Brands Launching Brands: Kombucha to Soda

Since January 1, Brew Dr. (today), Health-Ade, and Boochcraft announced sparkling sips under new brand names. And in 2023, Luna Bay launched 0% tea mocktails, GT's launched Aura Collagen Tea, Better Booch launched CHA and N/ATIVE, Buchi launched WILD POP, and Beliv (owner of Big Easy Bucha) launched Mighty Pop.

Jumping aisles or categories when you platform ain't easy. My favorite example is Banza pasta launching frozen pizzas and most recently waffles while continuing their commitment to gluten free and chickpeas as a hero ingredient.

Fortunately for these brands, they were 1) already available in the fridge 2) likely can pitch the same grocery buyers 3) can leverage their existing ingredients and co-manufacturing partners.

These launches bring my tally of Brands Launching Brands to 100. Which one of these new beverages are you buying first?

Sipjoy by Brew Dr. - sparkling, prebiotics, 5g of cane sugar, 25 cals. Positioned as 50% less sugar than your standard kombucha.

SunSip by Health-Ade - pre-launch, find them on @sunsipbyhealthade. Discovered through the new peoplebrandsandthings.com newsletter.

Mood by Boochcraft - a functional tonic with benefits like caffeine or electrolytes. Discovered from Mark Gallo.

Tea Mocktails by Luna Bay - low sugar non-alc sparkling teas featuring 200mg of magnesium. This example is under Luna Bay's legacy name and still worth noting in this mini market map.

Better Booch
- CHA - an elevated probiotic sparkling tea. Only 2g sugar. I haven't met a CHA flavor I didn't like and they're great as mocktails too.
- N/ATIVE - non-alc sparkling wine fermented with the brand's bioavailable native cultures and premium teas.
- Scroll to see which brand Better Booch acquired in 2023 👀

Mighty Pop by Beliv - pre, pro, and postbiotics together in a soda. Discovered via Wonderkind Co.

Wild Pop by Buchi - 5g of sugar, 9g of plant fiber. Buchi launched a tepache last week too.

AURA Collagen Tea by GT's - 15g of protein and 2 grams of sugar.

We've also seen hard kombuchas like Dr. Hops, JuneShine, and Flying Embers platform by launching gut-friendly spiked seltzers and/or canned cocktails over the years.

AN ACQUIRED TASTE
- HUMM Kombucha acquired by SYSTM Foods in 2024
- Live Beverages acquired by Better Booch in 2023
- Kyla Hard Kombucha acquired by Patco Brands in 2023
- Big Easy Kombucha acquired by Beliv in 2021
- Health-Ade sold a controlling stake to First Beverage Group and Manna Tree Partners in 2021
- Revive Kombucha acquired by Peet's Coffee (now owned by JAB) in 2018
- MOJO Kombucha acquired by Coca-Cola in 2018
- Clearly Kombucha acquired by Molson Coors in 2018
- KEVITA acquired by PepsiCo in 2016
- Kombrewcha Hard Kombucha acquired by ZX Ventures (AB InBev) in 2016