GO WITH YOUR GUT
AFTER MONTHS OF SEARCHING FOR QUALITY KOMBUCHA, MEGHAN WERNER DECIDED TO BREW HER OWN VERSION OF THE HEALTH ELIXIR. NOW SHE IS THE BREWMISTRESS OF A THRIVING, FEMALEOWNED HEALTH BEVERAGE BUSINESS.
Meghan Werner is the brewmistress and owner of a thriving health beverage business
‘When I came to Cape Town, I had no intention of starting a business; in the first few years, I didn’t even have a business plan – and any plans I’ve made since keep evolving,’ says Meghan Werner, founder of Theonista. Yet, over a few years, she has built up a booming craft beverage business and is brewing arguably the best brand of kombucha in South Africa.
Meghan, who hails from New Mexico in the US, was in her twenties when she learnt of the health benefits of kombucha, a mildly fizzy fermented tea made from a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts (or ‘scoby’). Kombucha is a great energy and immune system booster; it quells pain, helps to relieve digestive issues and can aid in weight loss. ‘Despite my plant-based, yogafuelled lifestyle, I was struggling with digestive distress, poor stress management and chronic immune system issues,’ she says.
Kombucha was her silver bullet. No wonder she derived the name for her business from the Greek word ‘Theobroma’ which means ‘food of the gods’.
When she settled in Cape Town eight years ago, Meghan battled to find quality products. ‘The kombucha I found didn’t have the energising and healing effects of the kombucha I was used to. So I started making my own.’
With no previous business or culinary experience, Meghan immersed herself in learning how to brew the beverage. ‘As with most natural foods, and particularly fermentation, it’s been a tradition for thousands of years that you learn by doing,’ she says. She began brewing and bottling in her kitchen and delivering her products by bicycle.
When business started picking up, she set up shop in Woodstock where she and her small team of staff now operate from. ‘We do everything in small batches and all the manufacturing is done by hand: the brewing of the tea, monitoring of the ferments, the flavouring, filtering and bottling as well as labelling, packing and distributing. We use high quality ingredients – everything that I would want in my body or to give to somebody else.’
Theonista products are low in sugar, don’t contain artificial colourants, preservatives or flavours and there are 12 variations. The teas are sourced locally and internationally, then supplemented with fresh ginger juice or infused with lemongrass or essential oils and sweetened with unbleached raw cane sugar. ‘In terms of the technical monitoring, it’s alive, so not every batch is exactly the same, but we work within strict parameters.’
Environmental values and sustainability are a big part of the business. Theonista is the first kombucha brand in SA to offer brew kits and kombucha on tap at its brewery as well as at selected establishments including Clarke’s Dining and The Gin Bar in Cape Town, and zero waste/bring your own bottle (BYOB) bulk filling options.
‘We compost 100 percent of our waste. Our packaging is recyclable, we have glass and plastic options, and we are a paying member of PETCO, which is the number one driver of the recycling of PET plastics in SA,’ says Meghan.
Quality rather than quantity is a core value. ‘From the start, our goal hasn’t been to be really big; it’s been to be the best. We’ve had to continually return to value over volume. I don’t see us as just a kombucha business – it’s about health beverage innovation,’ Meghan says.
‘We have things that aren’t kombucha-related but that are still all natural, non-alcoholic and low-sugar.’
Ultimately, Meghan hopes to create products that connect people to the way they feel.