In How I Got My Job, folks from across the food and restaurant industry answer Eater’s questions about, well, how they got their job. Today’s installment: Sandro Roco.
Sandro Roco is not your typical consumer packaged goods creator. Born in Queens and raised in Central Jersey by Filipino immigrant parents, Roco became a nuclear engineer and worked in both finance and tech before a newfound connection to his Asian American identity inspired him to start his own company. This circuitous path to entrepreneurship, however, is what he credits for his success, as each experience prepared him to chart a unique path into the beverage world.
In the saturated market of seltzers and sparkling waters, Roco’s brand Sanzo stands out for its distinct mission to increase AAPI representation in grocery stores around the country. And it’s on-point pastel design, too. “What we’re attempting to do, and having a bit of success in, is shaping the way folks think about this country and think about representation,” says Roco of Sanzo’s calamansi, yuzu, mango, and lychee flavors. “These flavors had not yet been represented on mainstream shelves or were relegated to a certain aisle of the store. We’re having conversations that are changing that dynamic.”
Now, almost four years into the founder-CEO journey with 18 employees on his team, Roco’s product is sold in every Whole Foods in the country, is on shelves at several hundred Targets, and at over a thousand Panda Express locations. As Sanzo looks forward to even more expansion next year, Roco shares the details of his roundabout career trajectory, the biggest challenges of entering the beverage industry, and how he’s changing the way Americans shop for drinks. “The grocery shopping experience is common to literally everyone,” he says. “Doesn’t matter your income level, doesn’t matter where you come from — everyone’s got to eat. And so the grocery store, to me, is America.”
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