How a Mother-Daughter Mocktail Brand Reached $500,000 in Revenue in Its First Year

Sosy and Grace Hachigian built MODA Mocktails around a gap they saw on store shelves. The more revealing part of their story may be what came after the product idea: they put more than $500,000 of their own money into building the brand, and say they’re reinvesting revenue rather than taking earnings out.

Grace, 26, runs MODA’s East Coast business from New York City. Her mother, Sosy, 57, manages the West Coast from Orange County, California. The co-founders lead the company nationally. The figures they cite show early traction, though their 2027 revenue forecast remains a projection, not a result: they’re aiming for $3 million to $5 million in revenue and distribution in 4,000 stores by midyear.

A shelf gap became the business idea

MODA began in 2025 after the pair couldn’t find a mocktail that met their standards: clean ingredients, bold flavor and an accessible price. The options they encountered had too much added sugar, restrained flavor, or tasted more like sparkling water than a cocktail. Sosy says she never enjoyed alcohol and wanted to make a drink that wasn’t already available.

Grace was working full-time as an associate brand manager at Nestlé USA when they started. Across four years there, she worked on Coffee mate, Nesquik and Starbucks. That job gave her experience in consumer marketing and brand building, including the path from product idea to retail shelf.

Product quality, Grace says, was only part of the job. The founders also needed to get the brand into consumers’ hands. They personally invested more than $500,000 in product development, packaging, marketing, sampling and distribution. That’s a substantial commitment for a young beverage company; it also means the revenue milestone shouldn’t be mistaken for profit.

Building a great product still depends on execution beyond the formula. MODA became certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a women-owned business at launch. Sosy says the certification mattered to them as a mother-daughter team, while WBENC’s educational webinars, networking and retail programs offered practical support.

Getting the brand into stores brought new complications

The founders learned that a beverage business involves much more than making a drink. Grace points to manufacturing, logistics, distributors, retailers, marketing, inventory and the relationships connecting them. Plans change quickly, she says, so the team has to solve problems as they arise.

One early setback came when a severe storm froze MODA’s first shipment to a retailer’s warehouse. The retailer returned the entire order, delaying the product’s arrival on shelves. The founders arranged an expedited replacement and worked with the retailer to get the drinks delivered. It’s a sharp illustration of how a weather event can disrupt a launch—and how much depends on having a response ready.

The company took about six months to reach consistent monthly revenue, as it built out retail and distribution. It has since reported $500,000 in revenue since launching earlier in 2025, and says its products have reached several national retail chains, as well as airports and hotels. The founders are continuing to spend on distribution, retail expansion and brand awareness. They say they haven’t taken earnings out of the business.

Those numbers point to momentum, but the next stage will test whether MODA can turn new listings into repeat demand. A store count target and a revenue forecast can describe ambition; they don’t establish how quickly consumers are buying or whether the business can grow efficiently.

Move quickly, then improve what you learn

Sosy says the company’s first logo didn’t communicate MODA’s fun, approachable identity clearly and wasn’t as legible as they wanted. They launched anyway, then revised it after seeing how the brand met the market. Her takeaway: an early version can be useful without being permanent.

For Grace, a typical week spans events, in-store sampling, product samples, buyer meetings, partner management and coordination with sales teams. There’s also production planning and the ongoing work of building relationships and finding new opportunities. Sosy says working together as a family—and bringing an accessible mocktail to market—makes the effort meaningful to them.

Grace’s advice is straightforward: start before every detail is settled. Put the product in front of people, listen to their response and keep improving. For MODA, the first logo and the frozen shipment both became lessons in adapting. The bigger question now is whether the company can sustain its early retail momentum as it expands.

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Sosy and Grace Hachigian, co-founders of MODA Mocktails. Amanda Breen wrote the article, edited by Jessica Thomas, and it was published Oct. 8, 2026.

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. Jessica Thomas edited the piece. Read more about Amanda Breen or connect with her on LinkedIn.