Good Spirit Kombucha is a company that stands out from the rest. This woman-led team created a fizzy, functional alternative for people living in the prairies. Their impeccable branding and commitment to creating quality, craft beverages for conscious consumption has seen tremendous growth over the past four years across Saskatchewan.
The Beginnings
Kale Baiton, a software developer, found a passion for kombucha home-brews, and came really good at it! His passion turned into a side hustle where he went from selling to friends and family to having a few small retailers.
In 2018, Kale wanted to turn his kombucha into more than a part-time hobby, so he rented a small space. His friend and fellow software developer, Andrew — as well as Andrew’s partner, Taylor — helped Kale put the space together. That’s when the business started to pick up and Andrew and Taylor came on as owners.
“The business started as an evenings and weekends side hustle,” says Taylor Chapman, co-owner of Good Spirit Kombucha. “Kale and Andrew worked during the day while I was finishing school for Kinesiology. It was so busy and I realized that handling the operations was no longer a one-person job.”
As the business expanded organically, so did the team. In 2019, Andrew’s sister, Colleen, was working as a bookkeeper for a local brewery and was asked to come on board. Once Taylor finished school both women worked at Good Spirit Kombucha full-time.
Even with the increase in staff, Good Spirit could not keep up with the growing orders. They needed a bigger space if they wanted to continue to grow.
“It was pretty serendipitous,” says Taylor. “Pile of Bones brewery approached us with their pilot brewery as they were expanding into a bigger warehouse. That space was conducive for growth and was exactly what we needed at the time.”
In 2020, the Good Spirit crew worked out a deal to purchase the brewing equipment and move into the new space — which included a canning line. Little did they know, a canning line would increase their efficiency by 700%!
However, in the spring of 2020, the world shut down. The team was at a crossroads and together decided that they had enough support from consumers in the province to keep going, and that’s what they did. By August 2020, they were fully moved in and operating on a much larger scale. Because they were able to move into a fully fixture brewery, it allowed them to land major grocery chains like Save on Foods, Sobeys, Safeway, and IGA.
All of the pieces had fallen into place. Now, the people of Good Spirit plan on growing throughout the province, and eventually into other provinces.
“Our product is raw and unpasteurized so it requires refrigeration for transportation and storage,” says Taylor. “We have a license to sell inter-provincially, but we need a sales and delivery team on the ground wherever we grow.”
They currently working with a third-party sales and delivery team.
The Branding
The kombucha initially started out in amber bottles, which helped them choose the name,
“Good Spirit is a name of a provincial park in Saskatchewan. We wanted it to be recognizable to our province,” says Taylor. “It looked like a spirit, like alcohol, in the amber bottles. We thought it was a fun play on words.”
Taylor always had a vision for an all-white can that just cut the noise from whatever else was on the shelf. Clean, simple, and minimalist is the vibe they were going for.
They had the same idea with their 6-pack box: still recognizable to the brand with the same font and logo, but they wanted to add a little more fun to the package and add some colour.
“The salmon-coloured box also represents three of our beverage flavours: orange creamsicle, ginger and peach hibiscus. Plus, it’s a little more punchy,” says Taylor.
A Functional Alternative
The mission behind the brand is to provide a fizzy, functional alternative to people living in the prairies. Kombucha has about a quarter of the sugar and calories compared to pop and offers a more healthy alternative.
“We want people in our province to consume alcohol more consciously,” says Taylor. “It’s a healthier, less sugary, non-alcoholic option for people to enjoy.”
Taylor didn’t enjoy the drinking culture in Regina. She says she didn’t get it, participate in it, and didn’t see the benefits.
“What I thought was missing was an alternative that allows people to feel like they are still drinking a craft beverage,” says Taylor. “They still feel satiated and when they go out with co-workers, friends or family they aren’t just ordering water or an iced tea. We want people to feel like they are able to participate in a culture they don’t necessarily subscribe to.”
Working With Crafted Box Co.
Good Spirit had been asked frequently about a variety pack. They reached out to local suppliers to create a 6-pack box and they weren’t satisfied with the responses they were getting.
She says that people weren’t making Good Spirit a priority in terms of response time.
“We started asking friends in the industry which reputable suppliers they use and that’s how we came across Crafted Box Co.,” says Taylor.
After doing some online research and reaching out to Crafted Box Co., the team was very impressed with the responses they were getting and felt like they were a priority, so they went ahead.
“We were looking for a supplier who could launch this new product for us and do it within a timely manner,” says Taylor. “That’s what we found with Crafted Box Co. We felt like we were a priority, even though we are a smaller company.”
Work With Us
We take all order inquiries seriously, even if you aren’t a large business! If you want industry-leading turn-around times, competitive prices, and a genuinely awesome team to work with, contact us today to get started on your next order.