These have certainly been trying times for many, if not all of us. We offer our condolences to those who have lost anybody during this pandemic. We have also lost loved ones -- we share your grief, and we look forward to better times to come.
It has been quite some time since we have reached out to you through our blog, but we want to jump start this medium to help us keep connected with you. In fact, our last post was prior to our opening day!
Here are some highlights from the last year:
We opened for business on May 4, 2019!!
With the help of what felt like a small army, we achieved lift-off last spring. Our wonderful customers filled our space, and our hearts, and shared delicious kombucha as well as a private concert by Erin & Ross, who captivated each of us with musical beauty. This day will forever be engrained in our minds as the culmination of years of hard work and regulatory hurdles, but also a moment that left us feeling the strong embrace of friends, family, and partners. Our gratitude has not ceased.
Contest Runner Up!
We were very fortunate to be selected as finalists in a wonderful small business pitch contest hosted by Ureeka, Ignite Buffalo, and 43 North! We gave a three-minute pitch with the hopes of bringing home $10K for our newly-opened business -- though we didn't win the biggest prize, we still walked away with $7,500 in grant/prize money to help expand our production. Special congrats to Moriarty Meats who won the big prize, as well as our other fellow contenders. Our relationships with Ureeka and 43 North remain valuable assets to help us succeed.
Expansion Upgrade
We used our prize money (not all of it was payable in Big Checks!) to purchase some equipment -- this is all leading up to our path to individual packaging (canning/bottling). We met a wonderful man from Iowa who was retiring from producing cold brew coffee; it turns out, he had just what we needed for now. Even today, we are awaiting some additional parts to make the most of these tanks, but we are well on our way to the capacity we set out to attain.
Happy Times
We had a great autumn and winter, making lots of new customers and cranking out our best kombucha -- fresh, delicious, and loaded with healthy organic acids & probiotics. It truly is a pleasure knowing people love our booch!
Adjusting & Innovating
So while we don't have to remind you of what happened since March 2020 and our variations of lockdown and quarantining, however we will share that we found a way to keep going through the pandemic. Our answer: we switched our entire business to an online store and offer FREE delivery, 4 days a week, in Erie County!! Talk about venturing out of our comfort zone -- you may be surprised to know that neither Marissa, nor myself, are eCommerce experts. Thankfully, we found a way! And we have been delivering our fresh, delicious, gut-friendly kombucha all across Erie County since March.
We recently reopened on Saturdays for online order pickup and walk up sales -- we host our customers under a tent in our courtyard to maintain social distancing -- please note that masks are required within the 500 Seneca Street facility.
Thank you so much for reading! We have a few updates coming soon -- stay tuned :)
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