Five years in the making, kombucha trade association Kombucha Brewers International (KBI) this week released its Code of Practice, a set of processing definitions, safety protocols and quality standards aimed at establishing transparency with consumers amidst a slew of innovative products and rapid category changes.
The Code is aimed to promote uniformity and standardization within kombucha, a category in which innovation and rapid growth have created broad variations across products in terms of sugar content, alcohol, pasteurization, use of sweeteners, shelf-stability and other factors. That variation has helped fuel the $800 million-and-growing category, but has often served as a flashpoint for controversy and court cases over recent years.
KBI co-founder and president Hannah Crum told BevNET that the Code represents an opportunity to help consumers, as well as retailers and distributors, get a handle on the fast-changing set, particularly at a time in which they may be paying closer attention to ingredients.
“We understand that we want a diverse range of consumers, and in order to do that we have to help educate them about the differences of the products that exist in the marketplace today,” she said.
Over the course of the five-year development process, Crum said, KBI solicited feedback from its board and various stakeholders, both in private conversations and public discussions, including the group’s annual conference, KombuchaKon.
“Every step of the process, every iteration that this Code of Practice has been through has been reviewed, picked apart, talked about, researched with a wide variety of stakeholders. Every major player in the industry has had a role in contributing feedback to this Code,” she said.
In addition to carving out a space for different segments — from traditional kombucha tea, defined as a drink derived from fermenting tea leaves, sugar and SCOBY, to hard kombucha to kombucha concentrate to brews made from other plant-based sources — the Code goes into detail on proper fermentation techniques, brewing processes and chemical standards.
In order to be certified, kombucha brewers must add a number of specific callouts to their product labels. This includes noting if any ethanol was removed prior to bottling, if the product is pasteurized, if it is made using a kombucha base or concentrate, or if any additional probiotics, acids or cultures have been added.
As part of the certification program, KBI will unveil a seal that can be used on product labels to denote adherence to the Code.
“I think what we came out with was something that’s incredibly fair, that creates a very good framework for people to work from as well as leave opportunity available for innovation to occur,” she said. “Whether that means getting more strict or getting more loose for certain aspects, the exciting part is that we have the flexibility to do that.”