03/27/2023
Empty shelves? Why can't I find Kickin' anywhere?? What's happening???
First a little history:
Kickin' was started in 2010 by a group of friends with the intention of sharing something we really enjoyed. There wasn’t a business plan & we had no money. What was supposed to be a fun project at a farmers market, quickly became a business. We weren’t ready and if we're being honest- we never really intended on being a business. But here we are almost thirteen years later and still producing, in our view, the best kombucha available and recently - even more with our cafe & market! But it's been a really difficult journey, and lately it has felt nearly impossible for us to continue operating.
Although we started as a manufacturer, over time we have become something entirely different.
We became a distributor after our initial distribution partner filed bankruptcy in 2015 leaving us financially and logistically devastated.
Most of our accounts are in food service, therefore, Covid has had a really heavy impact on us. Supply chain issues with packaging, along with continuing cost increases, have made it extremely difficult to operate. Our costs have increased 50%-1000% across all categories including utilities, packaging, ingredients, and just about everything. For instance, our bottles used to cost under a quarter and now they are over a dollar! Would you pay a dollar for an empty bottle?
We have watched dozens of our Houston based businesses shutter over the last two years. It was heartbreaking and we wanted to do something. So we began an exclusive Houston market to offer brands a home, but also to leverage our distribution network. We hoped to lower the barrier to entry for Houston producers and to help incubate brands into more locations. Continued in comments below ⬇️
