Hannah Crum

Looking to shed “promising upstart” status in favor of a seat at the big kids’ table, búcha live kombucha has named veteran natural foods and beverage exec Ron Lloyd as CEO. The move, made quietly last spring, has already paid dividends, as the company’s new distribution strategy has recently pushed internal growth expectations up 30 percent for 2011.

One year later, last summer’s withdrawal proves more hiccup than handicap. For a nascent beverage category like Kombucha, there’s not a much bigger crisis than having all major brands disappear from store shelves, just as growth appeared headed for warp speed. Everything was lining up in favor of the category. With a clear market leader in GT’s Kombucha and Synergy, a number of creative brands and established beverage companies crafting their own offerings, swelling grassroots support for healthier beverage choices, including a strong home-brewing community, and a massive distribution pipeline via Whole Foods and UNFI, Kombucha seemed on the verge of a breakout.

Call it the country’s first Probiotic Delivery Service.
New York City-based BAO Fresh Kombucha has announced plans for a new direct-to-consumer delivery service for their healthy beverage line. BAO (which stands for Bad Ass Organics) will utilize local couriers, UPS overnight service and delivery trucks to provide their fresh, local kombucha to residents and businesses across the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.…

GT’s Synergy Kombucha & Organic Raw Kombucha has begun distribution of their AP5 product line, or “Above .5%,” in Southern California markets. The debut of AP5, the first kombucha to take to shelves under a TTB-approved licensing process, marks a new era for GT’s and will be rolled out across the country in 2011. AP5 joins the Enlightened line, GT’s reformulated offering, which has been available nationwide since the fall. The company’s plans are for the lines to co-exist. The labels of the two lines are similar yet different enough to avoid confusion.
As there is no current classification for…