A Spindrift Q&A with Nikita from our Quality Team

At Spindrift, we go to great lengths to source the best-tasting fruit from the farms and we’ve spent years honing our manufacturing process to honor the fruit. To ensure every batch we’ve carefully made meets our high standards of quality, we’ve created best-in-class sensory practices. In addition to tasting and approving every ingredient before Spindrift is made, we taste every finished batch at least three times to make sure we love it before it’s released to consumers.   

To learn more about all the hard work and care that goes into upholding our high standards of quality at Spindrift, we sat down with Nikita, Director of Quality.

Hi Nikita! What do you do at Spindrift?

I’m the Director of Quality. I’m the lady who ensures all the Spindrift is as close to perfect as possible.

What's the most interesting or most unexpected part of your job? 

The most interesting part of my job would be how cross-functional it is. I work with all stages of the process from innovation of new products (which means potentially learning about new fruit and new suppliers), to manufacturing and sensory evaluation of current products, to the consumer experience after the products have made it to our customers. I’m always in the mix somewhere. 

In your role, who is the hero and who is the villain? 

The hero is a combo of both nature and the suppliers that provide our juice/purees, perfect weather and the right process that leads to amazing Spindrift. The villain would be time. Freshness doesn’t last forever. So it’s a fine balance to get all the parts together at the right time to make the best products then get them to customers. 

What weird acronym or lingo do you say and what does it mean? 

"RTFT" - right the first time.

What's a challenging or "proudly made the hard way" part of your job? 

Managing the quality of both our incoming juices and our finished products. There’s a lot of tasting, documentation, and review that happens before, during, and after we receive ingredients and run batches to make sure everything is as perfect as possible. 

In your area of expertise, what does Spindrift do that's different than others? 

We have a dedicated group in the field that is 100% responsible for the quality of our products.

What's something you have to do “the hard way”? 

Everyone’s standard of quality isn’t the same so it’s imperative to know what you need to be successful and then be able to clearly communicate what that is to all our suppliers and manufacturing partners.

What is your "proudly made the hard way" story?

When I first started with Spindrift, one of my first projects was working to establish best practices with one of our suppliers. To do that, I had to travel cross-country 1-2 times a month to watch their production process. I had to be onsite when they were operating – which was all times of the day. 2am? I’m there. 4pm? I’m there. Much sleep has been sacrificed for the sake of a high-quality product.

What 3 things are always in your fridge? 

Fresh fruit and veggies, eggs, and of course Spindrift

What flavor are you sipping on repeat right now? 

Grapeade

What would you like consumers to know?

We are always interested in hearing from our consumers: what they share and their suggestions. 

Thanks, Nikita!

To learn more about how Spindrift is proudly made the hard way, check out our other interviews with teammates and watch our brand film to see what originally inspired Bill to start Spindrift and how that ethos keeps us going today.