some education around that. People get asked about me often. How do I serve this? We got a whole sheet that breaks down how you can serve it, whether you're at a bar, or restaurant, at a backyard barbecue. But there's also the education that comes behind my product that is a better for you option. So I definitely think that there are some big messages that have to be understood. And in the most general sense, I think that we really have aligned with the female demographic because they get it. It requires less education. They understand what comes with coconut water. And so a lot of it is really self explanatory. But yes, to answer your question, 100%. There is some education that comes around a product like ours, and just this new conversation around conscious drinking.
Justine Reichman: I want to explore this conversation around conscious drinking and how it affects people. Because nobody wants to feel judged for choosing a bottle of wine or any other cocktail. So what role do you think that plays in the conversation for groups of people that are drinking? Is there shame around it for other people? Are they considered not consciously drinking?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: So one of the things that you will actually get a quick Google from is the fact that what is hand in hand with conscious drinking is no judgment. It is a no judgment zone. You're allowed to drink whatever you want. It's totally up to you how much you want to suffer the next day. I don't know how busy your next day is. Maybe you got nothing to do and you decide to take it one too far. But in the most general sense, the entire idea of being a mindful conscious drinker really lays in the foundation that it's a no judgment whatsoever.
Justine Reichman: Interesting, because you can still have the alcohol being conscious, and you could still make the choice to drink the red wine or the vodka without the coconut water. It's still consciously drinking. It's just making a different choice. It's not necessarily the better for you choice. It's making the choice that you wish to follow, and I don't think that that's a bad thing. I think it's just really great to be able to have this category of options. So for those people that want to participate in a party and have a good time, but maybe suffer from migraines, or have work or don't like to feel that way, there's another option. So if you go out with your friends, is there a place that just offers better for you drinks? Tell me about it?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Here's what I would say. I actually used to work for the hotel group, Arlo hotels. A friend of mine is one of the owners and the head of the Hospitality Group. And the restaurant is called Lindens within Arlo Soho, and they've been intentional on creating not just a food menu, but a cocktail menu that complements better for you food options, and matches that on the cocktail side. I also think that there have been other initiatives in other places where there's definitely more of a conscious attempt to not just necessarily make a great cocktail with 17 different ingredients. But to actually create a simple ingredient cocktail that tastes phenomenal, has a lower sugar, lower calorie, but still has ALC, the taste, and the alcohol of course.
Justine Reichman: I remember I go into lots of restaurants where they have mocktails. The mixologist, and it's really about this beautiful drink with the flowers, the way that they combine the fruits and vegetables, and it's very artisanal. And so I'm wondering, what role is mindful drinking playing now with the mixologist? Are they now learning to create a variety of other cocktails that they haven't had before?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: That's 100% correct. They are being forced into, you might say uncomfortable spaces. I'll give a perfect example of one of my friends and a colleague of mine. He's been on the Today's Show. He's well established. I want to call him a mixologist bartender in New York City. He's curated bar programs for multiple locations. And he has to create an entire list, not one, not two, three mocktails. But an entire list is now utilizing all of these new non alcoholic brands. And so I would say that he changed up the game a bit. You can't just have alcohol options. Everyone these days also features spirit free options, very similar to how more and more locals are offering RTDs or ready to drink options as well. Very similar. But I do think that there's been a major shift in the industry in the world of mixology. And they do absolutely have to focus on some other options. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Skinnygirl Margarita, a brand founded by Bethenny Frankel. And she's been a major inspo for us. She's like the queen bee of the space that I'm in right now. And really, truly, she's one of the early on pioneers into creating something that just makes you feel a little bit better.
Justine Reichman: I think it's very smart. I don't know. And maybe it's because I'm not in the industry, but it doesn't seem like people are talking about, are you consciously drinking? How do you make your choices? It's more just people doing their own thing. And it's part of how they make that choice. Are you seeing much of a conversation with your friends, colleagues and people in the industry actually discussing conscious drinking?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: I would not say that they're utilizing the terminology because it's a little bit newer in this space. And so people don't like it. I'm a conscious drinker. I think it's one of those conversations that I have often when I go out to dinner with my friends. Even down to the, no dessert today. But it starts with the cocktail, it starts at the beginning of the meal. And we look at the ingredients of those cocktails. And sometimes, you don't even know what all those ingredients are, which also scares you off. You're like, sounds cool, but what is actually in it? And I'm sure that they're absolutely delicious. But I tend to always go for the simpler ingredient option. And when there's something that doesn't necessarily exist there, that's when I go for the vodka water, especially when Mothers Milk is not served on the menu. But I do think that people are participating in these conversations unconsciously.
Justine Reichman: So that's where I was going with it. I think it's very unconscious right now. People are having the conversations in their head and with themselves, and maybe with their immediate family and friends. But I think it's less so. So I wonder, how do we inspire this conversation to be a bit bigger part of the meal, the conversation you're having with friends as a choice to where you're going to go out. What are the options? And even focusing on going somewhere that maybe offers better cocktails.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: That's what I was gonna say. It's about the offering. And it is truly starting the conversation around the offering options. And I think that that's one of the big ways to kind of just get the conversation going is by actually having more options available for the people who are consciously or unconsciously making these better for you choices. And you know what? I think that there's a lot more to come there. And I think that this is going to be more of a major topic at a lot of the bigger conferences. I think it'll be more of a bigger topic at a lot of the bigger expos. I know that you were just at an expo. And I think that as time goes on, it's just going to be a little bit, it's kind of hitting the pavement. It's a little bit more education and awareness.
Justine Reichman: I couldn't agree more. I'm excited to have those conversations and see where people's heads are at. I'm wondering if there was one thing that you could let people know about conscious drinking to inspire conversation or choice, what would that be?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: I would probably say, just look at what you're putting inside of your body when you're enjoying that cocktail. Pay attention. Not even so much as maybe inspiring the conversation, because I think it starts with every single individual, but maybe just paying a little bit closer attention. And then you can kind of track how you feel the next day, even later on that evening. And I think that when one person just kind of makes the decision to be more mindful, more conscious, it starts to have a little bit more of a ripple effect. If it starts at home with one person as an individual, they bring it to the dinner, they bring it to the barbecue. So to answer your question, I think it really just starts with the individual. And I think individually, we just need to pay better attention. Because ultimately, it's a lot of the junk that doesn't make you feel great.
Justine Reichman: What's interesting to me and what comes to my mind is, do you remember when the meetup started? I could totally see this being like a meetup. You meet up, consciously drinking. You create a community where people are open to question and answer and are curious about this because I haven't seen much community around it, have you?
Jennifer Roman-Matito: You just sparked something in my brain. We have launched what we call Mother Nature's Fanclub because Mothers Milk is made primarily with Mother Nature's ingredients. So when we launched Mother Nature's Fanclub, which is our community internally with mother's milk, but also our monthly newsletter. Our next newsletter is going to be about mindful conscious drinking. That's where we need to push the envelope a little bit, and force this concept and idea into people's faces. So that way, they can actually connect it back to what they're doing on a daily basis. Sparking ideas. Absolutely. And I think there is more community around it. 100%.
Justine Reichman: Well, when you were talking about the hotel in Soho, and you're talking about them pairing more conscious drinks with better for you food choices. To me, it sounds like a natural place to host the dinner where people have conversations around this. And it's conscious choices about what you're eating, what you're drinking and pairing together, and bringing people together to talk about the choices that we have, and the options that are out there. So maybe there's a collaboration.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: I take on the horizon.
Justine Reichman: We call the Arlo, we talk to your friend, you and I collaborate, we bring in some other brands that talk about this and ding, ding, ding, the conscious drinking community club.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Did you just create something right now? I've already got two brands in mind that I know 100% would be interested in activating with us for that.
Justine Reichman: I think we should do that. And for those listening and joining this regardless of what state you're in, or country you're in, let us know. Because maybe, we'll take this infant of an idea, and we'll start it in one place, and then explore what other cities, states and countries we can then bring it to.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Let's do it. I'm 100% on board.
Justine Reichman: I love that. Oh, my God, this is very fruitful. I hope that others will join the conversation too. So as we're talking about this, what are some of your favorite brands that talk to this value system conscious drinking.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: So these are actually without necessarily even having the conversation with them yet, but I think that they would be very interested in supporting this dinner. I will think of two brands that come to mind immediately. One, being a probably an unexpected choice. Peroni, the beer. They launched Peroni OO which is a non alcoholic option. And if you've ever tasted it, they do a phenomenal job of tricking you. They really do. And so I think even these huge, massive brands are recognizing this category in this space, and that they have to get involved. They're missing an entire segment of the population if they don't. I also think about another brand, and these are brands that I work with, which are not necessarily competitive. So there's great collaborative efforts, but also ritual, which is a zero proof alcohol option. So they have a variety of different options that they can offer you that are actually non ALC. But truly, again, trick you. They flow phenomenally into a cocktail, and really supplement whether it's tequila or vodka. And so those are two brands that I've worked with closely that I think also just are very aware of this space. But when it comes to the actual alcohol space and creating some better for you options, there's a major lacking there. Because our whole shtick that we joke about all the time is, who said healthy people don't like to turn up sometimes. And so if there are more brands out there that align with Mothers Milk and our ideologies, and are really utilizing Mother Nature's ingredients, but obviously with that little bit of an alcohol kick, find us please. We'd love to join forces and collaborate on this dinner or multiple dinners.
Justine Reichman: We're gonna kick one off in New York, and one off in San Francisco.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: I love that.
Justine Reichman: I kick off the one in New York, I'll kick off the one in San Francisco. But of course, we'll invite our friends and family that I have from New York. And maybe we'll do them in tandem or something. We'll figure that out. So because I'm excited about that, and I think that together, we can really make something happen. So that's what happens here. When we connect with all these founders, researchers and explore these topics, because we bring different people in so as we continue this, and we're doing a month on conscious drinking, we want to continue this conversation with you, Jen, and see what other, who else we could bring in to talk about this and the importance of it so that people feel that they've got the strength inside to make those choices and feel good about them.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: 100%. So let us know who else is out there.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Jen, thanks so much for joining me today to talk about conscious drinking. This was so great. So many fun things came out of it. And for those that are just learning about conscious drinking, send us an email. Let us know what you're curious about. What else do you want to hear? Who else you'd like to hear from? And what else can we explore? And for those interested in Mothers Milk, because Jen has Mothers Milk, give us a quick 32nd pitch on what Mothers Milk is and where to find it.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: First of all, follow us @drinkmothersmilk on Instagram. It's really where our Bible is, and you can learn everything about us. Help us get organic followers. We're not paying for them, number one. Number two, Mothers Milk is a coconut water cocktail RTD, so ready to drink in a can. A true cocktail in a can with a real spirit. 9% ABV vodka. We will eventually be moving on to other potential spirits. Let's see how that goes. We're looking for some partnerships to go into our next skews, and we really are a clean ingredient. No artificial flavoring, all natural flavoring, no added sugar, no added preservatives, vegan gluten free option for the wellness conscious drinker.
Justine Reichman: And so for those that are interested in kicking off their mindful journey, their conscious drinking journey, explore Mothers Milk and all these others that we've talked about. And if there's some that you think we should learn more about, let us know. You can find us on Instagram and all of our social channels. So again, Jen, thanks so much for joining me, and we look forward to continuing the conversation.
Jennifer Roman-Matito: Amazing. Have a great day everyone.
