Our Mission is to create fun, innovative cocktails for the world. If we had to sum up our vision statement in three words, it would be: Reinventing Happy Hour.
Plus, all of our products are gluten-free and kosher certified. We are also proud to be partnered with recycling leader TerraCycle to recycle our ballz.
The BuzzBallz/Southern Champion mission is to create fun, innovative cocktails for people to enjoy around the world with a vision to reinvent happy hour. We recognize that operating sustainably is vital to our ongoing success, growth, and the ability to deliver on our mission. We have identified several areas of importance and have aligned them with our mission and guiding principles. We are dedicated to environmental, social, and governance improvements that foster a sustainable future and lead to social and economical improvements in the communities we do business.
On a hot Texas afternoon in the mid-2000s, then-high school teacher Merrilee Kick was sitting by her pool grading papers when she had a hankering for an alcoholic beverage. She thought it would be cool to sip a cocktail out of a plastic container versus a fragile cocktail glass.
Merrilee came up with BuzzBallz’s signature spherical shape thanks to a memento in her house—a glass votive from a recent family trip. She was at a sporting goods store when a can of tennis balls served as inspiration for a pop-top she could use.
After graduating with an MBA, Merrilee tirelessly researched the industry and took out a loan to launch her company. She enlisted her family to help get the business off the ground and now BuzzBallz are sold nationally! These pre-mixed cocktails are also sold internationally.
Since founding BuzzBallz in 2009, Merrilee continues to oversee the company as CEO. She focuses on building strong teams within the company and expanding the business in the United States and abroad.
Since founding BuzzBallz in 2009, Merrilee continues to oversee the company as CEO. She focuses on building strong teams within the company and expanding the business in the United States and abroad.
Women Owned® Business
Our WBENC Certification validates that the BuzzBallz business is at least 51 percent owned, controlled, operated, and managed by a woman. Look out for our women-owned label on all of our Ballz!
Food Safety Certification
FSSC 22000 is a Global Food Safety Initiative recognized food safety certification based on ISO standards for good manufacturing and process management. This certification represents an organization-wide commitment to producing quality products using purposefully designed and administered processes and standards. Our commitment to maintaining this certification shows that we truly care about being a company with a food safe culture.
Sustainability
We work with TerraCycle to ensure our packaging is properly recycled. We encourage all BuzzBallz consumers to participate in this program to send their empty containers to TerraCycle. Once collected, the BuzzBallz packaging is cleaned and separated by material type. The materials are recycled into raw formats that manufacturers use to make new products.
Cocktail Innovation
Our vision statement is reinventing happy hour and our Mission is to create fun, innovative cocktails for the world. We are already shaking up the ready-to-drink cocktail industry with our unique packaging and high ABV. Even though we already have a dozen different flavors to choose from, we are always experimenting with formulations and releasing new products every year.
