Meet the Makers - Bioma
Bioma is a Barcelona-based kombucha company with a unique approach to business. They are working with a refined standard of kombucha production to bring a living drink to a public that is just beginning to understand it.
Bioma means gut health, and in a lot of ways, it all starts there, with the way your body processes things. How what you take in affects you from the inside out. Kombucha is a super interesting drink, and although we are starting to understand it better, there’s still a lot of mystery to the process. As Chris tells me as we circle the brewery, there’s a big difference when you make your own scoby, a bacteria yeast culture that catalyzes the fermentation process. The particularity of the scoby is what gives the drink its flavor and combined with particular herbs and seasonal infusions the result is a unique series of kombuchas that Bioma has been perfecting.
As kombucha gains popularity companies take shortcuts; going for quick fix concentrates spiked with sugar. The first taste may be the same but digestively it’s not sustainable. This is the difference with a brand like Bioma. It may all be called kombucha but where Bioma differs, is in the details. Their kombucha blends are paired with medicinal herbs, locally sourced from small-scale farms directly outside of Barcelona, and they keep directly in contact with all of their producers.
Transparent production and sustainable choices are present in all aspects of the business. Recyclable glass bottles, ethical wages, and always sourcing as locally as possible. They’re currently working on a botanical tea line with their local producer, Parc de les Olors. have made an in-person visit to the Fair trade farm in Rwanda to fully understand the process, the tea and it's growing environment. These direct connections are what keep a business grounded. When you go back to a product's origins you ensure its quality and you stay fully connected to the production process.
Like gut health itself, Bioma is an ever-changing project, and Chris’s reflective attitude allows the business to grow into its potential.
Coming from a background in architecture Chris has applied his structural knowledge to the factory. Their Poble Nou production center was a remodel project, and Chris implemented sustainable building techniques whenever the opportunity came up. Going back to old building techniques like insulating the walls with natural materials like cork, straw and clay, and improvised ideas to waste less, like sourcing industrial doors second-hand and locally.
Sustainable business is about learning to do things naturally, sometimes looking back at the way we used it so things, sometimes looking for a new way around. Either way, it’s about vision, and Bioma's vision is rooted in their values. Success may be a byproduct but the heart of the project is about getting a quality product out to the world.
