Health-Ade Kombucha Teas to Join Generous Brands’ Beverage Portfolio

Health-Ade, makers of kombucha tea beverages, has been acquired by Generous Brands, a Butterfly portfolio company, adding it to the company’s stable of brands including Bolthouse Farms, Evolution Fresh and Sambazon. PE firm sellers of Health-Ade First Bev and Manna Tree Partners will continue on as minority shareholders in Generous Brands, according to a release shared with Food Processing.

Post-acquisition, Generous Brands’ portfolio will cover the juice, smoothie, kombucha, cold-pressed, protein, coffee and alternative soda categories in North America, featuring nearly $1 billion in retail sales. The company offers refrigerated dressings under the Bolthouse Farms brand as well.

Health-Ade has seen its kombucha products, which feature probiotics and immune-boosting antioxidants, grow in recent years as consumer interest in gut-health products has risen. The company was founded in 2012, originally selling its kombucha at local farmers markets — and today sells its products through 65,000 retail outlets nationwide, with retail sales of nearly $250 million annually. Under Generous Brands’ leadership, Health-Ade expects to be able to scale up and develop faster, more transformative innovation and broader availability, and to tap into additional investment to drive growth.

Generous Brands was created in May 2024 as a pure-play premium refrigerated beverage platform, when Butterfly separated Bolthouse Farms into two standalone entities: Bolthouse Fresh Foods (produce operations) and Generous Brands.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and it is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.