5 Drinkware Brand Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

•

Updated: November 19th, 2023

Start A Drinkware Brand

A drinkware brand sells home and houseware products like cups, koozies, mugs, and other drinking accessories. If you've decided to try and create a business selling drinkware, there are certain things you need to know. You can do it from the comfort of your own home. You can get started for free, avoiding the hefty cost of setting up a brick-and-mortar shop. And if you take advantage of the right marketing strategies, you could be on your way to making money within a few weeks. The demand for custom-branded drinkware in the workplace has increased substantially over the past decade.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a drinkware brand:

1. BrüMate ($144M/year)

Dylan Jacob, founder of BruMate, came up with the idea for his unique insulated drinkware brand after a frustrating search for a koozie that worked with his can of choice.
He launched his first product line in November 2016 and has since experienced impressive growth (with over $1.1 million in monthly sales)
Jacob's ability to pivot and adapt his business strategy has been key to his success.

How much they make: $144M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
Current team size: 57

I Grew A Drinkware Brand To $1.1M/Month At 23 Years Old

BruMate is a successful insulated drinkware brand focused on the adult beverage community, with a flagship product that generated $2.1M in sales in 2017 and is now doing over $1.1M per month in sales, with plans to do $20M this year.

About

Dylan started BrüMate over 8 years ago

Revenue

Dylan grew the business to $12M/month

Skills

Design Skills

Costs

It cost Dylan $5000 to start the business

Read this case study

Read by 101,597 founders

2. Ice Shaker ($5.4M/year)

Chris Gronkowski came up with the idea for Ice Shaker after realizing the need for a shaker bottle that would keep drinks cold all day. He saw the success of other bottles on the market but noticed they were difficult to fill and clean, so he created a vacuum-insulated shaker bottle that was easy to use. The company exploded after appearing on Shark Tank, going from $80,000 in sales to over $3 million within a year.

How much they make: $5.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5.2K
Current team size: 9

How Chris Gronkowski Left The NFL And Became An Entrepreneur

Chris Gronkowski, former NFL player, launched Ice Shaker just one year ago, but has since exploded into the drinkware scene with over 65 variations, $3 million in sales, and shelf placement in big retail locations such as GNC.

About

Chris started Ice Shaker over 7 years ago

Revenue

Chris grew the business to $450K/month

Costs

It cost Chris $5200 to start the business

Read this case study

Read by 6,170 founders

So... can you actually make money with a drinkware brand?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

3. Well Told Design ($4.99M/year)

How much they make: $4.99M/year
Current team size: 7

Passing $5 Million Revenue as a CPG and D2C Startup with NO Investors - Brian Johnson (Well Told)

Well Told Design, a retail company founded by Brian Johnson, has landed on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies for the second year in a row, ranking 5th in the state of New Hampshire and 90th overall.

About

Brian started Well Told Design over 15 years ago

Revenue

Brian grew the business to $416K/month

Read this case study

Read by 1,371 founders

Part of

Starting A Drinkware Brand: Everything You Need To Know

‹

›