Rviita Inc.

Tourmaline Oil Corp

Water / Production Engineer

Hi, I'm Mitch. After witnessing my best friend suffer a heart attack attributed to chemical filled energy drinks (don't worry, he's okay now!), I decided someone had to solve this problem! Why are there no healthy, refreshing, clean pick-me-ups that leave you feeling great without the inevitable crash? I couldn't find one anywhere, so I decided to create one! After years experimenting in my kitchen, failing over and over again, my business partners and I created the world's first energy tea in a low carbon-footprint flexible beverage pouch! We're now carried in 1000+ stores across Canada and looking to expand internationally.

Ignore this, and your food or beverage startup could be dead before year two.

This is the most important advice I could give any new F&B founder.

👉 For every $1 you sell into retail, expect to actually receive about $0.75.

I know… it shocked me too. But I’m not exaggerating.

And you better build your margins off that $0.75 — not the full dollar.

That missing $0.25?
It disappears fast: its invested into slotting fees, free fills, promotions, discounts, warehousing, shipping, flyer programs, advertising — the list goes on.

Every time you run a “2 for $X” deal, that comes off your invoice.
Every time product expires on shelf, that gets billed back.
Want in the flyer? There’s another fee.

The #1 pitfall I see new founders fall into (myself included) is not budgeting for this reality.

That “50% margin” on paper turns into 20% real fast… and suddenly you’re out of cash six months before you expected.

Yes — over time, as your brand matures, you can work your way up to $0.85–$0.90 on the dollar.
But in the early days?
Don’t budget less than losing $0.25 on every $1 sold.

Once I understood this, it completely changed how I modeled Rviita — from pricing to trade spend — and it’s what put us on a real path to profitability.

It’s the difference between surviving… and scaling.

#cpg #entrepreneurship #scaling #innovation #smallbusiness

Mitch Jacobsen, P.Eng.

CEO & Janitor @ Rviita | Building a better-for-you energy drink from scratch, one pouch at a time | Isaiah 6:8

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