Host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Halli Sigel, co-founder of Quincy, to talk about how a jar of olive brine turned into a category-defining mixers and garnishes brand. Quincy's mission is simple - build brand love for the other half of the glass by redefining mixers and garnishes for the modern consumer.
Before Quincy, Halli spent nearly a decade inside high-growth, venture-backed startups like Casper and Chief, working at the intersection of operations and member experience - she was employee number seven at Chief. That mix of scaling businesses and building community stuck with her, and it planted the seed for what would eventually become Quincy. The idea itself came from her own fridge - after making a batch of dirty martinis for friends, she realized the brine ran out long before the olives did, and no one was making a jar built specifically for people who actually drink martinis.
The conversation covers Quincy's origin story and the "why" behind the name, how the brand built three distinct revenue channels across retail, on-premise, and food service, what actually goes into a jar of Quincy, and how the brand has positioned itself to grow alongside both the alcohol and non-alcoholic markets. Halli also shares what's next for Quincy's single-SKU strategy and what she learned from her first Summer Fancy Food Show as an exhibiting brand.
Listen in as they discuss:
- Why Quincy chose Spanish queen olives over the trendy Castelvetrano
- The real story behind the name Quincy - and the actual person it's named after
- How a "beertini" collab with a Brooklyn brewery became Quincy's first co-branded product
- Building three separate revenue channels: retail, food service, and on-premise bar accounts
- Why Quincy views the sober-curious and NA movement as a tailwind, not a threat
- What's actually inside a Quincy jar - the ratio of brine to olives, and why it's flipped from a typical olive jar
- How buyer feedback at larger retailers is shaping Quincy's expansion plans
- Lessons from exhibiting at Summer Fancy Food for the first time
- How Halli and co-founder Shelby Sims reconnected in 2023 after a false start in 2020
- Halli's go-to at-home recipe, featuring a dill-infused gin
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
