It was a long-time dream of local entrepreneur Sacha Elez to take one of his ideas onto the popular business reality show Dragons' Den, and it's one that has finally come true.
Elez and business partner Adam Dombowsky recently faced down the Dragons with a pitch for Smooth 42 Craft Distillery, their craft distillery located just northwest of Moose Jaw in Brownlee, Sask.
“I grew up watching Dragons' Den, it was one of my favourite shows in high school and I always dreamed of being on this show with one of my ideas,” said Elez.
Smooth 42 will be featured in the premiering episode of the 15th season of the popular TV show on Oct. 22, presenting a pitch — and a selection of boozy samples — to this season’s panel of business experts, including Den favourites Arlene Dickinson and Jim Treliving along with returning moguls Michele Romanow, Manjit Minhas, Lane Merrifield and Vincenzo Guzzo.
The primary product featured was Smooth 42’s most innovative and bestselling project, Cre8 Eco Vodka, which is a highly concentrated vodka packaged in a bottle with room for the customer to dilute and mix the alcohol to their own desired strength.
The alcohol is packaged in a 1L bottle with only 333 ml of 90 per cent vodka, meaning it sells at a lower price point than a regular bottle of vodka and saves carbon emissions when shipping because it is lighter in weight. The product also offers customers a unique chance to create their own flavour infusions at home.
Elez and Dombowsky’s pitch was centred on a partnership with Smooth 42 Distillery as a business to help expand its marketing reach, with the pair offering samples of a few different products for the Dragons to try.
“We were limited in how many samples we could do, we weren’t sure when we showed up how drunk the Dragons were wanting to get,” joked Elez. “It would have been great if we could have kept feeding them one of everything [on the product line.]”
The samples offered on the show included Cre8 Eco Vodka, infused with organic raspberries grown on a family farm near Tugaske, as well as Smooth 42’s caesar-ready infused vodka and a preview of a new pre-mixed cocktail called a Moonshine Smasher.
The panel of experts on this season of Dragon’s Den, toasting with a shot of Smooth 42 Cre8 Vodka infused with locally grown raspberries. (supplied)The pair also shared the distillery’s other largest project: distilling high-proof alcohol for use as hand sanitizer. That new venture began earlier this spring as a response to help medical professionals through supply shortages during the pandemic, but it has now gained a life of its own and prompted the recent launch of the child-safe Little Hands sanitizer product that features no smell, residue, or aftertaste on kid’s hands.
Elez said the experience of pitching a product to the panel of Dragons was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking — and definitely rewarding.
“I was mostly excited to meet [the Dragons], especially Arlene because I grew up watching the show and she was my favourite,” said Elez. “The highlight was probably watching the Dragons try our products and their positive reactions. That means a lot regardless of whether or not we made a deal, just to go there and hear these very prominent figures in business agree that we make a great product.”
Elez and Dombowsky were hoping to land a deal to help improve and expand Smooth 42’s marketing strategies, but they also knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime mentorship opportunity.
“We went in there hoping to make a deal with Arlene and Michele because they specifically fill a gap that we’re trying to address with marketing and tech-savviness,” said Elez. “We thought there’d be great value in partnering with really any of the Dragons, as a mentor [but] they just seem like the best fit for us.”
He wasn’t able to share details about the result of the pitch — at least, not until the episode airs — but he did say that just the chance to showcase Smooth 42 on national television was well worth the road trip to Toronto.
“Getting our top-selling product in front of all of Canada is going to be, I hope, a huge boost to our awareness. [The Eco Vodka] is so radically different from your regular vodkas, with the whole idea of making it your own,” said Elez. “We’ve never had a big media exposure like this before, so I’m anxious to see what happens.”
Dragons' Den has undergone some changes due to COVID-19, says the CBC website, but the Dragons are still sitting in their iconic armchairs to pass judgement just like any other year — they’re just six feet apart this season.
For Elez and Dombowsky, standing in front of those armchairs is an experience they aren’t likely to forget.
The premiere episode of Dragons' Den featuring Smooth 42 Distillery will air on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. on CBC and the free streaming service CBC Gem.
To see the sneak peak video of Smooth 42’s pitch released by CBC earlier this week, click here.
