Fermenthe’s parent company Ms Organics is well-known for its T-Revive herbal tea products, which are targeted at a female audience seeking beauty and weight management functionalities.
Its new kombucha range has taken a different route from its traditional teabag-seeping format, instead coming in RTD bottles or cans much like any other carbonated beverage.
“This kombucha is unique as we have used a 22% concentrate of tea in its formulation, which is the highest concentration you can find anywhere in the world,” Ms. Organics CEO Siriboon Nagadhan told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“This is a blend of both fermented black tea and green tea which is also sugar free as we do not use any sort of added sugar in its formulation but instead use honey for taste.
“This is particularly important as we are aware that a large proportion of our consumer base are still keen on products that are calorie-free in order to ensure there is no impact on their body shape or weight.”
Kombucha is already well-known in its own right for its gut health benefits, and Fermenthe is confident that its formulation will be able to carry its own in the market.
“The high concentration of tea used already means that there will be a high concentration of all the usual beneficial components such as EGCG, vitamin B1, vitamin B12, natural probiotics and more,” she said.
“We have also developed a sparkling version of the kombucha beverage, and the sparkling component gives that additional desirable mouthfeel and taste, which is even more important to many younger consumers than the benefits.
“We have also used stevia to improve the taste of the sparkling kombucha to be as optimal to suit consumer taste buds as possible, so all in all this product is able to cater to a much wider audience, including those with discerning tastes, than regular kombucha.”
The non-sparkling kombucha beverages are available as either Original or Light Taste variants, including theaflavin for immunity, detoxification and relaxation benefits.
Different teas for different benefits
Whilst black tea is more commonly used alongside green tea in kombucha, which the firm used to develop the concentrates for its RTD products, Fermenthe’s popular T-Revive steeped herbal teas instead use white tea and green tea as a base.
“White tea is less processed and less oxidised, carrying more amino acids and is more widely acknowledged to have relaxation benefits,” she added.
“The T-Revive tea contains another eight herbs in addition to the white and green tea - mulberry pandan, jiaogulan, safflower, chrysanthemum, chamomile, lingzhi and Indian gooseberry - as these help to significantly enhance the benefits of the tea.
“We have maintained this in a teabag format to be steeped as this has still remained the most efficient format thus far, especially in terms of offering the highest antioxidants, reducing cholestetol, reducing blood sugar and promoting sleep.”
