Kiwi entrepreneur and marketing expert Lisa King famously launched a unique business from scratch in a bid to fill a growing niche.  

King launched AF Drinks in 2020, and the brand promised to offer consumers alcohol-free cocktails for those who wanted something more sophisticated than a Coke or juice with their steak dinner.  

“I was trying to come up with a formulation that tasted just like a freshly made gin and tonic without the alcohol. And so I was working with a flavour house during lockdown, they’d drop off little samples at my door, I’d try them, give them feedback, they’d drop off more samples - that kind of process went on for about 8 months.”  

Speaking to Kerre Woodham on the Bosses Unfiltered podcast, King explained she had to create a new market from the ground up, because consumers and retailers were initially confused.  

“People would be like - why? Why would you have a gin and tonic without alcohol? That doesn’t make sense. There was quite a lot of education of consumers, but also retailers. We’d go to the New Worlds and the Countdowns and they’d be like - why would people want this?”  

There was an extra challenge for King, as she had to get the business off the ground during 2020, a difficult time in history. As she revealed to Kerre, she had to utilize her business background in the food and beverage sector to grow and develop AF Drinks.  

“So much of beverage is about the branding, what it says about you. And so we wanted something that was modern, that looked beautiful, also, but fun and cheeky. Which is where the name AF comes from. It officially stands for alcohol-free, but we all know what it means.”  

King’s no stranger to working through tough circumstances. She used her prior experience through Eat My Lunch to work through the pitfalls of developing a business and keeping a cool, calm head through the difficult days. She knew the risks of doing too much too quickly, and she used that to get AF Drinks going.  

“It was Eat My Lunch that taught me that, that no matter what goes wrong - because something will - we’ll be okay and we’ll get through it. So you don’t need to panic and kind of get into a really frantic and anxious space.” 

Expanding overseas was a natural next step, but finding the right market was tougher. King said she looked into expanding into Australia, but it required a lot of effort - so she decided to extend that effort into getting into the US market. The demand for wellness products was there, and AF Drinks certainly had the financial backing.  

“We obviously considered Australia, like most New Zealand companies, but Australia’s very difficult. I struggle to name a New Zealand brand that’s really kind of done incredibly well in Australia. And we thought for the same amount of effort and resources we need to launch in Australia, we might as well go to the US.”  

In January 2025, AF Drinks caught more global attention after Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner were spotted promoting the brand on social media. How did that come about - and how much did it cost? King revealed to Kerre Woodham it wasn’t a matter of money, but it involved utilizing a Kiwi connection.  

“We work with this awesome agency based in the US, but it’s run by Kiwis. And they know the Kardashians. So I was sitting in the back of an Uber in New York with Steven, one of the guys from the agency, and we were like - we’ve got to do something for Dry January. And we came up with this idea and he’s like - you know, Khloe’s stopped drinking over the last year, because she’s been very focused on getting fit and healthy.”

Money, success and connections have been made and established, but King has no plans to sit back and relax at this stage. As she explained to Kerre, she’s established herself in a competitive market and it’s not easy to get a foothold, so she’s not slowing down.  

“For those who know the industry, it’s very hard to make money in beverages in the first few years and you are constantly raising - the more you grow, the more money you need. So that’s been one of the challenges, raising money while you’re still trying to manage the business. So we’re definitely not sitting back and relaxing at the moment.” 

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