|
|
My Blog
kombucha, story, tao
|
Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2012 5:38 PM
 It's been WAY too long since my last post! Well we are busy brewing our new batches at the kitchen. My son Aaron (age10) has been serving second in command for the last several weeks and is turning into an expert bottler. Plus he's making some good money to support his X-Box cravings. In the meantime we are working to connect with investors to bring our product to the next level. Please reach out if you have any ideas! We are still making small batches and building the MN market base. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Friday, October 14, 2011 8:22 AM
 Deane’s Kombucha is looking for an investor and/or business partner to continue our growth. After being re-licensed as an alcoholic beverage in early 2011, we have grown our business into two states; Minnesota and Wisconsin. We are looking to continue to expand into new markets, move into a larger production facility and hire a few team members to facilitate the growth.Kombucha is a growth industry (see trade article link from Beverage Spectrum below) that has great potential. It was a $200 million dollar industry in 2010 and trade projections anticipate Kombucha will be a $500 million dollar industry by 2015. |
kombucha, story, tao, kombucha, story, starting a business, secondary ferment, angel investors, oak barrel kombucha, GTs classic formula, GTs kombucha, Synergy classic, Synergy kombucha, traditional kombucha,
|
|
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 9:36 PM
 My wife and I began drinking kombucha about 8 years ago. I am a Taoist meditation instructor and energy healer, so what we do for our bodies is very important. At the time we were dabbling with a raw food diet, and one day my wife brought home this very interesting, tasty beverage called Kombucha. Neither of us had heard of it at the time. I took an immediate interest in kombucha. I was especially fascinated that it was a living, raw beverage. In 2005, I was at a Spring Healer’s Retreat at Crow Wing Lodge in northern Minnesota. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2011 9:30 PM
 I've been trying to figure out a way to incorportate my yoga practice with this 'building a business blog,' and thus far have not. So here goes... Building a business takes a lot of FIRE energy. Go, go, go. And there is a place for that. But in order to succeed, long term, you need balance. Yoga can be very intense. Especially hot yoga. In the Bikram Series, which is the most intense (and fulfilling) yoga I have practiced, the biggest gift I have received is learning how to balance "go time" with "rest. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Saturday, May 07, 2011 8:17 PM
 Last night Monica and I expanded to 5 new barrels. We were out of bottles, out of kegs, and have future orders lining up. So we took advantage of the situation and took our 3 current barrels to use as starters for 5 more. This is an exciting moment...when we were running full capacity last summer we were running 8 barrels. When we got word from the TTB that our kombucha tea had alcohol in September, all of a sudden we were done...we needed further licensing, and more importantly in Minnesota, we needed help from the grocers to be able to stay on their shelves. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2011 9:51 AM
 Yesterday I went out with Brad “The Beer Guy” to visit possible locales for Deane’s Kombucha. Our first stop wasThe Cellar’s Wines and Spiritsin Roseville. We had a great visit with Rod and staff. When we got to theAle Jailin Minneapolis, we were greeted by Adam and his staff. They treated Brad and me to some awesome beer samples before we tried some Deane’s Kombucha. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Friday, April 22, 2011 12:18 PM
 It’s taken me awhile to figure this out, but don’t be afraid to ask for help in your endeavors. This has especially been the case for me as I have transitioned from a beverage manufacturer to a beer manufacturer. The rules of the game have changed significantly – from licensing, to tax preparations and mostly Distribution. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 4:01 PM
 It took several years of making kombucha and another couple years figuring out what exactly needs to be done to start a commercial beverage business to launch Deane’s Kombucha. Staring at ground zero, this was at many times a daunting task. But I stumbled my way through a ton of paperwork and many phone calls to make sure I was getting all the proper licensing and approvals. You can imagine my shock when the whole alcohol thing happened. I may have been a bit naïve, but I guess I figured this minor detail would have been figured out already, since kombucha has been a national best seller for years. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Friday, April 15, 2011 10:29 PM
 The R&D is near complete...Tonight Monica and I, with the help of Mike Rakun (opening Mill Valley Kitchen blocks from Lake Calhoun on Excelsior Blvd this June) tapped our 5 gallon keg and I think we have a winner. We had a small mechanical issue in which we needed a wrench, but Monica solved that by running around the corner to Trotter's Cafe to procure the necessary tool. Kombucha on Tap is a huge force in California, thanks to Lev's Original. Lev has been gracious enough to help my process along. |
|
|
Bryan Deane Bertsch: Posted on Sunday, April 10, 2011 8:13 PM
One of the main components of starting a beverage business is figuring out where to buy your supplies. The list is long; NSF certified kitchen equipment, ingredients for your product, bottles, labels, cardboard etc. One of my biggest challenges was sourcing my bottles. Early on, I connected with TradeNet.com, a world-wide online commerce site for wholesale products. After months of reading posts, sending out requests, and email correspondence with people from all over the world (mostly China in this particuar case) I finally figured out this was not my avenue. |
|
|
|
Categories
30 day challenge
30 day challenge, kombucha kamp, kombucha kamp 30 day challenge, new year's resolution, kombucha
angel investors
GTs classic formula, GTs kombucha, Synergy classic, Synergy kombucha, traditional kombucha,
kombucha, story, starting a business, secondary ferment
kombucha, story, tao
oak barrel kombucha
|
