After 18 months of learning about the U.S. bev-alc market, California-based hard kombucha brand Mate Maker is ready to expand its portfolio and its distribution, and wants consumers to come along for the ride.
Mate Maker was founded in Australia by Diageo veterans Justin Medcraft and Tom Appleton, as well as brewmaster Josh Makler and celebrity partners, the Australian dance music group Rüfüs Du Sol. The company moved its headquarters to San Diego in 2023, testing the market with Scout Distribution, and has spent the past year developing its consumer base and retail presence in Southern California.
Now the company is looking beyond hard kombucha and will launch spirits-based ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) next year. The tequila- and vodka-based offerings will be 6% ABV, with real fruit juice, no added sugar, and 160 calories per 12 oz. can.
Mate Maker’s RTDs were created to bridge the gap between sessionable, low-calorie, spirits-based seltzers, and high ABV, full-flavored RTDs.
“Consumers are looking for moderation much, much more than they did in previous years,” Medcraft told Brewbound. “And they’re looking for brands that can still give and deliver on great tasting flavor, something that is a bit more sessionable … but at the same time, made with good ingredients that are low sugar, low calories.
“There’s a market need to give people that are looking to make moderate choices, as it relates to ABV, a better option,” he continued.
The RTDs will first be available in eight flavors: four tequila-based (Lime Margarita, Mango Margarita, Island Margarita and Ruby Margarita) and four vodka-based (Blood Orange Peach, Fresh Lemonade, Passionfruit Mule and Pina Colada).
The spirits-based offerings are Mate Maker’s first step in becoming a “California RTD brand,” Medcraft said.
“The speed at which new categories are getting created, old categories are getting redefined, is happening so fast today, because consumers are always wanting those new options,” Medcraft said. “Embracing that as a brand is really powerful, because then you start to build a brand platform, you don’t just get confined by the codes of that one product.”
The throughline for Mate Maker’s portfolio will be giving consumers a product for what Medcraft calls the “golden hour occasion,” or late afternoon and early evening, when consumers want a couple drinks while connecting with friends. Medcraft describes the company’s strategy as “occasion out” rather than “product out.”
Mate Maker is also expanding its hard kombucha offerings in 2025. The company is launching a variety 8-pack for the summer featuring four flavors – its core lineup of Mango Peach Smash, Blood Orange P.O.G.,Tropical Punch and new flavor, Pink Grapefruit Paloma, all clocking in at 6% ABV.
While Mate Maker’s portfolio is expanding, the company’s footprint is staying more contained. The company will continue to focus solely on California, announcing the completion of statewide availability today, following deals with Delta Pacific and Mussetter in Northern California.
“We don’t really want to spread ourselves across the national footprint yet,” Medcraft said. “The opportunity within California and the West Coast is significant enough for any kind of brand to sink its teeth into.”
Mate Maker has enough on its plate with the past year, which exceeded the company’s expectations, Medcraft said. The company expanded its presence with Whole Foods, and added additional retailers, now selling its hard kombucha in more than 700 accounts. The company also prioritized the on-premise in 2024, and now has products pouring from 190 draft handles in Southern California.
“That decision to really stay focused on Southern California was a huge one for us for those first 18 months, because it allowed us to really identify the battlefield, and really understand where do we need to be in terms of the right retailers, what types of products are working well, [and] the pricing,” Medcraft said.
“The approach to growth now has shifted,” he continued. “Previously, it was all about revenue growth, it was all about how fast you’re growing cases. For now, we’re really focused on how are we improving our profitability, how do we create a self-fulfilling business that doesn’t need to constantly be raising money and to stay alive.”
Mate Maker has a goal of reaching profitability, which Medcraft estimates will happen when the company reaches 70,000 cases. Mate Maker sold more than 400,000 cans in 2024, equivalent to about 16,666 cases.
“We want to control our own destiny, and for us, being able to make sure that every month we’re making strides towards improving our cost base, making strides towards being more profitable, is setting us up really, really nicely in the long term,” Medcraft said. “We’re not trying to get huge amounts of quick distribution that we can’t fulfill and that we can’t do a really good job of. And that more tempered approach is paying dividends in the long term.”
To support expansion, Mate Maker has formed a leadership advisory group, Blue Chip Advisory Group, including Ollipop CMO and former Pabst executive Matt Bruhn, investment specialist Chris Chee and AccessFintech co-founder Damian Canning.
Additionally, Mate Maker launched a crowdfunding campaign today. The campaign will run through the end of the year and has a minimum investment price of $250, with the goal of raising between $15,000 and $1 million, according to the campaign’s StartEngine page.
“Mate Maker as an idea, it’s always been about making friends and connecting us over a drink, and that fits really nicely with the opportunity of allowing everyday legends to jump in and join the party,” Medcraft said. “That for me is a really cool thing where you’re able not to just pick up your favorite brand at your local supermarket, or your grocery store, liquor store, or whatever – there’s a sense of ownership and pride they have with the brands that they buy, and we’re just taking it to that next step.”
Medcraft commended the guidance Mate Maker received from Island Brands founder Scott Hansen, whose company conducted its own crowdfunding efforts and “set an incredible benchmark of how to use crowdfunding not only to access capital, but to create a really engaged audience that promote and push your brand.” Island Brands has had between 5,000 and 6,000 investors that make up a “community of advocates,” according to Medcraft.
“Today, if you’re not looking at crowdfunding, you’re doing yourself a disservice,” Medcraft said. “It is an incredibly powerful tool to recruit loyal advocates, access really good sources of capital, and also use it as part of your crowdfunding mix in combination with other ways of raising money.”