Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Claire Eddington.
Hi Anna Claire, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m Anna Claire Eddington- yes, both names, Anna Claire- and I’m a foodie-turned-beverage producer. Food has been my favorite topic as long as I can remember. I grew up in south Louisiana, where community, food, booze, and celebration are as ever-present as breakfast tacos in Austin. Catching up over a cup of tea with my grandmother or sharing stories with friends around a picnic table were my norm, and when I left Louisiana, I looked for other ways that food could be a part of my identity. It took a while, but eventually, I learned that no matter what my career looked like, I wanted to be working with people and food systems.
I started by volunteering on urban farms and learning about food systems, then working on larger farms and at farmer’s markets. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the U.S. Farm Bill and spent my master’s degree researching indigenous food systems. And for the last year and a half, I’ve been brewing and slinging chai at a farmers’ market.
Through all of this, I’ve learned that the most impactful thing in the food and beverage world (and life) are relationships. Relationships- with my customers and my producers- have driven the development of my passion project, Open Eye Beverage Co.
I was working at UT in the Study Abroad office when COVID hit. With no students traveling and no coworkers to chat with over coffee, I was looking for both a social and professional outlet. I decided to sell cups of chai under the brand “Basic B Chai” at the Sustainable Food Center downtown farmers market “until the pandemic ended.” It was a surprising success right away- my market customers loved my product, coffee shops started requesting my chai concentrate, and independent grocery stores started stocking my bottles. And all of a sudden, I was running a real business that required a lot of attention! But work at UT had picked back up and I couldn’t manage a full-time job AND running a growing business… so I took a leap of faith and quit my job at UT about 9 months ago.
Since then, it’s been a wild ride. I’ve renamed and trademarked my company, gone through an extensive rebrand, expanded my flavor offerings and formats, completely redefined my understanding of food and beverage, and learned so many secrets about the world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG).
Some of the lessons were wonderful- I won the Austin Fast Start CPG Pitch Competition, my business was named a finalist for the Austin Young Chamber FAVE Awards, I was invited to speak at the Kendra Scott Women’s Leadership Initiative, and I get to spend my weekends at farmers markets with people I care about.
But some of it has been an enormous struggle, and I often find myself wondering how small businesses and passion projects can succeed in a system like ours. Most days are thrilling, and some days are exhausting, but not a single day has been boring.
Today, Open Eye Beverage Co. can be found at Dia’s Market, Farmhouse Delivery, MilkRun, 3-6 General, Local Foods 2nd Street, Noble Joe Coffee, Bakery Cloud Nine, the Sustainable Food Center Downtown Farmers Market, and the Lakeline Farmers Market.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Building a beverage business during a global pandemic, where there are massive supply chain issues, hyperinflation, and the Great Resignation, has been a fascinating struggle. An old friend used to describe entrepreneurship as jumping out of a window and building your parachute on the way down. What she didn’t mention, though, is that the way down is a thunderstorm with a flock of angry birds and tall trees with sharp limbs!
The biggest struggle I’ve encountered has been leaning into my role as a businesswoman and trusting my instincts. As a southern woman with no background in business, my default behavior is humor and kindness. But in developing my business acumen, I’ve had to learn that being liked isn’t a prerequisite to being successful, and in fact, it can impede growth and progress.
It’s been surprisingly difficult to learn to navigate the overwhelmingly male-dominated CPG industry. Despite not having a business degree, a marketing degree, or a cadre of wealthy investors supporting my idea, I’ve learned to trust myself and my own instincts. Knowing who to hire (and when to fire them), where to invest time and money, and how to present myself as a businesswoman have been, and continue to be, learning opportunities.
I also acknowledge the privileges I have because of my race, familial and friend support, and access to education. Those elements of life often go unrecognized when celebrating growth and success, but they are the components of my life that have allowed me to grow a business without simultaneously having to prove my own skill and worth.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m the founder and brewer at Open Eye Beverage Co. and I produce and sell the best-tasting, highest-quality tea products in Austin. My brand focuses on ethical sourcing, sustainable practices, and local relationships.
I started the business last year because a good cup of chai was hard to find and harder to make. You either have to know how to brew fresh chai at home or default to a super sweet “chai tea latte” or “golden mylk latte” at a coffee shop. Neither of those works for me.
Open Eye solves this problem and makes the best concentrate-based beverages on the market, both for at-home use and for coffee shop consumption.
There are already several good brands out there selling concentrate, but mine really is the best. It’s the only concentrate I’ve ever found that tastes like a real cup of slow-brewed chai or turmeric latte.
So what makes Open Eye different? Better ingredients and better relationships. I source my tea from a woman-run tea farm in Assam, India. I get my cinnamon from a woman-run spice collective. My colleagues at SoCo Ginger Beer provide my fresh-pressed ginger juice.
And the key difference is the amount and type of sweetener- our product is sweetened with honey from a local farm and contains approximately half the total sugar of other chai concentrates.
The best part is that anybody can make this product by simply mixing my concentrate with the milk of their choice. You can take it home and pour it over ice. Maybe your barista mixes in a shot of espresso for a dirty chai. Maybe you use oat milk instead of whole milk. You can add a splash of it to your bourbon. The options are endless!
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The single most important lesson I’ve learned on this journey is that I’m not just building a business, I’m building a life. I’ve had (and quit) many jobs that paid more, had better benefits and left me emptied out and exhausted. I always started those jobs with excitement but then burned out because I wasn’t aligned with the mission or I felt like I wasn’t able to pursue the other parts of my life that are so important to me- friendships, traveling, volunteering, making and eating amazing food.
Several times in this new business journey, I’ve caught myself falling into the trap of wanting to work longer than is necessary, respond to emails at 2am, cut corners on my ingredients so I could cut costs. But then I remember that despite the norms of our capitalist society, I get to choose how I spend my time and money. And because this is a business that reflects my deep belief in a need for a more sustainable food system AND allows me to socialize and talk about food, I find that my cup is being filled rather than emptied by my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drinkopeneye.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/drinkopeneye
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/drinkopeneye
