Ep. 323 Sam Shahidi of Happy Dad

Fresh from a hip replacement, Harry interviews Sam Shahidi in person, the CEO and co-founder of Happy Dad Hard Seltzer. Sam stopped by our San Antonio studio to talk about Happy Dad's explosive growth to 258 distributors, the brutal reality of switching away from RNDC, and why Gen Z just doesn't have money left over for beer anymore — between Zyn, Celsius, DoorDash, and sports betting, the wallet is tapped before they ever hit a bar.Sam also breaks down Happy Dad's new 10% ABV non-carbonated lemonade, the Realtree camo collab, a major Target national rollout, and the hiring of former BeatBox execs. Looking ahead, c-store expansion and sampling are the two key levers for hitting 4.1 million cases in 2026.Plus: Harry and Sam tease a future episode on AI.=================================Our 3 Daily Bev-Alc Trade Publications: https://beernet.com/Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeerNetRadio/videosPodcast feeds - Audio: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/beernetradio=================================About Us:Beer Business Daily / Wine & Spirits Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher joins his editors and bev-alc industry guests once a week as they grok the beer and beverage business issues of the day. Like and subscribe; it's free.-Our Three Daily Bev-Alc Trade Publications: https://beernet.com/-Twitter: @beerbizdaily#beernews #beerindustry #beer #beerbusiness