Mother-Daughter Team Put $500,000 Into Mocktail Brand, Hit $500,000 Sales in Year One

By Daniel Okafor

MODA Mocktails has generated $500,000 in revenue since launching earlier in 2025, matching the roughly $500,000 that its two founders have personally invested in the brand. The company projects between $3 million and $5 million in revenue for 2027 and aims to reach 4,000 stores by mid-2027.

The founders are mother and daughter Sosy and Grace Hachigian. Grace, 26, runs the East Coast business from New York City. Sosy, 57, manages the West Coast from Orange County, California.

Where did the idea come from?

Sosy said the product gap drove the decision. "MODA was born in 2025 out of a simple frustration: We couldn't find a mocktail that checked all our boxes," she said. "We wanted something with clean ingredients, bold flavor and an accessible price point."

What they found instead were products loaded with added sugar, muted in flavor, or tasting closer to sparkling water than a cocktail. Sosy never enjoyed drinking alcohol, so she built the product she could not buy.

Grace brought formal training to the venture. She spent four years at Nestlé USA as an associate brand manager, working on Coffee mate, Nesquik and Starbucks. She started MODA while still employed full-time there.

How did they fund the launch?

The founders self-funded. Grace said the money went into product development, packaging, marketing, sampling and distribution.

"From the beginning, we knew that building a great product was only half the equation," she said. "We needed to build the brand by getting MODA into as many hands as possible. We have personally invested over $500,000."

No earnings have been taken out. Everything flows back into distribution, retail expansion and brand awareness.

The company also secured WBENC certification as a women-owned business at launch. Sosy said the certification carried personal meaning for a mother-daughter company, and the practical resources — educational webinars, networking, retail-focused programs — proved equally valuable.

What went wrong along the way?

A frozen shipment stands out. Grace recalled shipping the first purchase order to a retailer's warehouse when the biggest storm of the year hit and froze the product in transit. The entire shipment returned. The on-shelf date slipped, and the team had to expedite a replacement and work closely with the retailer to get placement.

"It was stressful, but it taught us to stay calm, be resourceful and focus on the solution," Grace said.

There was also a branding misstep. The first logo failed to capture the brand's personality and lacked legibility. Rather than delay the launch, the founders shipped, learned from the market, and revised the logo later. Sosy called it a reminder that a first version does not have to be final.

Grace noted another surprise: how much operates behind the scenes of a beverage brand. Manufacturing, logistics, distributors, retailers, inventory and marketing all run in parallel, and problems demand real-time fixes.

How fast did revenue arrive?

Consistent monthly revenue took about six months to materialize as the founders built their retail and distribution footprint. Momentum followed.

MODA reached shelves at multiple national retail chains within its first year. Distribution now extends beyond traditional retail into airports, hotels and other venues. A typical week includes events, in-store sampling, buyer meetings, partner management and work with sales teams.

What is the strategy now?

Scale. The founders are reinvesting in distribution with the stated goal of making MODA a national brand and reaching 4,000 stores by mid-2027, on the way to projected revenue of $3 million to $5 million that year.

Grace's operating advice is blunt: start before everything is perfect. "Move quickly, make it exist, then build, learn and adapt as you go," she said. "The best way to learn is to get something into the world, listen closely and keep improving."

The test ahead is whether a self-funded $500,000 launch can convert early retail placement into the 4,000-store footprint the founders have set as their 2027 target.