Coca-Cola purchases SA kombucha maker to bring MOJO into portfolio
SOUTH Australia’s famous MOJO kombucha brand has been purchased by the Coca-Cola Company after its parent company was acquired by the global drinks giant on Wednesday.
SOUTH Australia’s famous kombucha maker is now part of global giant Coca-Cola Company after an acquisition deal announced on Wednesday.
Willunga beverages producer Organic & Raw Trading Co, is the nation’s largest producer of naturally fermented, live culture, organic kombucha drinks, which are sold under the MOJO Beverages brand.
The company was co-founded by Anthony Crabb in 2010, but has gained a steady following, especially among global celebrities.
Kombucha is the fastest-growing beverage category in Australia and this is the first time Coca-Cola has acquired full ownership of a brand in the category.
“In just over eight years, Organic & Raw has gone from selling MOJO at a local farmers’ market to producing one of Australia’s leading organic kombucha brands,” said Vamsi Mohan, president of Coca-Cola Australia.
“Our goal is to bring MOJO to more Australians by making it available in more places across the country. Consumers will be able to see the same great MOJO products on more store shelves,” he said.
MOJO will join Coca-Cola Australia’s beverages portfolio which includes 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.
Mr Crabb and Organic & Raw’s sales and marketing director Andrew Buttery, will remain in their current roles post the acquisition.
The terms of the deal were not revealed.
“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 realised 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,” he said.
MOJO products are currently sold in about 4,000 outlets nationwide.
The company, which employs 61 staff, installed a new million-dollar bottling line earlier this year with ambitions to export to Asia.
“We had been looking for the right partner for the next phase of our growth,” Mr Crabb told The Advertiser.
“Coca-Cola wants to retain what we are doing. Our passion for what we do is just going to get supercharged now.
“This deal is good for South Australia and southern Adelaide because we are looking to build on what we have,” he said.