When I started it was just 20, 21.

All hands on deck employee 18, wearing a ton of hats.

Whether it be help tracking inventory, searching for new 3pls I think that first month January we probably did 6 million bottles.

We have people calling our warehouse here locally.

Can you ship a pallet overseas for us?

We'll pay four or five.

Welcome back to the logistics and leadership podcast.

I'm one of your co hosts, Justin Mains.

And today we're diving into this story behind one of the fastest growing forces in the beverage industry, Congo brands.

You might know them as a powerhouse behind wildly popular drinks like prime and a Lonnie New, but Congo is more than just beverages.

They're a next gen brand incubator blending influencer marketing, data driven insights and retail strategy to disrupt what you thought you knew about consumer packaged goods.

Our guest today has been a foundational piece to their explosive growth since prime hydration was a household name.

David Hagger, director of transportation and three PL partnerships was actually an external partner of the brand before jumping on board and helping them navigate the chaos of COVID David Hager, welcome to the logistics and leadership podcast.

How we doing?

Doing good.

Thanks for having me, Justin.

Absolutely.

So David, you and I go, go back quite a bit from our time at tql.

We went our separate ways and did our own thing and things kind of went full circle and I learned a lot about what you had been doing, but you started on the brokerage side before ultimately coming on board at Prime.

What's the story and how'd you end up kind of in your role today?

Yeah, was that TQL When I first found out about Aulani.

Good friends with one of the owners since 20 plus years now, but was attracted to it just because, you know, the influence they had in social media at the time and you know, seven, eight years ago that was, you know, not the norm.

So very innovative.

Thought it was gonna take off.

So how can I get in?

So started working with like you said, prime wasn't even a thought at the time.

It was alauing solely just energy drinks at the time.

Worked with them for.

I guess so I've been working with them indirectly for about five and a half, six years.

This is at tql you started working with supporting them as a freight broker, Correct?

Correct.

Yeah.

So yeah, at the time they were GNC exclusive.

So in volumes were nothing like we experienced today.

So you know, handful loads a day at the most.

But I knew, you know, huge opportunity.

They had Alani and Nutrition, they had 3D energy at the time as well, so growing brands, the, the different ownership pieces to their passion and excitement to get this off the ground and get it, you know, to the moon, really excited me.

So yeah, was doing, handling transportation for them through TQL, started working with them in 2018.

Like I said, a lot smaller volumes.

Things started to ramp up.

They're closing more distributors, aligning, becoming a bigger brand, 3D becoming a bigger brand by 2020.

Something I'll never forget is, you know, at the time I'm probably running 80, 90% of the volume and I'm on paternity leave with my second child.

Busiest could be.

And I get a call, you know, hey, does it make more sense just for you to handle everything?

So then I'm not competing, you know, in the same carrier pool as others and just dedicating a lot of my time to the Congo Brands companies.

And my wife said just go back to work because I was on unfortunately more than I was thing there.

But you know, fast forward to, you know, a year after that.

Ownership at Congo Brands got with me and you know, offered me a position in house to kind of, you know, not only manage the transportation, but the warehousing kind of.

You know, when I started it was just, you know, 20, 21, all hands on deck employee, 18, wearing a ton of hats.

So whether it be help tracking inventory, you know, setting up new coman, searching for new 3 PLs, tracking down invoices, you know, small group, super lean, we, we did it all.

So it was exciting to be one of the first.

So you fully move over to, to Congo.

Did you have to sit on non compete or what was the story there?

Or is that, is that no comment for you?

I'm so far removed now, I guess I can say whatever I want.

Nah.

But no, I didn't have any issues with it on compete.

Um, you know, I think you know and I know as long as TQL is getting revenue, they don't care who the broker is.

Um, so they thought, you know, me being here, freight's still coming.

So they didn't give me any pushback when I left.

Well, that's one way around it, I guess just give, give them revenue or write them a check for, for the legal fees.

But so you, you go over no real issue with the non compete.

You jump right in and this is right pretty much in the heart of COVID Correct.

Okay, so, so you guys like what's growth look like at that point?

You know, Congo's been around for X amount of years.

You, you're you know, handling everything Move over to Congo and then you have a pretty tall task of building out a transportation department.

So 20, it was March 2021.

So I mean I remember just you know the, the market was like during COVID Rates were low, didn't know what was going on until every shipper was classified as essential.

And then freight started moving again.

And when I started at Congo, freight had never been higher in the, you know, coming up on 12 years that I've been in transportation but we're talking three or four dollars a mile on reefer runs cross country while we're trying to, you know we just, at that time it was just begging for trucks while we're trying to set up getting away from Excel.

Um, you know I remember when we used to get fulfillments sometimes they'd come over on a stack of paper.

So everything was very archaic and manual at the time.

But getting out of that, getting a TMS set up, having our ERP system talk to our tms, just a lot more automation because without that you just got to hire and we were so lean startup company that we couldn't do either.

So you know getting through those challenges was tough in the beginning but you know, it's what I signed up for.

So you go from the, the brokerage side of the industry over to the shipper side and you know, you, you'll see that it's.

I wouldn't say it's extremely common but you'll see it periodically when you're working with shippers.

You have experience from, from you know, the side that we're on.

But how'd you learn, you know what was necessary or was it just feel and did you have guidance like tell us more there?

So like the bonus of tql, not every brokerage is like that but there are others like the cradle to grave brokerage where there you're getting hands on experience with everything on top of being a team leader out there.

So managing people, managing book of business still have the same conversations and communications with shippers and receivers.

So that translated easily.

Keeping up with production plans, keeping accounting in the loop track help tracking inventory was a little different.

But I mean at that time like I said, the volumes were slower so easier to learn.

But I think that's how you know everybody came in there for that experience.

No one.

You know, we weren't hiring BPs that were BPs at other companies.

We weren't hiring directors that were directors at other company.

We were growing with the company.

Um, so yeah, when with smaller volumes it was easier to kind of learn as we went, but still with the knowledge that I had at TQL and what made me such a good broker is I wasn't just sitting there building and booking loads, managing my team, but learning all that I could about transportation.

So when the software opportunity came up, the transition was easy.

It makes sense.

And then you know, you start updating the technology, you start driving efficiencies, you know, controlling costs more and more.

So on the operations side, you know, I remember when we first started working with you, it was a, a bit of a cold email and you know, Brian had actually spoken with you, you know, a few months prior I believe, but I had no idea you were in the role that you were.

And you know, you responded, you know, you need to talk to me.

And I was like, you gotta be, you know, you gotta be shitting me.

What a small world, you know.

But we ended up working with you all.

I, I, you know, remember some of the, the experiences and challenges early on when you were you know, two, three person show in terms of your transportation department.

And now how many people?

I mean 20, 30, probably more than that.

Transportation warehousing team is 20 now.

But yeah, I remember back in the, the startup days, I mean, you know, even with you, I don't, we've started working with you all 2022.

Yeah, I would say 2022.

You know, still there were nights then where I'd be building and booking loads till 10, 11 at home just because we were so short staffed and trying to keep up with the volumes that you know, were unexpected as we were growing to now a lot less out of the weeds.

But you know, it's great to have the team that I have and the experience and the buy in and the passion that they all have for the, you know, the brand in terms of.

Overall like revenue or transportation spend and shipment volume.

What was it like in those early days compared to what it is now.

Finishing up at TQL?

We were probably moving know 120 to 150 loads a week.

You know, started to ramp up as we bring on, you know, the popularity of Alani growing 3D growing and then launching Prime.

You know, we're having record month after record month lately.

I think we did close to 10,000 shipments last month and we were two weeks into July already at over 5,000 shipments this month.

So it's been, it's been a lot but it's been exciting, crazy to see this kind of growth.

So you get, you know, you're battling through Covid, your team's growing the Company's growing.

And then you all decide, you know, let's throw some fuel on the fire here and introduce prime to the world, which we all know.

The story absolutely explodes.

And this is roughly beginning of 2022.

Talk us through what that was like and how you all got through it.

Yeah, so I, none of us expected it.

I think that first month, January, we probably did.

Six million bottles slowly starts to ramp up.

I think by the end of the year we were doing a hundred million bottles a month.

And then you see us Peak in 2023 to where the popularities like Beanie Babies you're seeing on the news in the uk where kids are camping out for it, you know, limit one.

We have people calling our warehouse here locally, seeing, you know, can you ship a pallet overseas for us?

We'll pay 4 or 5x.

Obviously not happening.

But the solicitation through the roof, the popularity through the roof, you know, I was superhero for my kids, you know, for field day or color run, dropping off a pallet to the school, the kids going crazy.

So it was, it was a wild time.

Do you have any crazy stories of, you know, these fanatics showing up for a limited release bottle or you guys open up the doors?

When we, we were at a new corporate location in close to downtown Louisville, we used to have the kids and they would see we didn't have signage outside, but you could see through the windows and see the bottles and put two and two together.

So the kids would be, you know, circling around with their bikes waiting for us to come out and asking for new bottles from us.

But the warehouse, I'm sure would have a ton of stories.

Just people showing up randomly wanting tours or wanting product or thinking it's a retail store.

Obviously not.

So it was, it was wild times for sure.

Yeah.

I can only imagine.

And I see some of the bottles.

If you're watching the YouTube, you know, version, see the bottles in the background?

I see one in particular.

The, the white can.

The.

I believe that's the original Alani Nutrition Energy.

Yeah, yeah, that's my, my OG can right there.

And that was back in the TQL days before we rebranded.

But crazy to see the, you know, kind of plain white canned in.

And we rebrand and, you know, our creative team does an amazing job with these cans and probably a lot to help with the allure of and the popularity of the Aulani cans.

But yeah, it's from where we started to where we are now.

We've got witches brew that glows in the dark.

Lots of Innovation, lots of brands along the way.

We've got some sparkling water up there.

We had seltzers for a while back, way back when we had CBD water.

So it's, we tried out a little bit of everything and just to see what works and we've got some brands that are really rocking and rolling.

Yeah, it brings back some old memories from you know, when, when Alani knew was really ramping up.

But you know, shout out to Alicia and Jesse Lockovich.

Alicia, my redneck friend, she's like a sister but she would always have the original Alani nutrition drinks that we would somehow mix with alcohol and would really help the hangover.

But it's crazy to see how, how far, you know, the brand's come and then, you know, huge news with the Celsius acquisition.

I know we can't get too in the weeds on this because it's still, you know, in the works and in playing out but I'm sure there'll be more news to come on that front.

David, I do want to jump back with your experience and the brokerage industry and transition over to the shipper.

Needless to say, you probably have had your fair share of say solicit solicitations.

Let's, let's talk about what it's like transitioning over and then being pursued as a client with carriers and vendors alike.

Reminds me of the TQL days too.

I mean you get a lot of these, you know, entry level salespeople.

Same way with like when I had new people on my team out at TQL where they're not very polished, just sending over company marketing items, email blasting.

Get a lot of that.

I get a lot of.

Especially when we're launching a new brand or we're in their news for anything.

It sparks people's attention and that's when we get it the most.

But we launch a new brand and I can get 50 calls, 60 calls a week.

I'm getting 10, 20 emails a day.

And you can tell, you know, people that took some time to think about it, people that are just throwing me an email blast or people that are sending me, like I said, the, the company marketing.

And if there's not a lot of effort into it, I'm assuming that's how your work ethic is going to be.

So I'm probably going to go in the trash.

And what, like, what sticks out to you?

I know you mentioned effort, but from a shipper standpoint, what exactly is it?

Timing?

Is it, you know, service offerings, what.

What's sticking out to you when you know you have a potential partner pursuing business.

Yeah.

So right now I would say it's timing.

I mean we've got a good core group.

Not a lot changes, you know, maybe lose one throughout the year in two years or whatever.

But it's really just being persistent and having, you know, a good message in your emails.

It can't be that something vague or you're trying to be funny.

You know, it.

I'm not saying that I don't laugh, but I'm so busy throughout the day that it's more of a distraction than anything.

So if you're going to get my attention, it's got to have some the value that you're bringing to my network and that you yourself are bringing.

I don't want to hear that your company did whatever with whatever company that you don't have a hand in.

And you know, John, down 10 rows down from you is crushing it with them.

That's got nothing to do with you.

So what's the value that you yourself are bringing with the backing of your company?

And just persistent, it's not emailing me or calling me daily but you know, monthly or, you know, just some kind of reminder that you're still there pursuing it.

It.

You know, that's when I was at tql, the companies I would look for, the ones that aren't going to immediately give me business and you know, I'm sure you all are the same way.

You're not looking for somebody that, okay, we sent an email, they're letting us quote, they're giving us lanes because they're going to do that for everybody.

You know, we've got partners that have been through during, you know, your 2021, 2022, when rates were terrible, it was hard for anybody to book anything at a decent rate.

And there was a huge struggle at that time where all day you're calling out on a handful of loads, recovering after recovery and now, you know, I think the last few years have been a lot easier to where it's, you know, on the brokerage side it's more focused on the prospecting and a lot of post and cover loads.

I know there's still different difficult times but you know, we want to reward and keep those partnerships with those people that have been through us, through the struggle.

But it's just being persistent and coming with bringing value to that email.

Not just some generic marketing or my company does this and we can do that.

What can you bring to the table and how do you add value?

Yeah, good, good insight There from, from, you know, one of the fastest growing beverage shippers in the country.

You know, I think a lot of newer sales reps on the brokerage side really struggle to, to understand the perspective from the shipper standpoint.

So they're, it gets very transactional and it's, you know, it does become a distraction, like you said, when you're constantly peppering emails with no real substance or value, you know, in those emails, calls, texts, whatever, you name it.

So they don't really change anything because they don't have much success, you know, as a result of what their, you know, approach is.

But when you're onboarding partners, let's say they have been pursuing a partnership with you for a year and they've stuck out and they were persistent.

As a transportation partner, what do you value, you know, in what they bring to the table?

What are you looking for in a partner?

It's just, just communication over everything, you know, price, everybody's going to be around that same price.

So you don't sell yourself on saving money, especially if you don't know the rates that you're getting.

But it's, it's all about the communication and how you make life easier.

So I want you to over communicate in the beginning to where I have to tell you to back off, you know, be a partner with us.

Like you said, you don't want it to be transactional to where it's week by week or day by day where you're looking for loads like update us with the market, update us with what you're seeing.

Update us that you're, you know, brought on, are, you know, started a different division where you've got air and ocean.

I think majority of brokers have LTL division but you know, letting, bringing that to our attention, letting us know, you know, parcel shipping, international, intro, whatever, let us know because we're a global brand.

So there's, you know, a lot of value that we're looking to add or looking to bring on from our partners.

So the more you let us know, the more we know.

So the, the more ingrained you can get in with us.

But it's really just communication.

You know, my team busy and they don't have time to look at every little thing or do every little thing.

So, you know, we have the, whether there's communication with teams or cell phones or whatever, but they're com.

Our brokers are communicating constantly with the coordinators on my team to let them know if there are issues or if they have questions.

And I think everybody does A pretty good job with that.

That's, that's what we need is we're looking for partnership, we're looking for communication and usually find success with that.

Yeah.

And I would even say, you know, from the sales side, you know, that's, that's an area I'm, I'm definitely most passionate about.

But you know, bringing a genuine curiosity to your clients needs where you want to understand the overall, you know, supply chain and where exactly you can, you can bring some value or what void can you fill with, you know, the solutions that you have in your back pocket.

But yeah, I think it's too often than not it's usually, you know, service level, take it for what it is, book the load, move on as opposed to, you know, bringing that curiosity to want to actually understand your clients needs and how you can help them continue to bring value and grow without all the challenges and headaches.

So no really good stuff there.

David.

I know, you know, there's, you can't give us all the trade secrets and you know, strategy but what, what is next for Congo?

I know Alani recently was acquired.

Prime is still a big, big factor in the industry.

What's next?

So we're going to keep obviously once the, the transition with Alani and Celsius is complete, it'll be nice to focus solely on prime hydration and be able to keep pushing that, getting back to those beanie baby popularity type levels.

Lunch Lee still continuing to drive with that.

So the Lunchables competitor, you know, we've got some new entree items coming out here soon so that'll keep growing.

We've got a couple other things in the works before the end of the year.

So a lot of exciting, innovative ideas and I think, you know, that's what I love most about the company is you know, to see what we did with aulani in just seven years to celebrate that win.

1.8 billion in seven years is huge.

And then just to see what we can do.

Like you said, we're incubator for these brands to see what we can do with prime, to see what we can do with whatever we have in the future, help with the lunch le lot of exciting stuff.

So it'll be nice to be able to focus on our still existing brands once the transition's done and to see what we can, what we can truly do with them.

Well, it sounds like there's a lot on the horizon and you know, Congo, it's, I'm fortunate to have an opportunity to see some of the growth and inside look on, on what that looks like to an extent.

You always seem to reinvent yourself in one way or another especially you know, through the social media influencers and who you partner with.

So I'm, I'm intrigued to see what's next with all that on your plate and you know, as we wrap up how you stay sane, it sounds like you're always moving, always running, always dealing with something what, how you stay sane with everything.

Just being able to kind of prioritize things.

So really into, you know, to relieve the stress really into endurance training here lately.

So I've done half Ironmans marathons, just trying to be the best version of myself.

But the just having that structure.

So starting my day having a plan, you know, not only for that, but for my work day too.

And it's really hard to have that plan at Congo Brands.

Cause things change all the time.

But just kind of staying level headed, making sure that my team's on the same page with me.

You know, I've got a lot of good support within my team and other teams within the company.

So we kind of all lean on each other and I think that's what helps us stay sane through a lot of the chaotic moments.

Absolutely.

The last question I have for you, this is usually what how I like to wrap things up.

But you know, personally, professionally, hybrid of both.

What do you want David Hagar's legacy to be?

Yeah, I just want everybody to, you know, like when you think of me, my work ethic.

So whether it was at tqo, being a top broker there, obviously the knowledge that I gained giving Congo Branch the confidence enough to have me be the director of transportation and warehouse, you know, my work ethic with my, you know, endurance training, you know, makes me feel good to reach those accomplishments, but also to show my daughters that anything's achievable.

You know, I would say, you know, three or four years ago I hated cardio.

And to imagine that I've now run two marathons in a year is mind blowing.

Now training for a full Ironman in November, but really instilling that work ethic into my, my co workers, employees and my, my children.

You know, it was an exciting time for me in January, ran a 5k.

My daughter ran her first 5k with me in January and she was second overall in her age.

There you go.

That was a proud dad moment.

Is that your oldest?

Yeah, yeah, eight years old.

But exciting to see.

You know, I'm not saying they've got to do all this but you know, show them that anything's possible and, you know, start building that work ethic now, doing kind of those extra things outside of what they're doing, required to do.

And, yeah, just show them that anything's possible.

I love it.

Well, she's coming in second at 8.

It's going to be awesome to watch her continue to grow and develop in her own realm.

But Dave's really excited to see what's next for Congo.

I know we talked about that and how you all continue to raise the standard in the industry as a whole.

So I'll be on the edge of my seat and looking forward to it.

Yeah.

Appreciate you having me.

And.

Yeah.

Lock in, because I'm sure these next few months, years are going to be a wild ride still.

Oh, yeah.

All right, Dave, take care.

All right.

Thanks.