Discover: Bushwick Kombucha (Singapore)

SINGAPORE — Bushwick Kombucha brings a US megatrend to the shores of Singapore via a line of handcrafted, naturally energising probiotic beverages.

In addition to producing Kombucha in a variety of flavours, the innovative company known as Bushwick Biotech has created a collection of functional beverages including, Milk Kefir, Turmeric Elixir and a Vegan Probiotic Cold-Brewed Bulletproof Coffee, all of which use local and organic ingredients.

With humble beginnings in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the brand’s Founder Dan Gerick describes himself as an industrialist, alchemist, biohacker, conservationist and esoteric scholar.  Unsurprisingly, like many entrepreneurs, he first created the kombucha-based beverage out of his own love for the drink, after struggling to find it in his local market.  

Fast forward a couple of years and a move to Singapore in 2013, he faced a similar problem: no kombucha. So, backed by a 14-year career in hospitality and Michelin dining, he decided to fill a gap in the market and Bushwick Pte Ltd, Singapore was born.  

Despite navigating a rocky road at first, the startup has grown organically, and to this day continues to be wholly owned and 100% bootstrapped.

For Gerick, the business has taken him down an interesting path, having invested nearly 30,000 hours of intellectual property research into Kombucha and Manufacturing Methodology, which resulted in a method for producing a completely natural kombucha. The end product is a 100% non-alcoholic, raw, alive and unpasteurized, additive-free beverage that requires no refrigeration, has a long shelf life and he argues, is scalable.  

All of this has lead to greater product penetration and lower costs than other similar products on the market, he says.

With ambitious plans for growth, Bushwick Biotech is seeking investment to open the first AVA approved Kombucha factory in Singapore and observations over the past four years indicate that the iron is ready to strike.

The fastest-growing market in the functional beverages category, Kombucha is expected to grow 25% year-on-year through to 2020. As highlighted by PepsiCo’s recent purchase of shares in kombucha and kefir company KeVita, the wave is well and truly being ridden and Bushwick’s products are already beginning to precipitate a change in the food and beverage industry.  

Singapore is by no means the end of the story — Gerick and his team are developing a unique strategy for expansion into a number of crucial Asia Pacific markets, with further expansion plans also on the cards

Discover more about Bushwick Biotech at: www.kombu.cha.sg/

Bushwick Biotech will be joining the Welltodo Founder Series Singapore as a drinks supplier on 22nd and 23rd March.