![]() ![]() The first time Dave tried kombucha, at 13, he nearly spat it out. “If your claim to fame is that you’re in amber bottles, or you’re three cool hipsters behind this product, and that’s it? Your days are numbered, in my opinion.” Dave makes no secret what he considers his company’s greatest asset: “Our saving grace is that at the end of the day this company truly is an extension of me.” Yellow-tinted bottles, which draw even more of his disdain. I think that’s what kills the entrepreneurial spirit.” “A lot of companies our size shy away from risk. make it basic, make it mainstream.” Health-Ade sells its drink in medicinal-looking He turns his ire on fast-growing rival Health-Ade, which now has $50 million in sales. With the sanctimoniousness of a perturbed monk, he decries competitors who have “bastardized” kombucha. These well-funded competitors are eating away at Dave’s first-mover advantage, putting him on his heels and prompting him to fire off defensive potshots. There are more than 350 kombucha makers in the world (most in the U.S.), and they’ve slurped up roughly $340 million in funding from venture capital, private equity and big conglomerates like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, which paid $260 million for GT’s biggest rival, Kevita, three years ago. His $3 to $4 bottles can be found at retailers like Walmart, Costco and Kroger. ![]() He was the first to put kombucha on store shelves, in the late 1990s, and GT’s is still the biggest manufacturer, owning 40% of the U.S. “I can’t point to a single other beverage entrepreneur who has done that.”Ī less sure-minded person in Dave’s position might be waffling on his convictions right now, for his kingdom is increasingly under siege. Dave has “the freedom to still be 100% himself,” Steltenpohl says. He long ago left Odwalla and has a new nut-milk startup, Califia Farms. Steltenpohl knows what it’s like to give up independence, chafing at the chains wrapped around him by public shareholders after Odwalla’s 1993 IPO. “He has been able to scale his company while retaining his craft ethos and independent spirit,” says Greg Steltenpohl, an admirer of Dave’s and a founder of the Odwalla juice company. “This is what the customer wants,” he insists. And Dave does not skim away the mix of yeast and bacteria that does the fermenting, leaving small amounts floating gelatinously in the drink. It is not pasteurized, though doing so would make the beverage less perishable and easier to ship. Unlike many of his rivals, he says, he makes his authentically, and it’ll stay like that: “From day one, I tried to emulate a homemade process.” Dave lets nature do much of the work, as he has since the beginning: fermenting a blend of black and green teas in small batches of 5-gallon jars for a month. This new, 260,000-square-foot factory doesn’t mean he’s changing how his kombucha is made. Ethan Pines for Forbesĭave, 41, takes the opportunity to make a point, one very important to him and his GT’s Living Foods, a business with an estimated $275 million in sales. His greater challenge: surviving the rush of competitors flooding a market he once had all to himself. A six-pack costs around $13.99, on average.George Thomas Dave convinced America to love a tangy, tart, fermented beverage from Asia called kombucha-and it made him a billionaire. ![]() When Insider's Avery Hartmans spent a month this year abstaining from alcohol and drinking Athletic Brewing beers, she was impressed with Free Wave, which "tasted pretty close to a normal IPA" with "a foamy head, a nice golden color, and that telltale hoppy aroma."Īthletic Brewing CEO Bill Shufelt told Hartmans the company's core consumer is a growing number of "flex sober" drinkers - individuals who still occasionally drink socially, but are increasingly choosing alcohol-free substitutes for a healthier lifestyle.Īll in all, a great option for beer lovers jonesing for a hoppy non-alcoholic brew this January. The non-alcoholic beer market grew by 20% in 2022, an uptick largely driven by industry leader Athletic Brewing, which currently holds 55% of the market share, according to Nielsen data. In November, Keurig Dr Pepper invested $50 million in the market leading brand, which is dominating sales for good reason - it's one of the first non-alcoholic beers that actually tastes like beer. It often indicates a user profile.Īthletic Brewing controls 45% of the non-alcoholic craft beer market. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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