Digested organics brew accelerator
I just believe it in, because of all the probiotics in the stomach and digestion. I’m not saying it’s all the kombucha either, but I do think it does contribute to it along with a healthy diet. “Honest to gosh, I’ve had two colds in nine years. She disliked some of the early commercial products she tasted - “It was a funky aroma, it was way too carbonated” - so she experimented with home brewing, and “it started coming out better and better and better.” She also perceived that the live cultures in the drink were helping boost her immune system. She subsequently started looking into the reputed health benefits of kombucha. “One of the things we heard repeatedly from people is ‘detox me,’” she said. She said her product innovation group surveyed her fellow baby boomers about their food priorities. The amount of sugar is minimal compared to that in most commercial soft drinks, and the flavors are created by adding organic fruits and botanicals to the brewed tea base rather than juices.įink first learned about kombucha during her 26-year career in product development with Kraft Foods. Other flavors are rotated in and out of the product lineup.
Karma Kombucha produces kombucha in five standard varieties: Origins, Mixed Berry, Masala Chai, Ginger Orange and Pineapple Passion. The flavors that are always available are on the left: Origins, Mixed Berry, Masala Chai, Ginger Orange and Pineapple Passion. An article on the front page of the Chicago Tribune’s business section, published March 27, featured Fink and other Accelerator Fellows who pitched to investors three days earlier at the Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference, the first day of FamilyFarmed’s three-day, 12 th annual Good Food Festival & Conference.Īlong with Fink’s pitch, Karma Kombucha provided samples of its products at the Good Food Financing Fair, Trade Show and Festival and Fink took part in a workshop on home-brewing kombucha along with Alla Shapiro and Vanessa Tortolano of NessAlla Kombucha (based in Madison, Wisconsin), and Hannah Crum and Alex LaGory, the married owners of the Kombucha Kamp website and authors of The Big Book of Kombucha.īottles representing every flavor that Karma Kombucha has produced are lined up atop a cabinet in the company’s office and production facility. Fink has built the business to this point as the sole employee, with assistance from her wife, Michele Dziaba - a packaging engineer who, like Fink, worked for many years at Kraft Foods - on matters such as bottling and representing Karma at public events.įink’s participation in the Good Food Business Accelerator already has had one major unanticipated benefit. Note, there, that it does not say “new employees.” While many entrepreneurial startups are known as “mom and pop” businesses, Karma Kombucha is all mom. Photo by Bob Benenson/FamilyFarmed.įink applied to participate in the Accelerator because she wants to grow Karma Kombucha, and one of her needs is modest outside financing - in the range of $150,000 - so she can hire employees. Now, with palettes of bottles taller than she is, Fink is raising financing to hire people to work with her. Susan Fink has built Karma Kombucha into a growing business over five years as the sole proprietor and only full-time employee.