Coca-Cola has acquired Organic & Raw Trading Co, including the ownership of MOJO Kombucha.
Kombucha is an ancient, fermented, tea-based drink and is often called the “tea of immortality” for its reputed health benefits. It is also one of the fastest-growing beverages within the category in Australia.
This is the first Kombucha brand that Coca-Cola has purchased.
President of Coca-Cola Australia, Vamsi Mohan said this is a “strong opportunity” for the soft drinks giant, InsideFMCG reported.
“Across Australia, we now have more than 165 products and 25 brands. The addition of MOJO kombucha fits perfectly with the growing popularity of organic, probiotic drinks,” Mr Mohan said.
“With this acquisition, Coca-Cola Australia can take a leading role in helping The Coca-Cola Company in the still-emerging, premium-probiotic kombucha category, which is the fastest-growing beverage category in Australia.”
MOJO Kombucha is a low-sugar, live-culture, organic drink. Anthony Crabb, co-founder and CEO of Organic & Raw, created the beverage in his home in 2010.
MOJO has since become one of Australia’s top brands, InsideFMCG reported.
“When we started out, we couldn’t have imagined the incredible growth and consumer demand we see today,” Mr Crabb said.
“As we continued to innovate, we soon realized that for us to take the business to the next level and provide probiotic beverages to even more people, we needed to find the right strategic partner. We found this partner in Coca-Cola.”
“Coca-Cola is a total beverage company with massive intellectual capital,” he said.
“We can learn a lot about consumer trends and marketing innovation, while Coca-Cola can benefit from MOJO’s unique understanding of fermentation and what it takes to build great-tasting brewed beverages.”
Both Mr Crabb and sales and marketing director, Andrew Buttery will keep their positions within the company.