The Quality Makers: Noah Wunsch of Ruby

I’d love to begin by learning more about your personal background, and how that led to the beginnings of Ruby.

My background is a bit all over the place, and I like to say that it’s all somewhat infused into Ruby and the Rubyverse. Just prior to Ruby I worked at Sotheby’s Auction House where I ran global e-commerce. It was while I was at Sotheby’s that I became more cognizant of “what I was putting into my body,” particularly what I was drinking. All of the better-for-you beverages on the market — kombucha and coconut water — while they have functional benefits, are slammed with sugar. I wanted to find a beverage that had a big, full flavor but without all of the sugar, which is exactly how I found hibiscus. I started making it at home and quickly became hooked on it.

I’m a major beverage geek — one of my greatest joys is what I call “dissociating in the alternative beverage section” at any grocery store (of course, it’s most fun at Erewhon). With a new adaptogenic or nootropic-spiked concoction launching what feels like every week, did launching Ruby feel daunting? Did you have initial trepidation about differentiating yourself in such a crowded market?

It wasn’t daunting so much as terrifying (I’m kind of kidding). I don’t think I fully recognized what I was up against until I had my first finished product in hand and I went to Whole Foods (before we launched) and put it up on the shelf just to see how it would look compared to everything else. THAT was a moment of sheer terror and “what the hell have I done?” But then you default back to your insanity and delusion and tell yourself that “you’ve got this.” But very sincerely, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Beverage is the most competitive category; it can be very, very scary. It’s not something you can fully understand or process until you do it. People warned me, I’ve warned people, but you just kind of have to close your eyes and do it, and then ask yourself “what did I do” after the fact.

On a similar note: what do you think is so singular about Ruby? I’m sure anyone who has tasted the original, wildly refreshing hibiscus drink can speak to that, myself included. But I’m curious to hear this answer from your perspective, especially over time, as you’re expanding into sparkling and lightly sweetened iterations of your classic hero product.

The biggest thing for me always has been putting out a product that has integrity. If you look at our ingredient panel, there are very few (if any) beverages like Ruby. We’re a juicy organic functional soda, without any artificial additives or added sweeteners. That’s crazy! Or maybe it’s even crazier that it is crazy. Look at any other beverage in the fridge and everything has stevia, monk fruit, tons of sugar, or preservatives. We just have organic hibiscus, an organic juice or two, and water. That’s it. So it excites me that we’re putting a “better for you” beverage on the shelf that is true to the aphorism. And then there’s the whole brand universe we’ve built, but that’s a whole ‘nother answer.

Another thing I love about Ruby, and about your approach, is how much you rely on direct consumer feedback to develop new products. I read that you personally joined over 200 consumer demos across the country to ideate these new sparkling flavors. Can you share any interesting takeaways from your time in the DTC field? What do you think people really want from their beverages at this cultural moment?

That’s a great question. Very sincerely I think a lot of people say they don’t want sugar or sweetness and then they try something that is tart and their true feelings come out. I can’t tell you how many people have acted skeptical when we tell them that we don’t have sugar or sweeteners in our product, then they try it and they’re like “oh my god that is NOT sweet!” So that certainly informed the release of new flavors — we needed them to be more accessible. But we wanted to make sure we were doing that in a way that maintained our product integrity, so organic juices were a no-brainer. Our hope is still that people might start with a sweeter flavor like Fuji Apple, and slowly wean their way down to Berry Cherry, then Concord Grape, then Blood Orange, and finally to the Original with zero sugar contact. Getting off sugar is really, really difficult, but we’re hoping that people can think of Ruby as a way to slowly work their way down.