Craftlab: The Podcast Episode 14 With Jake Whitman, Really Good Boxed Wine
In this season of Craftlab: The Podcast, we’re sharing the stories of our customers and friends in the industry from our annual users conference, Ekos_Con. Our guests shared too much valuable information to keep it to ourselves.
This episode, Jake Whitman, founder and CEO of Really Good Boxed Wine, shares his story of challenging the misconception in the wine world that boxed wine can’t be high quality. When he entered the business, Jake expected blowback from the wine industry for his desire to sell high-quality boxed wine, but he says it’s been quite the opposite. “I think people are excited about it — they recognize the need to move in this direction from a sustainability standpoint. People recognize the cost savings and the fact that we can invest 85% of our budget into the quality of the wine instead of the packaging,” he said. That means the business can sell higher quality wine for a lower price.
Marketing and sustainability also play a large role in Really Good Boxed Wine’s business model. As a former marketing professional, Jake leans into leveraging customer data and analyzing traffic to drive customer acquisition, which sets his brand apart from a traditional winery DTC model. Instead of seeing the brand as a winery that sells online, Jake says he sees the business more as an ecommerce brand that sells wine. Really Good Boxed Wine’s focus on sustainability drives the team to both source and sell responsibly — and market to wine drinkers who are looking for sustainable swaps in their everyday lives.
About Really Good Boxed Wine: When Jake Whitman left his last job as head of product marketing at SoFi, he wanted to get back to his entrepreneurial roots. This question prompted his next move: why isn’t there any really good boxed wine? Not long after, Jake became the founder and CEO of Cincinnati-based Really Good Boxed Wine, which cuts out the middleman to deliver high-quality wine in an environmentally friendly way. Boxed wine might be synonymous with a low quality wine that’s easy on the wallet, but Really Good Boxed Wine seeks to challenge that idea and allow its customers to imbibe sustainably and at their own pace — the box stays good for up to six weeks!
