A young north-east business specialising in brewing hop-infused kombucha, a sparkling tea-based soft drink, says it has smashed through its sales targets.
Raw Culture exceeded the targets threefold with support from Business Gateway.
Set up in February 2020, the firm produces authentic craft kombucha.
Founders Chris Geary and Ash Keenon, former oil and gas colleagues, spent lockdown developing their kombucha before officially launching their products in August 2021 after an initial soft launch.
Mr Geary said: “The food and drink sector in Aberdeen is a wonderfully-supportive environment. There are so many like-minded people willing to offer help.
“The pandemic presented many challenges, and Business Gateway pointed us in the right direction to get the support we needed. As a result, we strengthened our business plan and social media strategy.”
The business also benefited from access to Business Gateway’s wider network.
Kombucha firm has had expert help from business groups
Mr Geary and Mr Keenon were introduced to industry organisations, including Opportunity North East and Scotland Food & Drink, as well as a food and drink expert at Scottish Enterprise.
The founders are now focused on continued growth and recently attended a Business Boost Strategy workshop.
Mr Keenon added: “Although Covid-19 initially delayed our launch, we used this time to develop our products further and build a solid brand image. Lockdown forced us to take our time launching our product.
“However, it allowed us to build strong back-end business functions such as production procedures, processes and scalability – resulting in four great flavours of kombucha we are extremely proud of.
The range consists of The Original, Hopical Punch, Mangosaurus and Lemondrop.
Mr Keenon said: “We have brought it to market and are truly humbled with the reception. It has exceeded our expectations.
“We have smashed through our sales targets and completely underestimated the demand.”
Raw Culture was honoured for best new emerging product at the North East Scotland Food and Drink Awards 2022, and is a finalist in the 2023 Northern Star Business Awards in the start-up firm of the year category.
The business recently moved its operations to a 1,200sq ft base in Altens, Aberdeen.
Mr Geary said: “Our original location in Dyce was always temporary, with a year-long lease.
“So we started our search a few months ago to find a new headquarters and manufacturing hub, looking at premises across Aberdeenshire and the city until we found this new site.
“We recently finished a refurb and fit-out of a commercial refrigeration unit and production area at the new facility.”
We have smashed through our sales targets and completely underestimated the demand.”
Ash Keenan, co-founder and director, Raw Culture.
Raw Culture makes kombucha in batches of about 880 gallons, equating to 12,000 units or 3,000 cans of each flavour.
Mr Geary added: “Our production runs are increasing as demand for our product grows.
“We aim to be running at capacity in the next 12 months and we’ve some new flavours in the pipeline.”
Conversation