Startup kombucha brand Better Booch is moving to finalize its first acquisition as it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of fellow fermented drink maker Live Beverages in a move aimed at reaching profitability.
Live was founded in 2012 as Live Soda and produced a line of probiotic sodas in 12 oz. cans that served as a pioneer for the gut health soda category that has emerged in recent years with brands like Olipop, Poppi and Culture Pop. The brand’s current portfolio features a line of organic sparkling probiotic kombuchas in 12 oz. glass bottles featuring soda-style flavors like Root Beer, Cola, Lemon Lime and Cream, among others.
According to Better Booch co-founder Ashleigh Lockerbie, Live’s owners had shifted its focus towards other parts of its portfolio, leading the firm to seek a buyer for the brand.
In 2016, Austin, Texas-based Live raised $2 million in financing from Boulder Investment Group Reprise. Since at least 2019, Live had been owned by Great Point Brands, which had showcased it at trade shows alongside other portfolio brands like the now-defunct Daily Greens. Great Point Brands is a private equity-backed investment management firm which, according to LinkedIn, touts several Dr Pepper Snapple Group veterans as executive leaders.
Live is expected to be absorbed into Better Booch and no current Live team members are expected to stay with the brand, Lockerbie said. Better Booch has already begun manufacturing and distributing the products.
The additional revenue from the purchase is now expected to make Better Booch profitable within its first month in the portfolio. The unpalatable alternative to the acquisition for Better Booch was downsizing its team, a decision Lockerbie said the company did not want to make.
“We’re trying to think outside the box,” she said. “I believe the playbook for CPG has changed. The last 20 years of top line growth at any cost is not the playbook anymore, and I think that’s actually really good. Things are coming into more parity and more alignment, and we’re going to see the brands that have real value succeed.”
Similar to Live, Better Booch was also founded in 2012 by Lockerbie and her husband Trey Lockerbie, former touring musicians who began the brand as a small business selling homemade kombucha at Los Angeles area farmers markets. In 2019, Better Booch raised $2.5 million in a round led by Crush Ventures and brought in an additional $2.5 million in a seed round last year.
According to Circana, in the 52-weeks ending August 13, Better Booch grew retail dollar sales of its refrigerated kombucha products 45.1% to $2.8 million. Live Soda, meanwhile, reported sales down -34.2% to $3.3 million in the same period. That data does not include ecommerce and may not cover all SKUs sold by the respective companies.
Lockerbie said there are strong synergies between both brands that Better Booch will now look to tap into. While Better Booch is widely established in the natural channel, for example, she said Live has been focused on conventional grocery.
“Buyers that we weren’t able to get meetings with before are now taking meetings with us,” she said.
The strategy going forward is to “lean in” regionally where each brand is already most successful. For Better Booch, that’s the West Coast, while Live has most of its distribution in the Southeast and the Northeast.
The company is now working on a rebrand for Live and is also aiming to relaunch the probiotic soda line, which Lockerbie said was discontinued during the pandemic due to canning shortages but is now on trend with the rise of the prebiotic soda set. As well, Better Booch this summer launched its own twist on the gut health beverage trend, a canned prebiotic sparkling tea line called Cha.
Going forward, Better Booch will remain the company’s main focus and Lockerbie said she believes that brand is better positioned as a nationwide product, while Live is more likely to remain as a regional play. The stretch goal is for Better Booch to expand its footprint in conventional grocery alongside natural channel growth and it recently added retailers like Meijer and Fresh Thyme.
Meanwhile, Cha is sowing its seeds in West Coast natural stores, most recently launching in Bristol Farms with Lassens set to come online next month.
“Between the three brands, I’m really optimistic,” she said. “I’m really excited about the next couple of years. I think it’s going to be an exciting time for us.”