Brew Dr. Kombucha is expanding its interest in functional ingredients with Tranquil, — a new line containing 25 mg of CBD per 14 oz. bottle that is launching this week at stores in Oregon and Washington.
The products feature flavors modeled after the Oregon-based kombucha maker’s existing Ginger Lemon, Superberry and Clear Mind SKUs; They include Tranquil Ginger, Tranquil Berries and Tranquil Herbs. The hemp extract is sourced from Oregon-based East Fork Cultivars. The drinks will retail for $4.99 and will be available in New Seasons stores and independent accounts.
Brew Dr. founder and CEO Matt Thomas said the line grew out of the popularity of CBD as an add-on ingredient in its teahouse locations in Oregon. Though it’s not the first kombucha maker to introduce CBD-infused products, Brew Dr. is among the few nationally distributed brands in the category to enter the hemp space.
“We pride ourselves in staying current or ahead of the ingredients that consumers are interested in and that, frankly, we’re interested in,” Thomas said. “I’ve been really excited to see all of the new CBD beverage brands and offerings that other existing brands have put out there and we definitely wanted to join the show and join the effort to give people this natural thing that for so long was regulated in a way that made it unavailable to the mass market.”
Thomas noted that due to current FDA regulations, Tranquil will not be immediately available nationwide and could remain limited to the Pacific Northwest for the foreseeable future.
“We want to play by the rules and if that means ‘Oregon Only,’ that means ‘Oregon Only,’” he said.
Tranquil also represents a further expansion for Brew Dr. into functional beverages. Last year, the brand launched Uplift, a kombucha brewed with yerba mate and guayusa and containing 130 mg of caffeine per serving. The line has since added a second flavor, Tropical, and a third is in development. Thomas noted that Uplift “could become its own line” separate from the core Brew Dr. portfolio and that the line competes more in the energy drink category than the kombucha set.
Though Tranquil was in development prior to the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, the launch comes as Brew Dr. reorients its operations as Oregon and other states loosen restrictions on businesses. In March, the company shuttered its five teahouses — which are regularly used for testing new flavors and innovations with consumers — and relocated staff to the CPG-side of the business. Last month, the teahouses reopened with added safety precautions, including mask requirements, barriers between customers and baristas and no indoor seating.
“We absolutely had to hit pause on testing any prototype kombucha flavors because we do a strong draft business at our teahouses and that’s where we can put small batches on tap and get a response,” he said. “We had already kind of baked a lot of our innovation pipeline for the year … I suppose the timing was okay, from that perspective, but we always love to have that feedback, because those are our most passionate, regular customers.”
Brew Dr. has also been a vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter in its social media channels. Last month, the company posted to Instagram a demographic breakdown of its employees — noting the company is 70% white and only 4% Black — and stated “we have work to do.” According to Thomas, the company has now created an internal task force, organized through its B Corp structure, to focus on volunteer opportunities, recruitment processes, the intersection of climate justice and social justice, education on race in the workplace, and charitable donations.
Yesterday, Brew Dr. announced it would donate 1% of all Uplift sales to social justice causes supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), with a focus on supporting youth educational programs, eliminating food deserts and fighting voter suppression.
“One thing that I’ve made clear to the company is that this isn’t just a single moment, this is now a sustained effort,” he said.