Better Booch Raises $2.5M, Hires Former GT’s Sales EVP Presnall
Summary
California-based brand Better Booch has raised $2.5 million in a series seed round to support the expansion of its team, the company announced today, including the hiring of GTs Living Foods vet Scott Presnall as its EVP of sales and a new VP of sales, John Weaver.The fundraise is the companys first since 2019, when it raised $2.5 million in a round led by Crush Ventures. The brand is now available in over 3,000 retail stores nationwide including 500 Walmart stores and according to Trey Lockerbie reported over 100% growth year-over-year in 2021.According to Trey Lockerbie, the companys growth is arriving as segmentation between canned kombuchas and bottled kombucha drinks increases, noting that sales of cans was up roughly 100% in 2020 and about 70% in 2021, citing NielsenIQ and IRI data, while glass bottles grew 11% in 2020 and just 0.3% last year.The whole story is that the adoption of canned kombucha is massive and Better Booch has been leading that, he said. In 2009, Presnall joined kombucha pioneer GTs Living Foods as its EVP of sales, where he helped lead the brands nationwide expansion and mainstream breakout which has (for now) cemented the company as the category leader.In September, Presnall announced his retirement from GTs with the intent to move into consulting, but Trey Lockerbie said that after a meeting he was drawn to Better Boochs small family culture and the rapid growth of canned kombucha.The bottom line is weve just never had someone as experienced as Scott in the role, period, he said. Trey Lockerbie noted that Presnall is already working on a new comprehensive plan for the companys sales strategy, including a revised pricing structure and regional expansion plan; currently, the brand is primarily distributed in the Southern half of the country and parts of the Midwest with relatively few accounts in the North.Ashleigh Lockerbie added that the marketing team has been small and mighty and has developed an ongoing campaign called the Better Booch Challenge encouraging consumers to challenge their kombucha-hating friends to try the drink. But team expansion is vital to support the companys growth and she now wants to increase both field and digital marketing efforts, with an emphasis on returning to live events as spring arrives and, ideally, the pandemic tempers down.