SFBI Graduate
Honeymoon Brewery
Developer of the first Hard Kombucha and Kombucha Beer produced in the Southwest, created in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory. An award-winning, hand-crafted hard kombucha brand built from New Mexico.
The AHA moment
Ayla was living north of Seattle when she first started exploring kombucha. One day, kombucha was pulled from a local store's shelves because of its alcohol content. She saw a business opportunity immediately. Fast forward to 2014 — she was in Santa Fe, working three jobs and hustling. She decided it was time to start that kombucha business.
The SFBI difference
Ayla got a chance to talk to mentors and advisors at an SFBI event. They liked her idea and suggested she call the regional beer and wine rep for Whole Foods. He told her that if such a product existed, he'd buy 3,000 bottles that day. She knew she was onto something real. SFBI became a one-stop shop for working through every challenge: how to start a beverage business, how to make the product, and how to find funding. The network gave her a resource to answer every question and get her on her way.
Growth
Honeymoon Brewery began as a home operation, landed a technical assistance grant with LANL to refine its brewing science, and won grant money from a Shark Tank investor. After four and a half years brewing and serving from a Santa Fe taproom, the team closed its manufacturing operation to pursue a regional co-manufacturer capable of scaling production sustainably. Sales exceeded expectations in their final taproom year, establishing a foundation for the next phase of growth.