Couple brews up real storm
JUST WHEN THINGS WERE HITTING A PERSONAL LOW POINT ONE CAIRNS WOMAN WAS PRESENTED WITH A CHANCE TO TURN HER LIFE UPSIDE DOWN, WRITES ALICIA NALLY
AN aggressive cancer diagnosis and a chance Christmas present have presented Amanda Hargrave with a business proposition she could never have imagined.
Wholesale and retail sales of her fizzy tonic ScooBrew is growing so rapidly she recently opened a kiosk at Stockland in Earlville and has engaged Mungalli Creek Dairy to distribute the drinks all over north Queensland.
Last year, a factory with the capacity to produce 1000L a day was commissioned.
Making kombucha – a fermented tea drink full of probi- otics good for gut health – started as a hobby when Ms Hargrave’s partner Gavin Downes gave her a home kit three years ago.
Her first foray into retail began at Rusty’s Market.
“I did a lot of investigation, I do my homework on things and I started making it at home for family and then friends wanted some. I was doing 30 to 40L a week and I thought there was obviously a need for it. We sat down one night and talked about starting the business,” she said.
“We cater to the everyday palate. Kombucha is very
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL SALES OF HER FIZZY TONIC SCOOBREW IS GROWING SO RAPIDLY AMANDA RECENTLY OPENED A KIOSK AT STOCKLAND IN EARLVILLE
much like beer and wine, everyone brews it differently. Ours has fresh fruit. We’ve only got a one-month shelf life, we don’t use stevia or artificial ingredients.
“We’ve had growth across the board, we get two new stockists coming onboard every week.
“Now we’ve got it from Daintree down to Proserpine, all over the Tablelands and Townsville.
“There is also a very large growth in people wanting it fresh on tap, we’re waking up to the throwaway society. We felt another place to refill was needed so we opened the site at Stockland.”
It has been “not quite 18 months” since Ms Hargrave and Mr Downes embarked on their business idea.
“We keep looking at each other, amazed. We knew it’d be popular, we knew we had a great product, but we didn’t realise it would grow so quickly,” the mum-of-two said.
“We’ve been able to grow with it as well too. We’re not holding it back and not letting it grow too fast.
“We’ve put on people in other areas, myself and Gavin keep the recipe close to our chest so we work in the factory. A nephew also helps out and my 18-year-old daughter runs the Stockland store.”
Ms Hargrave grew up in Cairns after moving from Victoria as a small child. Her par-
ent’s sea-change inspired a whole tribe of extended family to also relocate from Melbourne to the Far North.
After thriving in a career as a hotel manager for most of her working life, Ms Hargrave was forced to take a lengthy period out of the workforce to focus on battling breast cancer in 2009-10.
“When I recovered, I went back to managing hotels and just knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore,” she said.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself, I did media sales for five years but then this came along and I found a passion.
“I had to go through an aggressive chemotherapy treatment and that really affected my gut biome. I was told my immune system would be com- promised for the rest of my life and I would need probiotics for the rest of my life. I do take probiotics and kombucha and I’ve barely even had a cold.
“When I started, one in 10 people would have heard of kombucha, now it’s one in 10 people who haven’t heard of it.
“We’ve had Generation X, we’ve had the Baby Boomers, this new generation is the health generation.
“I can count on one hand the number of times my 18year-old has got drunk. They are very focused on looking after themselves.”
As happy as the pair are with the health benefits of their product – it has also helped Mr Downes’ psoriasis – they don’t claim it is a cure and recommend seeking professional health advice on any illnesses. And Ms Hargrave isn’t militant with health: “I’m very much an everything in moderation person,” she says.
“I’d like to see the product available all over Queensland.
“I’d like it to be the number one kombucha brand in Queensland and then head nationally. Being a local girl I like to keep everything local too so all the fruit is from the Far North.”
WHEN I STARTED, ONE IN 10 PEOPLE WOULD HAVE HEARD OF KOMBUCHA, NOW IT’S ONE IN 10 PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T HEARD OF IT AMANDA HARGRAVE