ARRIVAL LOUNGE
¡SALUD! TO THE SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE
Riti and Sandeep Gupta have turned their passion for tequila into a business idea.
By NEHA KARAMCHANDANI
They work full-time. They are parents of two little girls. They are tequila connoisseurs.
In 2017, Sandeep and Riti Gupta turned their passion for tequila into a business idea. Two years later, they launched the first tequila brand by a South Asian couple in Canada – Cada Día – a finely crafted and clean tequila for sipping and savouring made with eight-year-old cooked agave.
“It’s about the celebration of life each and every day,” said 39-year-old Riti during a phone interview from her home in Ottawa. “We tend to live our life as much in the moment and not to wait for the next weekend, month or year to celebrate big or small. We really want to capture that through our brand.”
Their journey began 13 years ago as a young married couple with the understanding that balance in life meant everything.
“We met in Toronto, but Sandeep lived in Ottawa at the time,” says Riti. “We met at a party downtown through a mutual friend. Sandeep moved to Toronto. We dated and he proposed in 2006.
“The day we met, we figured out that we are both Hindu Punjabi, vegetarian, with ironically the same last name. It broke the ice and we continued our journey from there,” added Riti, an IT project management consultant.
Although they are South Asians living in Canada, they said they didn’t experience any challenges growing up in this society. The couple instead appreciates their families for providing them with a balance of both cultures – Indian and Canadian.
“I was surrounded by a diverse population in Mississauga. For the most part, my family was acclimated into Canadian society,” said Riti with a smile.
Sandeep shares a similar opinion.
“Growing up in Ottawa, there weren’t a lot of South Asians – no cultural diversity in the university or schools I went to. But I never felt different or out of the place. It was interesting from a family perspective. I was with South Asians in the evening and Canadians during my school life,” said the 40-year-old engineer by profession.
“It was a pretty cool balance. My parents instilled cultural values in me, and I applied them to my daily life. I played hockey for a while (Canadian culture!) and I played tabla (South Asian culture!) for a while. Our parents spoke in Hindi to us.”
While they continue to instill these same values in their children, they often travel to Mexico with them to learn about other cultures. The couple used these trips – personal and work-related – as an opportunity to taste and appreciate high-end tequilas as well as develop contacts in the industry.
They eventually gravitated toward tequila and began doing research on what it takes to craft it and create a brand.
“We had to find a distillery that would be able to create tequila. We short-listed a bunch, but it was a challenge because there are number of tequila distilleries in the town of Tequila in Mexico. We wanted to go with a reputable distillery.
We had multiple appointments with distilleries to find the one we could trust would make what we are looking for – a product with quality,” adds Sandeep.
The couple is also actively working with a marketing team to brand their product based on what it means to them.
But just like any other business, there have been several challenges.
“It has been a constant roller coaster. Getting government approvals, building contacts in the industry and dealing with different timelines. Marketing our product has its own challenges, juggling our full-time careers and making sure we have time for our kids. When they go to bed, we work on Cada Día.
“Also, being in Ontario, we want to launch here first, but it’s highly regulated by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO),” says Sandeep.
Despite the challenges the couple continues to encounter as they work toward building a successful brand, their hearts are filled with the consumer response to their tequila.
“Seeing the final product and people’s reactions is super rewarding. Right from the beginning, we said we want to create this awesome tequila.
“We understand that everyone has a different palette and not 100 per cent of people will love it like we do but it’s so rewarding to hear that most people, if not all, who have tried it thus far have had awesome comments and reviews,” says Sandeep with joy.
Kuldip Obhan, a good friend of the couple for the past seven years, attests to the hardworking personalities of Sandeep and Riti. He also recommends Cada Día to everyone.
“It’s a genius and sophisticated idea. They are capturing a growing market. They are smart,” said Obhan, who works in Solution Sales at Microsoft. “Their tequila has a caramel and vanilla taste. Sandeep and Riti put a lot of thought into their small business, specifically a lot of work into the taste and marketing.”
Currently, Cada Día is available through private distribution in Ontario.
Sandeep and Riti’s passion coupled with their entrepreneurial drive is pushing them to expand their business within and beyond Canada and its borders.
Visit www.cadadia.ca for more information.
• If you’d like to share the story of your arrival in Canada, please write to desinews@rogers.com or call 416-695-4357.