Kombucha for the Culture: One woman’s quest to tackle wellness within the black community one probio

Photo credit: Milan Founder of Cultured Kombucha

Milan, Founder of Cultured Kombucha, entered into the Kombucha brewing business for one reason: Address a wellness problem within the black community. Prior to launching Cultured Kombucha, Milan set out to learn as much as possible about whom she was serving and how best the brand can go about doing so. In conducting research, Milan learned the following about her target market:

African American and minority communities are plagued with diet-exacerbated health issues while the shelves remain saturated with sugar-sweetened beverages. Did you know?

• Over one third of black American men aged 20 and over are obese

• Over half of black women in the U.S. aged 20 and over are obese

• Over 40% of black women and men in the U.S. live with hypertension

(Source: Center for Disease Controls and Prevention)

• African Americans are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as non-Hispanic whites

(Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health)

There’s an untapped market of underserved communities that can greatly benefit from Kombucha products.

"From racial disparities in health outcomes to a booming wellness industry that caters almost exclusively to white, wealthy people, wellness should be accessible to everyone but too often isn’t."

-- Carolyn Kylstra, Editor-in-Chief of SELF Magazine

How Cultured Kombucha plans to position itself as a forward thinking industry leader

Two things that Milan concluded in conducting her research:

There’s an untapped market of underserved communities that can greatly benefit from Kombucha products.

There’s a huge gap of accessibility to products such as Kombucha that aid in reducing health related issues and lack of knowledge about the products.

How Cultured Kombucha aims to position their brand into this untapped market

By increasing representation as a wellness brand that addresses the needs of underserved communities this includes, lack of access to information and resources.

It’s amazing how little knowledge people have in understanding what the overall health benefits of probiotics are.

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented drink known for its probiotic health benefits. Typically Kombucha is made from sweetened green or black tea, which is then fermented to break down the sugars that releases probiotic bacteria.

What are the health benefits of drinking Kombucha?

Cancer Risk

The most recent 2013 study, found that Kombucha helped prevent the growth of cancer cells, most specifically Prostate cancer. These findings suggest that Kombucha may assist in prostate cancer treatment and or prevention.

Reduce/Eliminate Infections

In a 2000 study, researchers found that Kombucha contained acetic acid and “large proteins”, which suggests that the presence of the two helped to eliminate and or prevent infections by killing bacteria that causes them.

Mental Health

In a 2017 study, probiotics were linked to improving mental health in patients who suffered from depression, significant mood, anxiety and cognitive symptoms. The studies concluded that there is a strong link between depression and probiotics that promotes positive mental health.

Cultured Kombucha isn’t simply a ”probiotic drink”, but a socially responsible organization working towards creating initiatives that promotes wellness for consumer who are often overlooked by well-known brands.

In an effort to increase the visibility of multicultural herbalists, Cultured Kombucha partners with local herbalists through their “Tiny Leaf Program”. Herbalists curate seasonal blends of Kombucha, to create customized lines of the drink. All products are sourced locally.

To bridge the gap between accessibility and the underserved community, including SNAP recipients, Cultured Kombucha targets local farmer’s markets making it easier for consumers to access the brand’s product line.

We ‘gotta’ show up and show out for brand's like Cultured Kombucha that’s doing it for the culture! Show some love by donating to their brand, purchasing their drinks, and spreading the word about a great company.