POP CULTURE POP TALK
Fizzy pop connoisseur Vince Pavey talks to gaming’s own Willy Wonka Rich Woodall about starting up his confectionary company Kawaji, how its decisions are made, and what’s next
How did you end up getting into the ‘geek soda’ (affectionate) business? It was very much a result of a COVID-19 lockdown pivot! I left a 17 year long career in logistics at the end of 2019. Whilst I looked for a new role I helped my wife Vicky’s online business, InnerGeek, which sold geek merch. During lockdown, having many conversations with various contacts in both merch and logistics ended in an opportunity to source and distribute imported drinks and sweets to a major UK retailer. During this short lived contract we noticed the popularity of
(mainly) Japanese products featuring licensed characters. These products were hard to source in any quantity, often poor quality and did not account for western tastes. We saw a gap in the market and once Vicky came across the new digital printing process for cans we knew we were onto something and Kawaji was born.
How does Kawaji decide which intellectual properties to work with on new drinks? Do you do a lot of pitching, or do media companies approach you? When we started we were rejected by most as we had no track history. Fortunately we came across Hatsune Miku, a niche property but with a fanatical following. We continued the Japanese inspired theme by signing anime giant Dragon Ball Z amongst other niche licenses at retailers request. However we now have a better idea of what works with fans and retail and have been able to sign major licences like Transformers and Sonic the Hedgehog. We regularly get approached by companies pitching to us and
whilst we would love to do more, we have to make a commercial decision on them. Unfortunately, some really cool ones are not going to work in retail at the moment.
What is the typical game-or-tv-show-to-drink adaptation process like? How do you go about deciding which character drinks are going to be which flavour? Each licensor is different, some have a clear idea of what they want us to do and some give more of a free reign. When we started, we remember taking several months to get an agreement of which character should be which flavour as we had to supply background research to back up our choices. It can be a frustrating process but the licensors team know their characters well and just want to ensure the products we deliver are of the best quality and that fans will love.
Your company is fairly new, having only been around since 2021. What have been your biggest successes so far? Seeing our products on retailer shelves always puts a smile on my face. Not only can we be found sitting next to some of the biggest brands in the world, we have also got a unique offering that is totally different from the others. We also love to see fans comment and even review products on their socials. After 17 years in logistics where every day someone wants to shout at you, it is great to be able to genuinely put smiles on faces.
What have been the big challenges? How have you taken them on? As a start up ideas and positive attitude are never a problem but resource, time and ultimately cash are regular blockers. Vicky and I are a great team, she is fantastic at sensible, structured, decision making and helping us learn from mistakes as we go and make improvements whilst I provide the maverick, with a healthy (or not!) dose of ADHD-fuelled off the wall ideas which help us innovate and conquer issues as we come across them. I saw on your site that you make Hatsune Miku gummies. Would
you like to do other types of confectionery based on the popular media brands you’re working with in the future? There has to be a market for a variety of Majin Buu chocolate and hard candy. It’s iconic! There are so many great ideas we have and would love to do but we
have to make sure that what we think is great also appeals to the fans and also, more importantly, the retail buyers! Chocolate has been particularly challenging due to the large increase in wholesale prices. But watch this space, we are soon to launch some great new product
ideas we hope to have in the shops later this year. The challenge is to keep it premium and fan focussed. Traditionally licensing has often been mass market and poor quality, focusing on kids as they care less, and the parents want it cheap. However if we were to follow that path I think it would take us away from what we are good at.
What’s the next big thing for Kawaji, and how are you making it happen? We pitch ourselves as a crossover between consumable and collectable products and we are now working on crossing over into phygital (physical and digital) products. Our collectable drinks will shortly themselves be the key to fans having their own online collection, featuring our mascot Juji in his very own Jujiverse. Fans will be able to collect, trade and play, with every Kawaji purchase being a key to unlocking more in-world items of increasing rarity. We are really excited about making this one happen!
August/September 2025 MCV/DEVELOP | 53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
