Assembling the Brand: Axel Brave, Founder & CEO at AXEL Provisions

Axel Brave, the founder and CEO of AXEL Provisions, an Argentinian grilling condiments brand, introduced a delightful array of grilling sauces and seasonings in 2018. Among them are exquisite variations of chimichurri, Argentina's beloved national condiment. Bursting with aromatic herbs, each sauce serves as a versatile marinade, brushed on during grilling, or as a tantalizing drizzle for garnishing - popular among grilling enthusiasts.

We sat down with the founder to discuss the driving forces behind the brand, business growth, marketing strategy, challenges, and more.

What inspired you to start AXEL Provisions?

I’m a first-generation Argentine-Texan. My parents moved to the U.S. a little over 30 years ago. Of course, they brought their culture here. That meant that instead of going to church on the weekends, we’d gather around the grill and invite friends and family over. Instead of having a normal one and a half hour lunch, it would turn into a six hour debacle. That is our religion and this was precious time we got to spend with our close ones sharing incredible meals while creating beautiful memories. My chore in the family was to prep the Chimichurri sauce (as well as clean the pit and wash the dishes) and I started at the age of 10. Needless to say I got very good at it.

For years, I heard from everyone at our grill outs that I should sell my sauce. However, I never wanted to be the sauce guy. After studying in Austin, opening up a restaurant on the infamous 6th Street, and deciding to move back to my hometown of Houston — I knew I wanted to start up another business. I figured out what I wanted my life to look like for the next couple of years and looked at my hands to see what I could make and sell. That’s when the idea to start AXEL Provisions hit me.

I ended up making a couple of jars in my parents' kitchen, taking them to farmers’ markets and selling out every weekend. Houston is a very culturally diverse city, but even then I had to teach so many consumers about what chimichurri is, how to use it, and how to even pronounce it. Lucky for me, everyone loved the product, it was the education barrier that was huge. Within 3 months I got accepted in Texas’ Central Market natural grocery stores as one of the top 5 vendors out of a total of 400. From there the dream took off.

Can you share a pivotal moment or decision that significantly contributed to your brand's growth?

Every failure I’ve had became a pivotal moment that sparked making necessary decisions to make my brand even stronger. When I burned all my cash trying to make my online channels work, that’s when I truly understood what it meant to be in the condiments category and what I was trying to make work, simply wasn't happening. This was a huge pivotal moment that led me to personally call my top online customers and awkwardly greet them on the phone. I’d ask them why they loved my brand, and what more I could give them.

The number one thing was easier access to my products at their preferred retailers, as well as continuous inspiration to BBQ new things (this way they could spend more time grilling and with their families.)To expand our distribution, I personally reached out to my top four retailers and explained to each buyer the strong demand from our customers. This approach led to an incredible achievement - getting accepted into 1,700 new retail locations. I made sure to convey how our presence would boost their profits, aligning with the buyers' objectives of driving profitability within their categories.

My point is this: Understanding the environment you’re in is so crucial. You have to learn where your product lives best. Products (or sales) thrive in certain channels, be it online, at Whole Foods Market, farmers’ markets, Etsy, Walmart, you get the point. Within those ecosystems you have categories, and those categories have specific shelf sections. A CPG brand owner’s responsibility is to find the golden trifecta which is where their product, customers, and retailer all meet together. For that to happen, you have to understand those three pillars separately, and then connect them at the right place and time.

What was a challenge you didn't expect as you grew, and how did you overcome it?

The more my brand grew, the more I learned about how flawed my industry is and how it’s geared in a way that doesn’t support emerging brands. Completely counter-intuitive if you ask me. The challenge was: how do I create a successful CPG brand if the deeper I get, the more cards are stacked against me.

One example is when we got accepted into four large regions of Whole Foods Market. It sounds like a huge win, but we were cornered into providing free cases for every single store. You hear from day one about free fills, but it took me being in the situation to realize what that actually meant.

“You have to pay to play,” I was told. I knew this, but when it’s the next step in growth, it really makes or breaks a brand. What I learned was that it’s not simply a free case. They want to charge you the catalog price as well as take the free case. It’s a bit more complicated than this, but to put it simply, if it costs you $10 to make a case and the distributor charges retailers $22 for that case, then not only do you pay $10 to produce and give them a free case, but they will bill you back $22, costing you a total of of $32. Now multiply that by 250 stores, and again by two if you’re selling two SKUs. That’s what you are paying to play.

How did I overcome this? I declined the retailer’s offer. I told the retailer it wasn’t happening. Not only did it not feel right to start a relationship that way, but we couldn’t afford it without burning tons of cash. One of my more recent goals is to remain profitable.

What are some strategies that have helped AXEL Provisions gain more brand recognition and awareness?

Participating in BBQ events around Texas, being right in front of my audience. As we grow our brands, we tend to forget our roots and how we started. There is nothing more valuable, and honestly more fun to me, than standing in front of customers and having them sample our Chimichurri sauces for the first time. Watching their faces light up in excitement is what started all of this. This strategy helps me connect with my audience on a very personal level, generates quick cash, and captures a lifetime fan. I’m all about making our fans have a great time and when I do that - our Familia gets larger and larger.

What's next for AXEL Provisions? Any exciting plans or goals you're working towards?

This is going to sound so untraditional for a business, but I’m actually slowing down the brand sales for a bit to restructure our model and become profitable again. I burned out listening to everyone around me telling me to grow, grow, grow - and not focus on profitability. It was so silly of me to listen. So that’s my new goal: to have fun with my brand again and continue bringing joy to customers all over. This is why I started my own company.

This includes raising a small friends and family round, rebranding now that I understand exactly the who, what, and where I’m selling to experience high velocity, and being extremely picky about what kind of retail partners I want to bring in to help my brand grow.

As a founder, what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking to establish their own successful consumer goods brands in the coming years?

My two pieces of advice are: 1. be curious and 2. remember that you get to define what success means to you. As you start hitting your goals, you’ll hear way more advice than you need on what you need to do to be successful.

Don’t get lost in the sauce. Be curious, ask questions, do your research and execute. But always remember that you determine what success looks like to you.

AXEL Provisions, an Argentinian grilling condiments brand for at-home grillers, and is one of the leading brands of the barbeque revolution in the US. Discover the art of grilling, from Gaucho life to grilling mastery, with insights from the innovative brand right here.

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