Baqua Marlowe Whiskey Bear
Baqua Founder and CEO Sandra Marlowe, left, with her son Daniel Marlowe, who recently opened Whiskey Bear at The Summit at Fritz Farm.
Sandra Marlowe was inspired to start her own line of plant-based health beverages when she tasted lemon barley water on a trip to England. Wondering why that type of lemonade wasn’t available in America, she set out to make her own.
The experiment was successful, which lead Marlowe to further explore the health properties of barley, as well as six other grains — amaranth, buckwheat, chia, millet, oats and quinoa. She sweetened those seven ancient grains with organic fruit juice and created a healthful beverage with no added sugars or artificial ingredients.
“We wanted to have the most nutritious and healthiest product we could craft,” she said.
In 2011, Marlowe and her five adult children founded Royalty Ridge LLC, a company that would grow to include the Baqua brand. Two of her sons, Daniel and Caton Marlowe, did the flavor development based on Marlowe’s grain ratios. They came up with apple-ginger (the best seller, so far), blueberry-pineapple and lemon-mint. A cherry-lime flavor was introduced in October.
Baqua’s first production run, in 2014, was funded in part by early supporters through an Indiegogo campaign. Marlowe launched additional crowd-funding campaigns through StartEngine — a platform that allows individuals to partner as shareholders of a product — as well as through Kickfurther, a source of inventory funding for brands that are seeking to scale their production.
“There is power in the crowd,” Marlowe said. “Even giving a small amount can make a big difference for young startup companies.”
Earlier this year, Baqua received designation as a “qualified small business” through the Kentucky Angel Investment Act program.
Baqua is available in apple-ginger, blueberry-pineapple, lemon-mint and cherry-lime flavors.
Currently, bottled Baqua is sold at Good Foods Co-op and Lucky’s Market in Lexington. Marlowe is in talks with Kroger to see about regional distribution and is also working with Fishmarket, a Louisville-based distributor that distributes to Kroger, Rainbow Blossom and other accounts. Baqua is also available for customers nationwide through Amazon Prime.
“That one is complicated,” Marlowe said of selling on Amazon. She is appreciative of an adviser who told her to “brace yourself, because you will get rejections before you get approval.”
Becoming Kentucky Proud, on the other hand, was a more straightforward process. “I’m a proud Kentuckian,” Marlowe said. “It means a lot to me to be able to put that sticker on my product.”
While Baqua is headquartered in Lexington, manufacturing takes place in Louisville at Flavorcraft, a bottler that can produce and package small batches of pasteurized product. Marlowe also worked with the Food Systems Innovation Center at the University of Kentucky.
“I can’t say enough about [what an important] resource UK is for food and beverage entrepreneurs,” Marlowe said.
The name Baqua comes from three of the grains used in the drink: the first two letters of barley and quinoa, plus the ‘a’ from amaranth. It wasn’t the first name Marlowe came up with, though. Thinking of names and running each one through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was quite a process. It took two years before Baqua was chosen and then approved.
“It makes my jaw drop to think how long it took,” Marlowe said.
Sourcing the grains used for each batch of beverage has been another journey. Marlowe originally found some of them at Good Foods Co-op in Lexington, then later in Louisville and finally from a fifth-generation family business in Chicago, which ships the grains directly to the manufacturing site in Louisville. “I no longer have to be the middle man,” said Marlowe.
Although barley is not a gluten-free grain, the company does provide gluten-free options. “For those not gluten-intolerant, barley has unique health ingredients,” Marlowe said. For example, it’s been shown to help protect healthy cells for those who are going through chemotherapy.
In her spare time, Marlowe competes in local, regional and national meets with the U.S. Masters Swimming organization. She discovered the competitive nature of swimming about 20 years ago during the Bluegrass State Games. At the time, her children were at home, and she took on the challenge and physical exercise intentionally. “I think it’s good for kids to see their parents go after their own goals.”
Now grown, her kids still see their mother actively pursuing her passion for creativity and innovation. She is creating employment opportunities locally and has ambitions to scale the Baqua health beverage nationally and globally, right here from the Bluegrass.
“We have such positive things in our state already with beverage,” Marlowe said, citing Rooibee Red Tea Co. in Louisville and the many Kentucky bourbon brands known the world over. Through programs and knowledgeable staff members at UK and the Small Business Development Center, Marlowe has logistics and other business elements under control. “Central Kentucky is an ideal place for us to launch a beverage,” she said.