Little Toad Creek’s Mixed Cocktails Has a Fruitful Journey

Husband-and-wife team Dave Crosley and Teresa Dahl-Bredine founded Little Toad Creek LLC in 2012. The couple started their business under the brewpub model, producing beer and spirits for their taprooms, located in Silver City and Las Cruces, New Mexico. The company employs approximately 90 employees in their taprooms, restaurant, and distribution business and has part-time ambassadors all over the country to promote its products. Dave Crosley works in the brewery and distillery making beer and spirits, while Teresa Dahl-Bredine works with outside sales, marketing, events, and with the company’s tasting rooms. This team approach has helped the company share their brews with people coming from near and far and has allowed for expansion during the years.

In terms of their business model, Little Toad Creek LLC focuses on having clean and transparent ingredients. The company has gone to great lengths to ensure their products contain exceptional ingredients by sourcing top-quality products. 

Little Toad Creek LLC achieved success in their distilleries and sought to expand their product line beyond New Mexico. In 2020, the company purchased a canning line to move into the up-and-coming product arena of ready-to-drink cocktails. This was a big leap, but the company felt it was important to make this shift to protect their livelihood during the peak of COVID-19 as restaurants and bars closed. It turned out to be a very fruitful investment. 

While many craft cocktails often use artificial flavors and have a chemical aftertaste, Little Toad Creek wanted to take a different approach with their mixed-up cocktail line. They work directly with juice producers to acquire juices for their cocktails. The company paired with Perricone Farms in Southern California to obtain fresh citrus juices to use in their cocktail line. Perricone Farms crafts juice from real fruit and strives to maintain strong relationships with their growers and customers. Juices are the key component in the company’s mixed-up canned cocktails, and Teresa Dahl-Bredine stated they are “the thing that really makes a difference flavor-wise,” in addition to the spirits used. The company works with different small farmers, mostly in California, to source fresh ingredients. They do not use preservatives or juice concentrates in their canned cocktails. “The juice is just phenomenal,” Teresa Dahl-Bredine stated, and “it provides an incredibly rich flavor.” The process of developing and testing their new product line took approximately one year to ensure the cocktails were shelf-stable and consistent. 

Little Toad Creek LLC started distributing in New Mexico and has expanded to seven states. In concert with the New Mexico Economic Development Department, the company learned of opportunities to participate in trade missions through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The first foreign agricultural trade mission the company participated in took place in Japan, and they have been on quite a few trade missions since. This has allowed the company to expand to new markets and connect with retailers. The company is currently exporting products to Japan and is developing a new cocktail that will cater to the tastes of Japanese consumers. Teresa Dahl-Bredine stated that the company is “talking to consumers in other countries to learn what flavors are popular, and the company is constantly developing something new.” One of her favorite aspects of working in this field is meeting with distributors and sales representatives all over the country and learning about the cultures in each city she visits. These interactions help the company to determine the best markets for their products.

Working with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service helped the company learn about the market, cultures and economies. Participating in foreign trade missions provided opportunities for the company to connect with top-notch buyers and learn more about what is happening within the industry. Teresa Dahl-Bredine described this as “an incredible process and is surprised that more people don’t take advantage of it.” Participating in foreign trade missions helped the company get into the export market, and they would not have been able to navigate the process without the assistance of the FAS. Little Toad Creek LLC focuses on quality and taste and is excited to share their products across the globe.