What is PECK Drinks?
PECK drinks are a new type of beverage that combines Eggs, Fruit, Soya beans and water. We wanted to make something that is different in every way to your typical protein drink. This means something natural, non-dairy, low processing and as few ingredients as possible.
Did you always want to start your own business, or did you have other plans?
It was never something I have strived for, but ever since I have been little I did things to make money on the side. When I was 5 my brother and I made bracelets to sell at school. When I was 12/13 I use to spend hours drawing dodgy Pokemon characters to sell for a fiver a time, and illegally download songs to make mix-tapes for people.
“It carried on into adulthood, but I guess the real driver was having a problem following your typical career path.”
I always questioned why I was being asked to do things where the outcome didn’t warrant the effort- box ticking I guess. I don’t get on well with following procedure for the sake of it.
How did being a chicken farmer influence your product?
Well, it started when we had a problematic flock of chickens, they didn’t respond well to the environment in a hot summer, so they became very stressed. Stress impacts egg quality hugely so we had a lot of second-grade eggs. I had always eaten a lot of eggs as part of playing sport and staying fit- but I was fed up of the egg taste that comes with omelette’s, hard boiled etc. I couldn’t work out why eggs hadn’t become the medium for innovation in sports nutrition as well as dairy had.
What are the key steps in creating a drinks business?
No idea, I still have no idea. My biggest takeaway is always back yourself to get things done. My route was much harder than most because eggs have never really been Incorporated into a beverage product (other than the occasional cocktail).
so I turned to professionals- who pretty much just did tasks exactly in the way my gut had told me to do. It was fear that immobilised me. The key to starting is an idea, and that idea has to have 100% of your conviction, it has to be bulletproof. However, that doesn’t mean you go cavalier/bravado gunslinger and try to make people like a product that’s rubbish. Your conviction has to come from a gap in the market AND people trying some of your mockups.
Why eggs? What are the benefits of having eggs in your drinks?
So, Eggs are an interesting ingredient. Most beverages that have nutritional qualities like fruit Juice drinks, smoothies, protein drinks etc will have most of their nutrition added artificially, and be ultra high processed for maximum shelf life, safety etc. 1 large Egg can give you almost 50% of your RDA of almost every vitamin, and loads of minerals that are not easy to find in other foods (like choline). It is a quality protein source that doesn’t require an animal to die, doesn’t require a calf (like milk), and the chickens get to be outside all day if they want to. In the drinks, we treat egg hugely different. Eggs can’t be blasted with heat, it cant be overly mixed – it’s very sensitive. So, what you end up with is an ingredient that has all of its nutritional qualities intact, AND not overly refined.
Do you have any regrets?
That I wasted a lot of time with professionals that were not best suited to help me make the product a reality.
What are your main aspirations for the future?
I want PECK to be a brand that is recognisable in both sports and fitness as well as general consumerism.
“I want it to be a product you see someone using after the gym as well as on a rainy Monday lunchtime.”
I want PECK to be the flag bearer and forge a new, niche beverage category that sees egg becoming more of a champion in other food categories.
Was there ever a turning point for you, when you realised PECK drinks could become a reality?
Food Matters Live 2016. We did a launch whereby it was the first time the brand was unveiled to the world. We had the appearance of a business ready to trade, when in reality- if the event had gone poorly the product may of been squashed and never seen the light of day. The event was a ridiculous success and was the biggest stepping stone to where we are now.
Where can find PECK’s perfect drinks?
We will shortly be launching with The Co-Op East of England and Musclefood in time for the summer, We are really looking to explore the online retailer avenue as our core audience are those that are having more and more online shopping experiences.
What does your ideal future look like?
The future sees us at the front of egg innovation, with collaborators contacting us asking for custom products, varying sku’s based on yolks, yolks and whites and us entering new categories including snacks, breakfast goods and confectionery… we already have products in the pipeline in all those!
PECK Drinks are smashing it, we can’t wait to see what the future holds for this awesome company. Check out their range of awesome drinks here and have some natural goodness!
