Building Functional Beverage Brands Through Creative Partnerships

Free Spirits: Insights on Functional Beverages

What happens when a craft beer veteran brings creative collaboration into the functional beverage space?

In this episode of Free Spirits, Lars Miller and David Gonzalez sit down with Spencer Ploessl, an independent creative consultant and advisor at CannaConnect, to talk about the origin and future of Coco Flow—a coconut water-based functional beverage born from a unique collaboration between CannaConnect and Back Channel Brewing.

Spencer’s background spans two decades in craft beverage branding, sales, and distribution. Drawing on lessons from the beer industry—grain-to-glass education, collaboration brews, and taproom innovation—he now helps brands reimagine what’s possible in the adult beverage space.

This episode dives into:

• How Coco Flow blends multiple functional ingredients like coconut water, pineapple, lemongrass, and sea salt for hydration and recovery

• The strategy behind building a beverage brand through grassroots marketing and collaboration, not paid media

• What it takes to align creative direction, formulation, and business operations across multiple partners

• How product launches in the functional drinks space differ from traditional beverage business models

• Why scarcity, limited-edition drops, and experiential sampling are gaining traction in adult beverage launches

You’ll also hear a candid discussion on formulation goals, flavor development, consumer education, and how non-traditional distribution models can still drive real demand.

Whether you’re a beverage operator, brand builder, brewer, or marketer looking for inspiration, this episode is packed with insights into building functional drinks that cut through the noise.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.