GT Dave

I think I'm going to be making a substandard product.

I'm not going to do it.

And so that was like month one.

Month one, I just started to make peace with the fact that this is it.

This is the end.

And I'm okay with it.

But what changed my point of view is some of the other brands on the shelf rushed back to the shelf with diluted, dumbed down product.

And that bothered me because I said, wait, I'm not saying I'm the kombucha godfather, but I do feel that I have a responsibility and I cannot allow

only that to be on the shelf.

So it kind of changed my perspective.

I was like, okay, yes, I want to still be a purist, but I'm going to find a purist with like, not with a compromise, but a purist positioning that still is now navigating this new kind of

criteria that I must meet.

And that's actually when I shortened the shelf life, because my kombucha used to be six to nine months.

I see.

But what was the issue with this conversation of ethanol wasn't what I was doing, it was what was happening afterwards.

Over time.

So one of the ideas I had in addition to slightly modifying the fermentation approach was, hey, if I can treat this like a fresh pressed juice,

then I'm gonna limit or reduce what could potentially happen downstream in the market.

So what I did is I immediately, I think I launched with a 60-day shelf life.

And I told every retailer, I said, this is our new positioning to remind you that this is raw, this is living.