JuneShine acquires Scripps Ranch facility

Onerous kombucha upstart buys giant brewery from Ballast Level

February 12, 2019 By Brandon Hernández

When Ballast Point Brewing introduced it might be vacating its 24,000-square-foot brewing facility at 10051 Outdated Grove Highway in Scripps Ranch final January, many inside the business questioned what firm would have the manufacturing wants and distribution community required for such a big facility. With most regional breweries in possession of enough manufacturing capability, and an awesome divide between these operations and the county’s next-largest, it was thought the eventual consumer of that area can be a big brewery from one other area. Nevertheless it seems the Outdated Grove facility received’t be operated by an out-of-towner…or perhaps a beer producer. The brewery has been acquired by onerous kombucha firm JuneShine. At its peak, Ballast Level produced 120,000 barrels per 12 months at that facility.

The acquisition comes on the heels of JuneShine securing financing from an investor group 13 sturdy that features Nick Heldfond, who was an early investor in KeVita kombucha, and athletes Albee Layer, Sage Kotsenburg, Nora Vasconcellos, and Chris and Kimmy Benchetler.

“We considered our seed financing as a manner to not simply elevate cash from conventional monetary platforms, however somewhat to construct a bunch of skilled professionals that imagine in our imaginative and prescient and can be part of us as companions as we work in the direction of our aim of providing a extra sustainable, clear product at scale,” mentioned co-founder and chief artistic officer Forrest Dein.

Solely open since June of final 12 months, JuneShine has come on sturdy, with fruit- and herb-infused kinds of its alcoholic kombucha discovering properties on many faucet lists all through San Diego County and shifting effectively out of its tasting room at North Park’s least-to-brew Brewery Igniter campus. With few opponents on this new and rising area, JuneShine has simply risen to prominence.

Over the previous seven months, Dein and co-foundering CEO Greg Serrao have added to its manufacturing workforce, bringing on two former Saint Archer Brewing workers, Greg Peters and Molly Ross, to function chief brewing officer and director of brewery operations, respectively. In addition they signed on with newly-established Scout Distribution, a locally-based beverage distributorship based by ex-Saint Archer founder Josh Landan and government Jeff Hansson. The latter helped conceive the Tusk & Grain line of barrel-aged beers which have been the world of focus for Peters throughout his time along with his earlier employer.

“The Scripps Ranch facility is a historic constructing, a key contributor in legitimizing the craft beer business, which additionally enabled Ballast Level to provide sufficient product to turn into one of many largest personal alcohol firms within the U.S.,” mentioned Serrao. “As JuneShine seeks to extend manufacturing in nice quantity and in addition turn into a best-in-class chief in our product class, it grew to become apparent that this was a well timed alternative.”

JuneShine’s North Park location will stay operative as each a manufacturing facility and public tasting room even after the Scripps Ranch facility begins producing kombucha. Dein and Serrao anticipate to open their second spot to the general public this summer season, across the time they increase distribution all through California and past.

“In some ways, we’re simply getting began,” says Serrao. “The very first thing we’ll do with further product, earlier than going wherever, is double down on our residence market. We owe solely the perfect to our San Diego prospects.”