Presented By: Rho
When you enter the beverage industry, finance infrastructure is rarely the thing you’re excited about building. It’s a means to an end: getting product made, getting it on shelves, and getting paid—ideally without spending nights reconciling spreadsheets or worrying about where your cash is sitting.
But over the past few years, that “set it and forget it” approach to banking has quickly become a risk.
Tightening capital markets and the very public collapse of legacy financial institutions forced many consumer brands to rethink where (and how) their money lives. For beverage brands in particular, where large inventory payments and long retail payment cycles are the norm, idle cash is both inefficient and exposed.
That’s exactly the position MUD\WTR found itself in before it started working with Rho.
Finding a Banking Partner Built for Modern CPG
MUD\WTR is best known as the buzzy alternative to coffee. But behind the brand story is a fast-growing business with real, heavy operational demands: large production runs, multi-channel distribution, and a growing global footprint.
With nearly 40,000 five-star reviews and a highly loyal customer base, the team had done the hard part: building demand. The challenge was making sure their financial infrastructure could keep up.
After the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent shockwaves through the startup and CPG ecosystem, MUD\WTR’s leadership made a proactive decision: diversify their banking relationships and rethink how they managed cash altogether.
They needed a platform that could:
- Integrate cleanly with accounting systems already in place
- Provide multiple ways to access capital without friction
- Allow idle cash to earn yield without introducing operational complexity
For a beverage brand, where cash often sits between production runs or retailer payouts, those requirements matter.
Why Traditional Banking Falls Short for Beverage Operators
Most legacy banks weren’t built with modern beverage businesses in mind. They assume predictable cash flow, limited transaction volume, and minimal integration needs.
That’s rarely the case in CPG. In particular, beverage brands juggle:
- Large outbound payments to co-packers and suppliers
- Delayed inbound payments from wholesale partners
- Constant reconciliation between operating accounts, credit cards, and inventory systems
In MUD\WTR’s search for a better solution, they evaluated several platforms before landing on Rho. They were interested because it reduced friction where it mattered most.
Banking That Works Like an Operating System
What stood out immediately was usability. Rho’s platform was designed to feel more like modern software than a traditional bank portal.
For MUD\WTR’s finance team, that translated into three tangible improvements.
1. Improved Accounting
Accounting became dramatically cleaner. Rho’s integration with QuickBooks allowed transactions to sync automatically, reducing manual reconciliation and the lag that often causes reporting headaches. For a beverage brand tracking margins across SKUs, channels, and time periods, accuracy is foundational.
2. Idle Cash Was Put to Work
Idle cash stopped sitting idle. By moving funds into Rho’s treasury accounts, MUD\WTR could earn yield on capital that would otherwise be parked between inventory cycles. For brands managing six-figure production payments, that’s meaningful.
3. A Cleaner Transfer Process
Day-to-day money movement also became simpler. Transferring funds between operating and treasury accounts no longer required workarounds or time-consuming approvals. The result was fewer admin hours and more clarity across the business.
As accounting manager Hillary Diebold noted, the platform made banking “almost enjoyable,” which is certainly a sentiment few beverage operators would expect to say out loud.
Achieve Less Admin and More Control
After implementing Rho, MUD\WTR saw a measurable improvement in how efficiently their financial operations ran.
- A 15% increase in overall financial operational efficiency
- Significant time savings across reconciliation and transaction processing
- Treasury yield that helped safeguard cash while keeping it accessible
Those gains compound. Fewer hours spent untangling transactions means more time focused on growth initiatives, product development, and retail strategy.
The team also gained confidence that their financial infrastructure could scale alongside the brand. In an industry where margins are tight and volatility is real, that kind of infrastructure is table stakes.
If you’re still managing your finances across disconnected tools and gut checks, it’s time to upgrade. Explore how Rho helps fast-growing beverage brands run tighter ops with fewer resources.
