{"id":23306,"date":"2020-01-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=23306"},"modified":"2020-01-29T07:32:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T15:32:38","slug":"craft-qa-joe-carmichael","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2020\/01\/29\/craft-qa-joe-carmichael\/","title":{"rendered":"Craft Q&A: Joe Carmichael"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In December, Carlsbad-based Local Roots Kombucha<\/a><\/strong> made headlines by acquiring Latitude 33 Brewing<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Vista brewing facility. This move instantly upped Local Roots\u2019 annual production capacity from 1,000 barrels to 35,000 barrels. That astronomic increase was inspired by sales far exceeding the company\u2019s projections following the introduction of a hard kombucha line. Since announcing the acquisition, investors have been coming out of the woodwork, providing even more resources for this two-years-young brand to work with as it forges ahead. This seemed the perfect time to learn a bit more about Local Roots, so we sat down with co-founder Joe Carmichael<\/strong> to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What factors warranted\nsuch a massive advance in manufacturing capabilities?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We played it and originally estimated our production\ncapability would last us five-to-six months after opening, but it hardly lasted\ntwo. I think part of that is our focus on quality over growth. Anyone can make\ncraft beer or hard kombucha, and I\u2019ve gone on record as saying when [co-founder]\nRyan White<\/strong> and I first started surveying what was available, I\nwasn\u2019t a fan. It wasn\u2019t until we began experimenting with our own recipes and\ningredients where we were able to taste what was actually possible. We quickly\nsaw an overwhelming response to bring Local Roots into more restaurants and\nstores throughout San Diego. This sort of interest so soon was a nice and unexpected\nsurprise. We thought it would take a lot longer. Once we were sure that the\ndemand was going to be sustained, we began working on expansion plans within\nour current facility, and then the opportunity to acquire Latitude 33\u2019s brewhouse\ncame up and we couldn\u2019t pass it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What made Latitude 33\u2019s\nfacility attractive to Local Roots?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest thing was its location. It\u2019s just a stone\u2019s throw away from The Boochyard [in Carlsbad], where we still brew and have our tasting room. With the acquisition, we had the opportunity to bring on some of the members who were key in making Latitude 33 the great brand that it is today. Four key members of their team have become a part of Local Roots. Cameron Moffett<\/strong> and Colin Montgomery<\/strong>, who have a history of brewing some of San Diego\u2019s highest-rated beers, will be brewing kombucha for us full-time. Their expertise in brewing\u2014and with the equipment we just purchased\u2014is a huge asset. Matt Silbert <\/strong>is a seasoned microbiologist and now leads our QA department. He\u2019ll be monitoring our probiotic content and product integrity. John Bristol <\/strong>also crossed over. He is the handiest of handymen ever and holds the role of maintenance technician, making sure our newly purchased facility doesn\u2019t crumble under us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are Local Roots\u2019\nproduction goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve set some aggressive goals for ourselves over the next 12 months, and have an experienced and passionate team on board with us to make them happen. We will learn a lot in the next few months as we take this next step as well as launch distribution with Craft Brewers Guild<\/a><\/strong>. We are extremely excited and bullish on the opportunity and are continually bringing on resources to support the growth of an authentic kombucha brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does \u201cauthentic\u201d mean and how is Local Roots different from hard-kombucha producers?<\/strong> We stick to kombucha\u2019s original origins, where we believe that kombucha should be a naturally fermented beverage that has probiotic content as a result. The only additions we make to the finished kombucha are 100% organic flavor additions such as fruit juices and herbs. Many emerging companies are pasteurizing their product in order to make it shelf-stable and, thus, killing all of the naturally occurring culture. By our definition, this is not authentic kombucha. We\u2019re seeing more and more entrants into the space who are cutting corners and producing kombucha-like products that can dilute and confuse the category. We will be working with those we believe are doing it right and making sure the consumer is educated on the difference as the reach continues to expand. Hard kombucha is a whole new space and has plenty of opportunities for all these brands to succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In December, Carlsbad-based Local Roots Kombucha made headlines by acquiring Latitude 33 Brewing\u2019s Vista brewing facility. This move instantly upped Local Roots\u2019 annual production capacity from 1,000 barrels to 35,000 barrels. That astronomic increase was inspired by sales far exceeding the company\u2019s projections following the introduction of a hard kombucha line. Since announcing the acquisition, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":23307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4905,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-craft-qa","8":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","9":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/localroots_bio.jpg?fit=853%2C547&ssl=1","wps_subtitle":"Co-founder, Local Roots Kombucha","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-63U","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}