Growing drinks brand KTea has switched its bottle supplier and chosen Beatson Clark’s new amber drinks bottle for its kombucha fermented tea.
The Guernsey-based artisan drinks manufacturer is now using Beatson Clark’s new 330ml amber Alpha drinks bottle with an MCA neck finish as it looks to increase capacity and grow sales.
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that originated in China around 2,000 years ago when it was known as The Tea of Immortality. Now it is so fashionable that around 1,000 pubs in Britain sell it.
As kombucha is full of healthy bacteria it encourages better digestion, relieves inflammation and can promote weight loss.
The size of the global kombucha market in 2021 was valued at USD 2.64bn and it is expected to grow by 15.6% annually between 2022 and 2030.
KTea has been on the market for three years and comes in five flavours: Ginger Hops, Summer Hops, Africa, Pekoe and Sencha. It is sold in restaurants, cafés, shops and bars throughout the Channel Islands, as well as online.
“We were having problems with our bottle supplier in Germany, and we always preferred to use British packaging anyway,” said Kate Attieh, owner and founder of KTea. “We like the new Alpha bottle as the dark amber glass is good for preserving the kombucha and we really like the design too.
“The ROPP cap, which screws off and screws back on, is an advantage too, and it’s unusual for a bottle like this to have that sort of closure.
“I would certainly recommend Beatson Clark – they’ve been very helpful and supportive indeed,” added Kate. “As we’re a small producer we couldn’t commit to large volumes but they’ve been really good with us. We’re currently taking 300,000 bottles a year and we will be increasing that once our automated bottler is installed.
“Our product is quite unique. We brew our kombucha in the traditional way and stay true to the authentic brewing methods – we take no shortcuts! Our flavours are subtle, yet rich and well rounded, and we get many visitors to Guernsey who taste our kombucha and after returning to the mainland write to us asking us to send them over our KTea Kombucha.
“It’s very good for your gut health. People nowadays are thinking more about what they’re drinking – it’s low in sugar and full of probiotics. Having good gut health is very good for your whole body and for your brain.”
Lynn Sidebottom, Sales and Marketing Director at Beatson Clark, said: “Our new Alpha drinks bottle is proving very popular with customers.
“It has a retro, apothecary-style design, which is very appealing for drinks brands as it lends a premium look to their products.
“It’s based on an Alpha Sirop pharmaceutical bottle normally used for medicines, but it’s tested to 3.0 bar, which makes it suitable for carbonated or fermented drinks.
“It’s great to see so many drinks manufacturers choosing our new bottle, and we’re especially pleased when they opt for a British manufacturer to support the UK economy and to lower their impact on the environment.”
The 330ml amber Alpha drinks bottle is part of Beatson Clark’s extensive standard range and can also be used for beers as it is available with both an MCA and a standard crown neck finish.