Greenbelt Craft Kombucha

by Greenbelt Craft Beverages, Inc.

Review: Greenbelt Craft Kombucha

Posted: May 15, 2019 at 10:18 AM (Last Updated: May 15, 2019 at 11:05 AM)

Covers Products: Blood Orange - Yerba Mate, Hibiscus Berry - Black Tea, Peach Blossom - White Tea, Strawberry Fields - Rooibos Tea

Launched this spring, Greenbelt Craft Kombucha is an Austin-based brand of raw “craft kombucha” that is packaged in 12 oz cans and available in four flavors: Peach Blossom White Tea, Strawberry Fields Rooibos Tea, Blood Orange Yerba Mate, and Hibiscus Berry Black Tea.

Greenbelt is a refrigerated, raw kombucha made with GMO free (but not organic) ingredients and brewed using wind power. Nutrition Facts highlights include 30 calories and 8 g of sugar per can. The label states that it contains probiotics, but  does not provide any details about the amount of colony forming units (CFUs)..

From a taste perspective, these products are quite effervescent and feature flavors that are pretty mainstream as far as the kombucha category goes. Each flavor has a bit of kombucha tang, but is pretty smooth, finishing with notes of fruit and tea.

All of the flavors are relatively light and pretty crushable. Our personal favorites were the Blood Orange Yerba Mate and the Peach Blossom White Tea, which we felt had the most well defined fruit and tea flavors.

On the outside, the use of a 12 oz can combined with the text-only label aesthetic (and use of “CRAFT” as a core element) make this product feel very much like it was inspired by the craft beer industry. Fortunately, the large “KOMBUCHA” eliminates the chance of any confusion on that front. Otherwise, the consumers’ take away from the label is pretty matter of fact: this is craft kombucha from Austin, Texas and each of the flavors features tea and fruit.

While this package is a good start, we think there’s an opportunity to better tell the story of the brand beyond just the blurb on the side of the can. Furthermore, given the competitive nature of the kombucha category we feel as though the branding could be refined and made a bit stronger than it presently is. Otherwise, we’re not quite sure that Greenbelt’s point of differentiation will be clear to the consumer.

Still, Greenbelt’s first effort is a pretty good one and, with its mainstream flavor profile and straightforward packaging, we think it has a good base from which to build.


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