Elgin based drinks business wins fourth international award
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AN Elgin based business has taken home their fourth award at a prestigious global competition.
Kompassion Kombucha secured The World's Best Kombucha Rookie Brewery award at the World Kombucha Awards.
The awards, which recognise brewing excellence globally, celebrated Kompassion Kombucha for its outstanding work as a brewery as well as recognising three of their flavours, scotch bonnet chilli, lavender and elderflower for their exceptional taste.
Founded by owner Rajkumar Dhanaraj in 2017, Kompassion Kombucha had seen success in England and following a move to Moray and a brief pause for the Covid-19 pandemic, the business was relaunched last year. The brand is now stocked in more than ten cafés and restaurants in Moray and uses local ingredients, including speyside water to enhance its taste.
Read More: Elgin business uses Speyside water to make health drink
Kombucha is a fermented fizzy tea drink and has gained recognition over the globe for its health benefits, including providing millions of gut-friendly probiotics but the drink can often taste unpleasant.
Mr Dhanaraj was inspired to create a kombucha with a nicer taste, he said: "As a kid, I used to drink kombucha and was familiar with the benefits, but generally, kombucha is very vinegary and not pleasant to drink. So, we decided to produce a kombucha with a more balanced taste, which is more pleasant to drink, but without compromising the health benefits."
The company currently offers four flavours: scotch bonnet chilli, sarsaparilla root, elderflower, and lavender and is distributing through Moray and the highlands through Williamson’s Foodservice, as well as being available in Spar CjLang stores in Scotland and online at www.kompassion.co.uk.
Kompassion Kombucha's award win has also come at a great time for the business, which hopes to further develop throughout Scotland. Mr Dhanaraj said: "This is our fourth award win and it's great to get that recognition. We were competing with businesses in 150 different countries so winning as the world's best rookie brewery is a huge thing, and it's great to know going forward that we're going in the right direction."