Today we’d like to introduce you to Frog Greishaw.
Hi Frog, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Frog Greishaw and what got me started in the kombucha game was that I had heard it was a great hangover cure. At the time (2012), I was bartending pretty much full time and definitely needed some “get back in the game juice”. Like all food businesses, I started experimenting in my kitchen and testing my batches out on friends. When I got better at it, I took some with me to a music festival and shared it with my production crew campmates who I knew would be overworked, immune systems pushed to the brink, and also could use that reboot. One of those folx ended up really pushing me to start a business citing mine was “the best kombucha she’d ever had”. From there, that’s what I did. Utilizing my connections in the restaurant and farming industries in and around Chicago, my kombucha has graced some of the best menus in the world. Having those contacts really helped get things off the ground and when I relocated to Knoxville, TN in 2017, I followed my business model here: focusing on farm to fork restaurants as clients and growing my community of farmers via the incredible agricultural networking resources available in the Appalachian area. Having my partner Benjamin Clingner join in 2020 with his vast brewing equipment knowledge was the only way we were able to expand the way we have. As of August 2022, we have grown our business into over 180 retail partners in the East Tennessee area, and are currently still self distributing. We opened a brick and mortar nonalcoholic bar called The Boocherie in June 2022 and are excited to grow this concept here as a community space. This space provides a bar environment without any alcoholic/psychoactive options for folx who are in recovery, never got into drinking, and everyone in between. The Boocherie is 18+, LGBTQIA+ friendly, and safe bar certified.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There were definitely some struggles along the way. As someone who is a Jane of all Trades, I had my hand in everything and couldn’t pay attention to everything fully all of the time. Juggling staff when we were selling in Chicago and producing in TN was really difficult, so I blindly outsourced my bookkeeping. That mistake took a coupe of years to unravel. I also made packaging and production decisions that didn’t make sense financially, as well as a whole lot of debt that could have been avoided/managed better. The pandemic almost killed this business, but my partner Benjamin and I pivoted and made it work. He got us into aluminum cans, which allowed for a rebrand as well as more cost effective packaging. I feel great about the advisors and support team that I now have in place!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Frog Juice Kombucha?
We make artisanal kombucha and fire cider. We source only fair trade, organic, and locally sourced (when available) ingredients. We are dedicated to making functional beverages that not only benefit your body, but that also taste good! Our branding is super fun and our flavors are very approachable. We strive to leave the smallest carbon footprint possible in our packaging and brewing practices, we pay our employees a living wage, and are building an employee owned company. We support our local farmers and invest back into our community. We are passionate about helping the underserved and are on the path to conscientious capitalism.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Outsource what you can to people that are “tens” at that task. This will save you so much frustration, time, energy, and money.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.frogjuicekombucha.com
- Instagram: @frog_juice_kombucha
- Facebook: facebook.com/frogjuicekombucha
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbHeYulOL4GWvUxldvbjCiw
Image Credits
Rachel Woods/ Smoke Signal Media is the photographer for all images EXCEPT the one that has my partner Benjamin wearing the “Social Distance from Racism” tee. That photo is Taryn Ferro/ Aw Snap Photos
