Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Ginsberg.
Michael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In February of 2012, myself and business partner Nicholas Kiraly were working behind the pool bar at Delano South Beach. One day, guests began sending back Mojito after Mojito. Perplexed, Nick and I got to the bottom of what was creating the disliking for Mojitos that day – and it happened to be an insufficient batch of simple syrup – the sweetening component of these iconic tropical cocktails. Simple Syrup, a relatively easy recipe (given its name) is an ingredient so crucial but often overlooked. Nick and I began doing research and it appeared all throughout Miami Beach that bars had inconsistent batches of simple syrup. Nick and I got to thinking and between all of our connections in the food and beverage industry throughout South Florida, we felt we could begin filling this overlooked need by manufacturing, marketing, and selling our own simple syrup. We contacted my cousin Ryan to assist with a graphic and began working with a local beverage manufacturer, and South Beach Syrup was born. We quickly began supplying much of Miami Beach with our bottled simple syrup, including Fontainebleau, Delano, Shore Club and Mondrian, amongst many more. Our cars served as delivery vehicles and we created our own system for invoicing and quickly hit the streets gaining more accounts each day.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road over the past eight years has had many ups, downs, twists and turns. Although we were able to gain many accounts early on, most bars took pride in making their own simple syrup and thought what we were doing was going against one of the unwritten rules of craft bartending. However, we continued to persevere – focusing on high volume clientele who wanted consistent cocktails across their properties and did not want to encounter high labor costs on creating inconsistent syrups.
We also launched many products along the way – Wasabi Bloody Mary Mix, Pina Colada Mix, Jalapeño Margarita Mix, Zero Calorie Simple Syrup, and Zero Calorie Caramel Simple Syrup. Although tasty, all of these products failed. It was not for lack of effort, but the high levels of competition these products faced from larger brands with deeper pockets.
There were also times when the wrong barcode would be printed on thousands of labels, delays in shipping, hurricanes closing many of our customers for months at a time, and the constant battle of proving to bartenders and managers that making their own simple syrup leads to inconsistencies, unnecessary labor, and product that eventually yellows and expires.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
In 2015, everything changed. With the simple syrup still going strong there was an epiphany. I was bartending inside Matador Bar at Edition Miami Beach when I realized the amount of agave we were putting into almost every sweetened cocktail. I also realized that we were using a different brand of agave every week. Sensing an opportunity, I immediately called Nick and explained to him how we needed to start sourcing an agave nectar from Mexico. We began receiving many different samples and types, and we found one that was perfect. We began importing and private labeling our own agave in 23.5 oz “squeeze” bottles and 1 Gallons jugs. This product was an immediate hit. There was never a “go-to” brand of agave that there was for other mixes, and we immediately began to fill that void. The success of this product was so great that we were able to gain distribution through Republic National Distributing Co, and no longer had to deliver and invoice from the trunks of our cars.
Our ability to realize a need and know how to capitalize on it has led to our success. I specialize in day to day operations – inventory controls, signing up new accounts, finance and accounting, mixology, events, staff training, product development and always seeking ways to crush production costs as far to the ground as possible.
What sets us apart is we did it all ourselves. This is as homegrown an operation as it gets. No outside financing, no big name marketing or PR companies – South Beach Syrup has been built on a grassroots approach – just a couple “in-the-biz” guys who realized a market need, took some rainy day funds and started a company and put every ounce of effort we had into the success of our brand and product line.
A strength we have is also knowing when to scale back; when we realized some of our products were not going to work, we did not try and push them erroneously through the system. We swallowed our pride, took them down, and got back to the drawing board. This proved successful in that we were able to focus on the simple syrup and had our minds constantly moving and were able to realize the opportunity in agave. We use to think it was about having a massive product line to satisfy everyone, but as the old saying goes, “it’s about quality, not quantity” and we have had two quality products now – one for eight years and the other for five and have realized that doubling down on what makes us successful has led to even greater success.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, many would describe me as shy but determined, I loved sports and grew up a massive Florida Gators fan. Going to the University of Florida meant everything to me. My parents had two rules – get good grades and stay out of trouble. With a passion for UF and the motivation at home to do well in school, I was constantly immersing myself in my studies and playing sports with friends. From an early age, I wanted to be an entrepreneur – I did not know in what but I knew I wanted to work for myself and not have a boss. This meant working even harder in school and learning as many subjects as possible because I knew that to be the boss, you must be well versed in all aspects of the business, I’m extremely blessed that I grew up with an amazing family who supported all of my endeavors, had an amazing group of friends who I am still close with to this day, and eventually found an amazing girlfriend who further supports my every move. My dream was realized when I was accepted to the University of Florida after high school, where I received my BSBA in Finance and Masters in International Business with certificates in New Venture Creation and Global Strategic Management.
Contact Info:
- Address: 218 NW 24th Street
2nd Floor
Miami, FL 33127 - Website: www.southbeachsyrup.com
- Phone: 9542982835
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @southbeachsyrup
- Facebook: Southbeachsyrup
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