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Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Your current job:
Owner/Manager/Head brewer for Orlando City Kombucha
In which city:
Orlando Florida
Where does your interest in Kombucha come from?
Craft brewing, fermentation, local agriculture, and the pursuit of health
What prompted you to start your company?
I was a home brewer for a couple of years and was encouraged by a good friend to start brewing commercially
What makes your product unique?
Our flavor is unique in that we brew using seasonally and locally available fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. in our fermenting and flavoring process.
What do you want to convey through your brand image?
We want our brand to convey the image of high quality, handcrafted, locally sourced, healthy, and delicious Design: how was it designed? By who?
What are the main challenges in your company?
The biggest obstacle for us is to increase availability and production while maintaining the highest level of quality. We understand the benefits of larger batch production but we appreciate the taste, flexibility, and attention to detail that small batch brewing provides.
What tools are essential for your work(app, software)?
Spreadsheets and some experimental inventory software make it all possible.
A word to define what type of worker you are:
deliberate
What does your office space look like?
too much mail
Do you have a way to organize your days to optimize your work?
I use a planner religiously. I set aside an hour every week to plan out the following week adding and subtracting items as the week progresses.
What tips would you give to improve productivity?
write out your process and time each task. Often just some rearranging of tasks can reduce wasted time. Also, use a planner to keep you on task.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Keep moving forward! Know that there is a time for everything and schedule accordingly. Make a schedule but keep it flexible. Enjoy the ride.
Can you give us a tour of your local Kombucha scene?
Orlando is blessed with a good variety of quality local kombucha companies. Each has its own unique taste and presentation. The more options available, the more the market will thrive and the faster the public will become educated about kombucha. We love the local booches!
How do you control the growth of your company?
One of our goals, when we started, was to control growth in order to maintain our smaller clients even when our larger clients are buying more. We base our marketing and sales at our production level. When we are ready to increase production, we start seeking new clients.
What is your strategy for making your beer known? (tastings, festival, etc.) Why this strategy?
We are predominantly depending on farmers’ markets, local venues, word of mouth, and social media to increase awareness of our brews.
What are your end-of-day and early-day routine?
Wake, read, exercise, breakfast, work
What advice would you give someone who wants to start a Kombucha company?
Make a plan. Write it out.
Apart from your computer and your phone, what gadget cannot you do without?
My phone and computer are too much already. I don’t need more gadgets. Not sure if my truck is a “gadget” or not but it’s definitely one of the things I cannot do without.
Upcoming products or projects?
We have some exciting and unique flavors that we are working on with some local producers. We are also working on more fermented food such as fermented hot sauce, dressings, and kombucha vinegar.
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