Our Story
It all started on a beach in Hawaii, on a quest for something to drink other than water. Kara Sam, a new mom at the time, wanted something to drink to nourish herself and her new baby, but satisfy that craving for something delicious at happy hour.
She wanted to put her pineapple wedge in something other than soda.
One morning at a local Farmers’ Market, Kara found a stand selling a fermented, fizzy concoction, her first kombucha experience. She was hooked, and her entrepreneurial spirit took it from there. With a background as a Chef and Personal Trainer, Kara was stoked to have found this great new drink.
At home in Vancouver, there weren’t any local brands she could find at the time, so Bucha Brew Kombucha was born. At home in the kitchen, she was brewing tea, fermenting, and hand drawing labels.
With her son on her hip, she made her first sales call (in flip flops) with homemade kombucha, to her local Whole Foods Market. Leaving her sample at customer service thinking she had nothing to lose, a call a few hours later caught her off guard with an order to start selling her kombucha, telling her it’d take about six weeks to complete the process. Mind, blown.
After that family vacation, with some devotion to her newfound craft, and an eager curiosity to find more people who wanted something other than sugar-filled drinks, Kara Sam started a kombucha company.
In the five years since, we’ve grown into a small but mighty team, remain female-founded and led, and are now available in 1700 locations across Canada.
Flavoured with only organic fruit juice (pressed in house from whole fruit), Bucha Brew is naturally low in sugar, high in antioxidants, and full of healthy gut boosting bacteria. We don’t add sugar post-fermentation, nor do we add any artificial flavouring or colours along the way.
WE MAKE RAW, DELICIOUS, CRAFT KOMBUCHA.
We’ve had amazing support from our vendors, retailers big and small across the country, restaurants, cafes, and fans who have ordered for home delivery (available in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal). Kara is amazed at our thriving community of people from all walks of life who’ve joined us through investing in Bucha Brew through our community fund or buying our kombuchas across the country.
In 2020 we’re focusing on strengthening our team, launching new products and packaging, and going deeper on the story about our core values, our mission, and our lofty dreams of bringing easy, healthy drink options to every corner of the world.
We’ve got our hearts in the mountains and our feet in the sea, long hikes or short walks around the block, kombucha and its health benefits are an easy addition to the lives of our fans, and we’re here to cheer you on, wherever you are on your journey. Showing up at work with passion and excitement, a sense of who we are, and how we want to show up in this world gives us purpose. We almost always have a positive outlook, and we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
If you’re kick-ass at anything, striving towards better health, or mustering up the energy to walk around the block, we’re here for you. We celebrate people in every form, we support social and environmental values, and hold our community dear. You need a buddy in this life, and we’re here for you. We drink our kombucha cold, often, and outside, as often as possible.
WELCOME TO THE #BUCHACREW.