6 Months In, Dregs Continues to Give

We are six months into the grand experiment of Dregs. Can we convince folks to change their vodka in order to change the lives of their community? So far the profit and loss report shows much more loss than profit, but that can be expected from a startup.

In terms of expenses, we avoided buying equipment, which saved us a ton of up-front costs. We still needed to get product, and so we turned to Swallowtail Spirits. Swallowtail created Dregs’ potato vodka recipe and continues to produce Dregs for us. Swallowtail’s product accounted for half our expenses.

Events are another major expense. Paying to sample at farmer’s markets, street fairs, bazaars, and expos is a major part of our costs. Contractors who work our events, hold liquor store tastings, and sell to the liquor stores is another main expense. We love our contractors!

Additionally, we have to pay the OLCC for licensing and pay them a share of every bottle we sell at the events. We also have insurance and rent expenses.

I want to highlight the sponsorship expense because we choose to sponsor non-profit events. For example, the bulk of this sponsorship expense was Dregs paying $2,000 to sponsor Portland YouthBuilder’s Cornhole Classic.

In addition to sponsoring non-profit events, we donate Dregs to non-profits for their fundraisers. In our first 6 months, Dregs has donated 246 bottles of vodka to 7 different charities supporting low income youth. The in-kind sponsorship is worth $5,800 in retail value.

So even though we have had a loss during our first 6 months, we are still finding a way to support charities with $2,400 in non-profit cash sponsorship and $5,800 in in-kind product. We will continue to give back to our community and sharing the results on our journey. Thank you for supporting us.