State Fair Interview: The Man Behind 'Sotapitcher'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- What all began as an off-the-cuff remark is now a fully-realized business venture: the Sotapitcher.
It's simple. A pitcher shaped like Minnesota. But it's turning heads at the Minnesota State Fair.
Surprisingly enough, the founder of Sotapitcher has no real pottery or artistic background. In fact, he worked as a financial expert for five years. But what Eric Darling, of Hopkins, does have is the entrepreneur spirit.
Now, you can find Sotapitchers in shot glasses, mugs and pitchers at the State Fair gift shops and online!
For more information and background on Sotapitchers, check out the interview with Darling (and video) below!
Interview
So, what sparked the whole idea?
Actually my friend made an off-the-cuff remark, saying, "hey, we should make mugs shaped like Minnesota." And I was like, "Dude, we should make mugs shaped like Minnesota!" When I said we should do it, he was like "nah." But I wanted to do it, so he said "you can do it, but on two conditions. One, that you let everyone know that it's my idea. And two, that I get one once they're made." And I said, "done." (laughs) That was the impetus of making mugs shaped like the state of Minnesota.
It was an off-the-cuff remark, but then I looked at the shape (of Minnesota) and it very much resembles a pitcher. It has the flat bottom, the spout, the handle to the side.
What was your friend's name? Just for the record, of course.
Kyle Ronning!
So, the idea was formed and what happened from there?
So, I went to Startup Weekend, it's a place where entrepreneurs come together and rapid fire ideas. Each entrepreneur pitches an idea and we all vote collectively on the best ideas, and then form teams around the ideas. And so I pitched the concept, everyone really liked it.
So, we ended up creating a 3-D printed model over the course of the weekend. It won best pitch … I don't know if it was a play on words (laughs) or an acknowledgement to the great idea. That was kind of the momentum that we started.
And then I had to figure out how to make it. Conceptually it was great. I mean, we had the 3-D printed version, but mass producing a plastic of the shape of our state proved to be somewhat difficult. We wanted to make sure it was made in Minnesota. Glass also proved to be difficult.
Then, someone pitched the idea of ceramic. The more I looked into it, the more I realized it was a perfect fit.
Once I decided on the material, I had to find a manufacture that could make it. Immediately, I thought of Red Wing Pottery, since the historic nature. It's in Minnesota and they've been around since the 1800s. I reached out and they said they didn't want anything to do with it! (Laughs)
I tried a different producer, but had some troubles, so I reached out to Red Wing again. And at that time, they were going through a transition, a new owner took over, and he absolutely loved the concept and our partnership was struck in April of last year (2014).
So, how do people get their hands on one?
You can go online to SotaPitcher.com. We have a few versions there. And also at the State Fair, we're selling a few different versions at the four State Fair gift shops.
Do you have any partners in the beer business?
Yeah, we do an annual – well we did it last year and are doing it again – Nice Pint Club. We had eight different breweries we featured on them. We had Finnegan's, Summit, 612Brew, Excelsior, various breweries. So, we're doing that again this year.
Lastly, tell me a little bit about the customization process.
Yeah, we do decals where we can put various logos on the pitchers. We put some artwork by Adam Turman on there. Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, etc. Any logo can go on there. We also do hand-painting. Also works for weddings and such.
Darling also made an appearance on WCCO Live! At The Fair, and you can check that out below!
