Business Monday: New Kona beverage startup features bubbly alcohol-free drink

A new beverage company in Kailua-Kona is tapping into local island flavors, offering a refreshing bubbly hop water — minus the alcohol.

In October, Kailua Beverage Co. soft-launched its hops-infused water, Kōlea. It officially opened in January, when alcohol consumers tend to take a break after the holidays from spirits, beers and other libations.

The beverages’ flavors include blood orange, lychee and papaya. They are made with classic hops and all are zero calories and sugar-free.

Nathalie Carisey, founder and president of Kailua Beverage Co., said in a press release: “We’ve crafted this product with our passion for beverage innovation and are excited to offer it to our community as a new way to experience the flavors of the islands.”

While the ingredients for the drink are currently sourced from the U.S. mainland, Carisey said future products under the Kailua Beverage Co. brand will be created with ingredients found in the islands.

Kailua Beverage Co. was founded by the leadership of Kona Brewing Company to be an innovative startup. The new business and Kona Brewing are both owned by Vantage Point Brewing Partners, a Delaware limited liability company that acquired Kona Brewing in 2020.

Vantage Point Brewing Partners is owned by Dave Peacock and VantEdge Partners, an investment firm from Kansas City. 

But Kōlea is created and canned in the Kona Brewing Hawai‘i production facility in Kona. It is sold in stores statewide. Kōlea also is available for tastings at Kona Pub on Hawai‘i Island and Kona Brewing Hawai‘i Kai on O‘ahu. And, Katie Lefsrud, VP Sales and Marketing for the company, said Target, Safeway and some resorts have shown interest in carrying the new product.

The hop water name was inspired by the Kōlea bird, which makes long voyages from Alaska to Hawai‘i.

“They are known to hop from island to island,” said Lefsrud, who is also VP of sales and marketing at Kona Brewing.

A six-pack ranges in price from $11.99 to $14.99. Kōlea is currently only available in Hawai‘i, but the goal is to expand the product to the mainland this year.

The 54-year-old Carisey, who also is president of Kona Brewing, said the brewery’s leadership wanted to create a new business with a line of innovative products, looking at data for almost a year nationally and worldwide to see what types of beverages were trending that hadn’t reached Hawai‘i.

They found non-alcoholic and healthy beverage alternatives to alcohol were on the rise.

“We feel it’s a great product for Hawai‘i because we’re able to source most of the products from the islands,” Carisey said, referring to future Kailua Beverage Co. products.

While the leadership of Kona Brewing, a company well-known across the United States for its beer, felt they could leverage its name to create a new product, Carisey said they decided to create a new company to keep the brands separate.

Carisey said she expects Kailua Beverage Co. to get its own management and leadership in two to three years.

“At some point I won’t be president of both,” Carisey said. “We’re starting up this company so it can stand on its own.”

Carisey entered the beverage industry just two years ago when she was hired to work at Kona Brewing Company as its supply chain director. She was promoted to president in January.

Originally from France, Carisey traveled the world working in the tech industry for years as a supply chain lead at Becton Dickinson that handles medical supplies like infusion pumps.

She moved to San Diego in 2008; and in 2015, she visited Hawaiʻi Island and said she knew she was ready to put down roots.

“I fell in love with the island,” Carisey said.

Carisey and her husband, Franck, bought a lot of land in Hōlualoa in 2017 where they now grow coffee.

While initially, they were looking for a home to buy, Carisey said after driving by many coffee farms they thought it would be interesting and exciting to have their own.

“We did not know anything about coffee so we reached out to experts on the island,” Carisey said. “They showed us their farms and the processing of coffee. We loved it and decided to give it our whole.”

With her husband running the daily operations at Uluwehi coffee farm, Carisey wasn’t quite ready to fully retire and decided to apply for supply chain director at Kona Brewing.

Carisey said the new company is committed to healthy and sustainable products and processes. The company plans to purchase the produce for its drinks from local farmers, uses recycled water and powers its machines with solar energy.

“It’s for Hawai‘i and showcasing Hawai‘i outside of Hawai‘i,” Carisey said.

Lefsrud, who’s been in the beverage industry for more than a decade with Molson Coors Beverage Company, said she jumped at the opportunity last August to work at the “storied” 30-year Kona Brewing.

“The beverage industry is amazing,” Lefsrud said. “There’s so much opportunity, and we have a really robust plan for what comes after Kōlea.”

So far, the brand only offers nonalcoholic drinks. But Lefsrud said the new startup has a plan to build a pipeline of innovative products.

For now, they are keeping those ideas a mystery.

For more information about Kōlea, visit @koleahopwater on Instagram.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that while Kōlea ingredients are currently sourced from the U.S. mainland, the goal is to create future products made from local ingredients.