Chris Bax – Co-Founder, Bax Botanics
Chris Bax, co-founder of Bax Botanics, tells us how this ‘professional tree-hugger’ husband & wife team launched an outdoor experiential business, and then their award-winning alcohol-free gin-like drink. You get to meet Ebenezer, Edith and Hefzibah and hear how Chris feels that getting liquid on lips is the toughest part of the business, along with a great piece of advice in the ‘How to’.
You’ll have to listen up to find out who the Hollywood A list actor was that Chris failed to recognise when he came along for a visit.
INTRODUCING CHRIS BAX
Chris Bax has spent decades learning about and experimenting with botanical flavours. His interest in and knowledge of wild edibles has seen him appear on TV shows like Countryfile and The Hairy Bikers. He has over 20 years experience of teaching and consulting to the food industry, focussing on delicious and exciting ways to use wild ingredients and culinary herbs. Chris and his wife Rose are now using all their skills and experience to distil a secret recipe of herbs, roots, berries and flowers to create alcohol-free spirits with layers of beautifully complex flavours.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
[00:01:20] What is Bax Botanics?
[00:02:00] Chris Bax’s background
[00:06:00] Fate…
[00:13:00] What is ‘Taste the Wild’?
[00:17:45] A Hollywood actor came to visit
[00:21:00] Introducing Bax Botatics
[00:26:30] The difficulty in selling the product
[00:32:00] How to export your product
KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS
• Why should we give alcohol ownership of celebration
• The biggest hurdle when selling a drink is route-to-market
• Don’t be afraid to export
BEST MOMENTS
“I went to do a bit of retail therapy in an outdoor shop…. And met my wife”
“As we’re a couple of tree-huggers we bought 18 acres of woodland”
“Someone from the Guardian came on our first course and the week after we had two pages in the weekend supplement”
“I didn’t recognise the highest paid actor in Hollywood at the time”
“We’ve created a drink which gives you the feeling of luxury even though you’re not drinking acohol”
VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU
Relevant links from the show, recommended Leeds business
Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com
Website: www.tastethewild.co.uk www.baxbotanics.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-bax-6419b255/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/tastethewild https://www.instagram.com/baxbotanics
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ABOUT YOUR HOST
Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.
As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.
As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.
Phil has appeared as a guest on over 60 podcasts, webinars and interviews, from around the whole globe, talking on a variety of business subjects. You can view them all at https://philfraser.co.uk/watch-hear-phil/.
LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST
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Email: phil@leedsbusinesspodcast.com
