Have a Sip of The Islands with Caribe & Co: Interview with Caribe & Co Founder, Savannah Campbell
Published on December 17th, 2024
Interview & Article by Arianna Freels
An Interview with Savannah Campbell, Owner of Drink Syrup Company Caribe & Co.
We discuss how her Jamaican-American background influences her passion for food & drinks, the power of social media, and what It takes to be a business owner.
Arianna: I want to thank you for taking time out of the busy holiday season by speaking with us! We love to talk with Black Women business owners. We love your passion for your brand. It is the height of the holiday season. Do you have any favorite holiday traditions?
Savannah: With all of the beautiful chaos of the holiday season as a small business owner, sitting down for a nice meal is always a pleasure. All my favorite holiday traditions revolve around food. Gathering in the kitchen and cooking appetizers, multiple main dishes, sides, and desserts all while listening to music, watching movies, and playing games - those are the holiday traditions and memories that stick out to me.
Arianna: Tell us a little about your upbringing and your career.
Savannah: I’m a Jersey born chef who moved to Rhode Island to attend Johnson & Wales University where I got my Associates in Culinary Arts and my Bachelors in Food and Beverage Entrepreneurship. I moved around a bit after graduating in 2019 before settling in Rhode Island. I worked in restaurants and hotels doing everything from leading a crew of 20+ as Sous Chef at a steakhouse to leading a small crew as interim Executive Chef at an Italian restaurant, which was my last full time job in the restaurant industry!
I come from a big, food-loving family. I’ve been interesting in eating good food from a very young age and cooking from about the age of 9. I’m a lifelong foodie for sure!
Arianna: upon my research, you have quite the resume. Describe how your culinary arts background and Jamacian Hertiage met & how it shaped Caribe and Co
Savannah: I’ve always been obsessed with food, both eating it and cooking it. From a young age, I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career. I went to a vocational high school for culinary arts before going to Johnson & Wales University. After graduating with my Associates in Culinary Arts and my Bachelors in Food & Beverage Entrepreneurship, I took the typical route and worked in restaurants and hotels for a while. Post Covid, the restaurant industry changed in a way that led me to burnout - long hours, staffing issues, and so much more. To get through my days, I drank A LOT of coffee. Usually, a flavored latte from a local spot. But the flavors got repetitive pretty quickly, so I started experimenting with making my own flavored syrups at home. As a chef, I would always pull from the bold Caribbean flavors I grew up with, so it was only natural to do the same with my coffee flavors. I started with the Jamaican Coconut Drop Syrup. Coconut drops are a gingery, caramelized coconut treat that I grew up with, and I knew that flavor would be amazing in coffee. From there, I developed 5 more flavors. A friend connected me with a local food business incubator called Hope & Main, where I took a meeting in early spring 2022. Within a couple of months, my syrups had undergone testing in a food lab, my LLC was filed, and I was ready to launch by September 2022.
Arianna: Look, baby! I am a drink connoisseur. I have three beverages at every meal. I know my syrups to a tee!Although I am phased out of starbucks & dunkin, I go to local TJ Maxx’s, Marshalls and World Markets just for new syrups for my home drinks.Its kinda boring seeing the same things at the chain coffee shops. Maybe a new Drink flavor every season or so.
I absolutely adore your flavors. Tell me more of how you came up and what was your “ a ha” moment of something needs to change and I am that person.
Savannah: Being a lifelong foodie and having an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age (I have notebooks and google docs filled with business ideas and restaurant menus that I’ve created in my spare time), I’ve kind of always been thinking of business ideas in the back of my mind. So when I came up with the idea for Caribe & Co. - the combination of the idea and burnout with my full time job really pushed me to make that the idea I finally took the leap and actually started.
Arianna: Theres one thing I noticed when it comes to chains or just food/ drink in the United States. Is the lack of quality, overly processesd/ high sugar content. Lack of better terms way too many ingredigents = not good for you. I could probably write dissertation on how America does not care about the food at all. High Quality ingredigents. How does Caribe & Co fit and how do you feel in general about food industry?
Savannah: When I was started Caribe & Co, there were a few things that were very important to me celebrating Caribbean flavors and sharing their history, simple ingredients, and multiple uses. My opinions about additives to our food are extensive but what I will say is that food doesn’t have to have a million ingredients, artificial colors or flavors in order to deliver a great flavor profile.
Arianna:You came across my For You page on TikTok, How has social media helped the Caribe & Co brand? Describe the Highs & lows of social media
Savannah:Wow. My brand has grown so much solely through the use of TikTok. Posting daily and fostering an engaged and supportive community has changed my business so much! The highs of social media include a crazy amount of love from STRANGERS. I’m always baffled that people comment such kind things and shared how proud they are of me, yet they’ve never met me! It’s amazing. The lows include an influx of opinions when your brand is in a tender stage. Every opinion is valuable, but you can’t please everyone, so that can be challenging to navigate.
Arianna: How does being a black woman business owner in RI look and feel like?
Savannah: Overall, I love living and running my business in Rhode Island. Many small business markets and organizations make a conscious effort to make their spaces diverse. However, there are always outlying incidences with microaggressions, and I have had my fair share of those as well.
I’ve found a great small business community at Hope & Main, a food business incubatory in Warren, RI that fosters that element of community. That makes running my business in a state where I have no family a lot less difficult.
Arianna: What are your plans for expansion? Are you looking into more flavors, packaged drinks, etc? I see you are located in RI. Any plans for more east coast availabilty ? Big Box Stores?
Savannah: This is such an exciting question to answer. I have so many things planned for 2025, but I can’t divulge it all jut yet... But be on the lookout for more flavors in more places across North America!
Arianna: What is something you want your consumers to know about this brand? What is a key take away before they purchase?
Savannah: Caribe & Co. is for representation - we’re all about sharing cultural flavors in a fun medium - a flavored simple syrup for coffee, cocktails, seltzer, and pancakes.
Arianna: If I am totally clueless about using your syrups. What type of drinks should I mix with them? What is a fool proof good time drink combo you make with your products.
Savannah: We make flavored simple syrups for coffee, cocktails, seltzer, and even drizzling over pancakes. Add a tablespoon of syrup to your favorite beverage and you’re all set. One of my favorite combos is our Chocolate Rum Cream Syrup in an iced oat milk latte. A crowd favorite combo is our Sorrel & Ginger Syrup in seltzer water!
Arianna: That Wraps our interview, Thanks so much Savannah xoxo
