Wallingford firm creates cold-pressed cocktail mixers

This past Cinco de Mayo was a biggie for New Haven area-based RIPE. While initially only a product Elm City residents could enjoy, the beverage company, now housed in Wallingford, went national this past year. So, Bloody Marys, cosmopolitans and margaritas just became a easier for the spatula swinging neophyte bartender to whip up — or at least that's what the brand hopes.

"If you make margaritas right they're a whole lot of work," said JD Altobello, VP of Sales for RIPE. He's been the ground-floor guy, with this start-up from the get-go. "People are busy. In general. And when they want a drink? They want that first margarita as quickly as possible. And that's just what RIPE does." It's simply an "addtequila" situation.

All of RIPE's beverages are fresh-squeezed, coldpressed and come in colorful containers awaiting the mixing in of alcohol. And they are now available at some grocers, package stores, restaurants and hotels across the country. The company is also shipping to customers nationwide.

"We were very lucky to be on trend, and have been on trend for these twelve years. And it's probably not a trend that's going away. That trend being fresh, all-natural — a healthy spin on an indulgence, if you will," Altobello said of the expansion. "Getting in with the right distributors that can take you national, and the right retailers and national accounts. We've got some great partnerships with both regional and national restaurant and hotel operators. The little incremental things that add up. One day you look back and you're like, 'Wow, we've grown this from 1100square-foot little shop in Wallingford to something that you can find in Palm Beach or the hottest places in Los Angeles and everywhere in between.'"

Altobello went on — inadvertently perhaps — to encapsulate everything that RIPE is with one single sentence: "The first rule in cocktails is there are no rules."

Now, many might argue with such an ideology. Of course there are rules to making cocktails (or aperitifs, as it were). But Altobello elaborated: "If you're someone that doesn't like tequila, take the margarita mix, add gin, and you've got a great gimlet. Or mix it with rum for a fresh daquiri."

This is why RIPE steered clear of the "RTD" route (that stands for "ready to drink"), wherein the alcohol is right in there with fresh-squeezed fruit and other goodness that RIPE bottles on its own. "You've got nowhere to go with that," he said.

"We saw people that were bartenders, or play bartender at home, and they're sick of squeezing all these limes and all these oranges just to make themselves this drink," he said. "The real hit recently has been the spicy margarita. That can be accomplished a couple of different ways. You start with RIPE and then add a tequila that's been infused with jalopenos or habaneros, or you can muddle a little bit of that in with the juice and then make it the traditional way. Put your own spin on them. We like to provide that canvas for people to go in any number of directions and make it their own."

Other juices and mixes include mojito, lemon sour, Bajan Punch and classic cranberry.

RIPE recently moved its operations from New Haven to Wallingford — or rather back to Wallingford. "We started twelve years ago, in Wallingford. We had a little 1100-square-foot industrial condo .... Then we moved to a 24,000-squarefoot space in New Haven, on Kendall Street in the Annex (neighborhood). Then we just moved back to Wallingford, where we built a new 48,000 square foot facility."

Connecticut local and CEO of RIPE, Steven Goldpaper took notice of RIPE's rise a few years in. He knew a good thing when he saw it. "RIPE Bar Juice (as it is known at our local grocer or package store) has literally raised the bar for craft cocktails," he said, acutely aware of the clever play on words.

Courtesy of RIPE / CBP Wallingford-based RIPE makes cold-pressed juice mixers for cocktails.