In addition to being the spokesman for Taika, Waititi will be involved in marketing strategy, product development and package design, among other duties. He envisions drinks for pre- and post-workout and for “chilling and winding down at night.”
The launch of Waititi’s first ad for Taika coincides with a new distribution deal for the line, which now has five drinks. It recently added Sprouts Farmers Markets to its network, which includes Bristol Farms, Gelson’s, Erewhon, Ralph’s and BevMo! By year’s end the products will be available in about 4,000 U.S. retailers.
A dream partnership
Company leaders once thought that landing a deal with Waititi would be “totally unachievable,” even though they had “long fantasized about working with him,” according to CEO and co-founder Michael Sharon, a former Facebook executive. (The other half of the founding team, food scientist and renowned barista Kal Freese, is a native of Finland, which further explains the company name.)
Taika has built its following mostly through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and extensive gifting, which Sharon called “an insider play” that started in the Silicon Valley tech hub. There was also a pandemic-era program that directed fans to text a phone number, then prominently displayed on cans, with brand ambassadors answering the texts and starting back-and-forth conversations.
Sharon’s goal, along with demystifying compounds like cordyceps and reishi, is to expand Taika beyond the hacker community that first embraced it since its 2020 premiere.
“There’s a misconception around creativity—that’s it’s only the domain of certain people,” Sharon said. “From our perspective, every single human being is creative.”
Taika’s early backers include notable people from both the business and creative worlds, including OneRepublic lead singer Ryan Tedder; Sophia Amoruso of fashion retailer Nasty Gal and coaching program Business Class; former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb; and Twitter founder Evan Williams.
The company’s unofficial catchphrase, “stealth health,” intends to differentiate the products in the crowded market of canned teas, coffees and functional drinks. The focus is on taste first, Sharon said, with benefits running a close second.
