How FELLR became a $18 million business
A casual catch up with a friend sparked a runaway success story in just four years.
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I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly thought of a few ‘million-dollar ideas’ with my girlfriends over a cocktail or two. An app that sends awkward messages for you so you don’t have to be part of the equation? Genius. Light-up running shoes for adults? Perfection. However, unlike Will Morgan and Andy Skora (co-founders of alcoholic drinks company FELLR) none of my ideas have ever eventuated into one that actually makes wads of cash.
A conversation over a beer in the Sydney suburb of Bondi led to mates Will and Andy starting FELLR. Their ambition? The mates wanted to get out of their corporate jobs while simultaneously creating a ‘nice liquid’ to be enjoyed by many. Just four years after that fateful chat, FELLR is now stocked in over 5000 stores and venues Australia-wide and they’re on track to sell over 5.5 million tins and schooners in this year alone.
HOW IT STARTED
It was the seltzer boom in the USA in 2019 that inspired the mates to ‘fill a gap’ in the drinks industry here in Australia. But the timing wasn’t perfect. Three months after Will and Andy both quit their corporate jobs, Covid hit Aussie shores, throwing a spanner in the works. To add a little more pressure to the situation, a week after quitting, Will found out he was going to be a father for the first time.
“We were like, ‘Damn, we need to make sure this works!’” Will says.
It also wasn’t smooth sailing for the two mates and when faced with stock issues early on, but the boys found a creative solution. They bought their own product from one store, and simply handed the cans over to another.
Fellr Watermelon Seltzer, $19 at BWS
Fellr Watermelon Seltzer
“We knew that if they only had four cans left, then it would re-trigger a sales order,” Andy explains. “So we’d find the stores that had more than four cans and go buy those, repack ‘em into boxes and then ship ‘em back out to stores that placed an order.”
HOW IT’S GOING
Since its launch four years ago, FELLR has now sold over 9.3 million units. They’re also on track to sell over 5.5 million tins and schooners this year – that’s over 15,000 FELLRs a day! With no signs of slowing down, the company is projecting to to exceed $18 million in schooner sales next financial year.
FELLR is well known for their core seltzer flavours of passionfruit, peach, pineapple & coconut, and mango, with Aussies quickly taking to the FELLR brand’s taste. But the brand’s golden goose is the best-selling watermelon seltzer.
“This was one from our original range and still is in considerable growth four years on,” Andy says. “Watermelon is hard to nail as a flavour, but we feel we have the right balance of low calorie sweetness, sessionability and a drink that looks great in hand that has people coming back for more.”
In case you aren’t able to choose just one flavour to try, they also have a Seltzer mixed 10 pack available, which includes their core collection of Watermelon, Peach, Passionfruit, Mango, and Pineapple & Coconut.
FELLR Seltzer Mixed 10 Pack Cans 330mL, $47 at BWS
FELLR has also just launched a new flavour – Ginger Beer. According to the brand’s product description, the 4% ABV drink “provides a low calorie, full flavour, low sugar, sessionable option made from real QLD ginger”. Will and Andy have so much faith in this new product, that they’re expecting it to make 25%+ of their total sales this financial year.
FELLR Ginger Beer 6 Pack Cans 330mL, $29.50 at BWS
THEY KEY TO THEIR SUCCESS
According to Will, FELLR’s ongoing success all comes down to having a unique proposition, a good brand and good liquid.
“In the seltzer category, everyone was saying, ‘It’s low calorie, it’s more female-focused,’ but we didn’t see it that way,” he says. “We saw a lot of guys and a lot of people asking for an alternative to beer, something that’s easy drinking, light on sugar and doesn’t have the calories that beer has. We wanted a brand that spoke to everyone.”
As for the one thing they won’t do? Andy explained that ‘influencer marketing’ has never been a part of their brand strategy.
“We’ve definitely seen celebrities drink it,” he admits, adding, “But we always thought the use of influencers to launch your brand isn’t that authentic, especially when some of these influencers will be touting your brand one day and another brand the next.”
THE FUTURE OF FELLR
For Will, his first ‘pinch me’ moment was when he realised FELLR had reached“beyond our group of friends”(This is his modest way of saying it’s now stocked in Sydney’s Allianz Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground among other stockists) and enjoyed by thousands and thousands of fans during huge sporting matches.
But Aussie stadiums aren’t enough for the ambitious duo, as they plan to continue bringing FELLR to new heights in the next five years.
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“We’re excited to explore new liquor categories, new formats, new flavours and continue to push the bar with FELLR,” Will says. “We'd love to introduce international audiences to FELLR. We’re keen to explore how we can take our Aussie start-up across the globe and introduce new markets to our unique style of drinks.”
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