In April of 2009, Ryan Eleuteri set out in search of a good mix to make a round of Bloody Marys. Dissatisfied by his options at the local stores, he didn’t find what he was looking for. What he found instead was a passion.
And so began Ryan’s journey to the perfect Bloody Mary Mix. Drawing inspiration from local South Carolina products and only using the highest quality ingredients, Ryan created a mix unlike any other. After months of hard work and dedication, he picked up his first order from the bottler.
And Charleston Bloody Mary Mix was born.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Ryan Eleuteri traded his Northern roots for the South when he came to the College of Charleston. He graduated in 2002 with a degree in political science and plans to attend law school. However, when an opportunity arose to pursue a career in business, Eleuteri joined Hendrick Automotive where he served as a sales manager with the company for eight years.
On a Sunday afternoon in April of 2009, after an evening of Charleston revelry, Eleuteri set out in search of Bloody Mary mix at the local grocery store. Uninspired by the lesser quality products on the market, Eleuteri decided to create his own perfect mix. After months of hard work and consumer taste tests, Eleuteri picked up the first order of Charleston Mix from the bottler. The recipe featured premium, all-natural ingredients and was one of the first Bloody Mary mixes on the market to offer the same handcrafted approach that characterized other artisan food products.
Although he never thought he’d own his own business, Eleuteri has found success with Charleston Mix. “Starting a small business was one of those things where you can’t dip a toe in. You have to put everything into it,” Eleuteri says. “Some of the most rewarding experiences have been at festivals or events, meeting people who enjoy the brand and now consider it part of their regular Sunday morning ritual.”
Eleuteri is steadfast in his belief that Charleston Mix offers the best product on the market. “So many companies out there are more concerned about lowering costs and using the cheapest possible ingredients to generate the most profit. I feel that it is important to offer a brand that, while maintaining a competitive price point, also gives consumers a better alternative.”
When asked how he enjoys Charleston Mix at home, Eleuteri recommends a quality vodka and a cool spread with garnishes like picked okra, blue cheese stuffed olives, and an Old Bay rim.
Jackson Holland brings more than 15 years of experience within the hospitality industry to his role as recipe creator and sales for Charleston Beverage Co.
Before joining the Charleston Mix team, Holland worked for some of the most acclaimed food and beverage destinations in Charleston. He was the opening lead bartender for Sean Brock’s acclaimed restaurant Husk. With his mixology experience and sommelier certification, he then served as beverage director of The Macintosh, located on upper King Street. Holland was promoted to general manager of The Cocktail Club, an upscale bar within the same restaurant group, where his skills were recognized in national cocktail competitions at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic in New York and the Nightclub & Bar Expo in Las Vegas.
Holland originally met Eleuteri through a mutual friend, around the same time he and Boris Van Dyck established Icebox Consulting, a firm specializing in bar and beverage program consultation and implementation. When Eleuteri was ready to reinvent the Charleston Mix recipe, Holland came on board and collaborated with Eleuteri and Van Dyck on the recipe for Charleston Mix “Bold & Spicy.” Their efforts were rewarded when Charleston Mix won the 2011 Garden & Gun magazine “Made in the South” award for the food division and a Gold Medal at the 2015 Los Angeles International Spirits Competition.
A few years later, after listening to consumer feedback, Holland developed the recipe for Charleston Beverage Company’s Fresh & Veggie mix, which swapped out the beef stock in the original Bold & Spicy recipe for a carrot juice blend. The new product complemented Charleston Mix’s line up with a fresh, less spicy alternative bloody mary mix.
Today, Holland primarily serves in a sales capacity for Charleston Beverage Company, bringing the mixes to new markets and brunch enthusiasts. In the future, he hopes to add more recipe variations to the Charleston Mix family of products.
Matt’s career has always been centered around innovation and adaptation. His entrepreneurial fire was lit in the mid-90’s after founding a medical supply company that exported goods into South and Central America. He found himself living in Columbian port towns while navigating shipping containers through Colombian customs shortly after the assassination of Pablo Escobar.
A stint as a financial advisor led Matt to follow his passion for sports into professional ice hockey with the Charleston-based South Carolina Stingrays, an affiliate at that time of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He worked his way up to VP of Ticket Sales and Marketing before pursuing an opportunity as Director of Corporate Sales and Marketing for the Columbus Crew, one of the founding soccer clubs in Major League Soccer. Matt returned to Charleston and served as the youngest team President of any North American professional sports team from 2000-2002, during which time the team won a second championship on the ice and continued to be a league-leader in attendance and revenue off the ice.
In 2003 after relocating to Atlanta, Matt helped start Ascot Diamonds, a company that focuses on providing top quality diamonds and custom jewelry designs at substantial value versus traditional retail options. Ascot currently has showrooms in Atlanta, Washington DC, New York City, and Dallas.
Matt’s passion for business is perhaps only rivaled by his love of a great Bloody Mary, and in early 2015 Matt joined the Charleston Mix team. He drew from his experience in luxury sales by focusing on a high quality/no discounting model and, along with his teammates, was able to help jettison Charleston Mix to a unprecedented growth level that has led the Bloody Mary category nationally for the past two years.
Matt loves music, so much that his living and dining rooms are furnished with instruments and amplifiers instead of sofas and chairs. He is also an avid outdoorsman and is often escorted on his adventures by one of his four daughters.
Jeff is a veteran business executive with an accomplished track record of generating top and bottom line growth for both Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer organizations. He is a decisive leader who has a relentless customer intimacy focus that has, time and again, generated significant growth in both revenue and profits for the companies he has served.
Jeff Crowley brings more than 25 years of progressive executive sales and marketing leadership experience to his new position at CBC. His experience includes senior positions at leading companies like Sara Lee, ConAgra, Gehl Foods and Schwan’s, as well as positions at private equity funded portfolio companies like Allied Capital and Ripplewood Holdings. He has held positions as CEO, President, COO, and General Manager and been responsible for revenue of more than $1-billion.
Jeff Crowley was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Husson University in Bangor, Maine.
I’m one of those people who has never met a stranger. I attribute my ability to talk to anyone with growing up in a family that owned restaurants in Belgium, the Caribbean and New York. Moving around the globe meant I was often the new kid in town, so I quickly learned how to make friends and build relationships. Immersed in the restaurant world, I was also keenly aware of the need to treat everyone with respect.
In 1994, I headed to the College of Charleston and decided Charleston would be my new home. After traveling around the world and working in different fields, I found my way back into the Food and Beverage world, opening Icebox and soon after opening EventHaus rentals. Both companies went from small beverage services and event rental services into two of the largest in their field in the Southeast. During this period, I partnered and developed several beverage-related projects around the country. After 10 years, I decided to sell the businesses and trade my vampire-like hours for the opportunity to spend more time with my beautiful wife and children, as well as dedicate myself to my other work passions in the real estate world. I am now in the commercial real estate business focused on brokerage and development.
Bev’s childhood was surrounded by influences from the packaged goods and retail grocery world, and she drew on the experiences her father taught her as an executive with General Mills. Following college, she merged her love for boutique products with her interest in specialty stores and focused on selling niche products into these venues.
The selling and relationship-building skills Bev mastered within this market caught the attention of Williams-Sonoma, where she was hired in a sales capacity to assist with growth in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Business and family opportunities then carried Bev and her family to Beaufort, South Carolina, where she assisted with opening a boutique retail space called the Newpoint Corner Store in the heart of this quaint Southern town.
After existing her venture in Beaufort and relocating to Charleston, Bev’s retail experience was utilized by Maverick Southern Kitchens in opening a boutique kitchen supply store named Charleston Cooks. Following a role as a sales executive for Specialty Food Groups, Bev decided to join forces with the Charleston Mix team and promote a hometown, boutique brand that she loved and was passionate about. Ever since, Bev has played a key role in coordinating brand events and orchestrating Charleston Mix’s vast filed marketing efforts.
This spring, local Bloody Mary mix Charleston Mix took home the gold at the New York International Spirits Competition (NYISC). The expert, trade-only panel of judges awarded Charleston Mix Bold & Spicy the gold medal and named them Bloody Mary Mix of the Year for 2018.
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