Interview with Fix8: The Growing Pains of a Kombucha Tea Startup

In our mission to match businesses to offices, we meet some of London’s most exciting startups. In this series, Growing Pains, we interview the founders and CEOs of businesses that are starting out or scaling up. 

In the second of this series, we speak to Freya Twigden, co-founder of Fix8, about the growing pains of creating a Kombucha tea for the “positively obsessed”.

Founded in 2018, Fix8 is a “healthy high for sensible hedonists”, brewed the traditional way in Fix8’s London microbrewery. Today, the chilled bottled drink can be found in Selfridges, The Hogarth Club, The Connaught Bar and plenty of other trendy spots in London.

First things first. What actually is Kombucha?

Invented in 220 B.C. in Northeast China, Kombucha is a fermented tea. It carries all the traditional benefits of tea, like polyphenols, antioxidants, L-Theanine for the brain, but is more bio-available for the body to absorb, thanks to the fermentation process.

You also get more pro-biotic bacteria, B vitamins and amino acids, which are all necessary for a healthy brain and immune system. Little wonder it’s called the “tea of immortality” in Asia.

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Above: Fix8 in three flavours: Triple Ginger, Strawberry Tulsi and Citrus Saffron

Twigden tells us why she started the business and the challenges she’s faced scaling up.

Tell us a little bit about why you founded Fix8?

As part of my degree, I spent a year in Shanghai, where I enrolled in a Chinese medicine course. One day, I was sitting in the classroom, and the doctor brought in this jelly pancake, cellulose thing – it was Kombucha. In the spirit of trying everything, I did, and it was love at first sip. Sweet, sour and fizzy all at the same time.

When I came back to the UK to finish my degree, I couldn’t find it anywhere. So, in an act of final year procrastination, I taught myself how to brew it in my student flat. I was giving it to friends to try and sharing it with hungover flatmates as the ‘elixir of life’. I never thought I was going to turn it into a business.

But continuing my love affair with it, I did a lot of travelling to meet other brewers, I went to Hawaii, Portland, Los Angeles, and worked in a pickle shop for a few weeks in California to really learn more about fermentation. 

As a consumer, there was nothing in the UK Kombucha market that really satisfied me. The flavour profiles were a bit lack-lustre, the branding was a bit dated. I just saw this space to come in and create something for myself, as the ideal consumer.

What were the first steps you took in starting the business? 

There was a lot of Googling ‘how to get funding for startups, finding entrepreneur networks and joining Facebook groups.

I met my co-founder, who was introduced to me by a mutual friend, and while I was still developing the recipes and flavour profiles, we decided to do a funding round. We went through a Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), which is a really good way for startups to get funding. 

And then we built the brand. But it felt like a very natural journey that happened organically. It takes so much longer than you think it will, and you have to wear so many hats. One day I was recipe-developing, the next day I was sat in a legal meeting drawing up a shareholders’ agreement. No two days were the same.

What’s been the scariest part of your journey so far?

Oh, every day. It’s difficult, and anyone that tells you it’s easy is either a superhero or they’re lying.

I think the scariest moment was first launching the product – like when I saw it on a shelf in Selfridges – especially after we had spent all this time building it. At the end of the day, you’re creating a product to serve and please people, and with that comes a fear of rejection.

Big events and buyers’ meetings are still really scary, too. It’s a lot of pressure. I remember the first time we met GAIL’s Bakery, I had to do 20 minutes of meditation in the Uber before I got there because I was so excited, and I wanted it to go so well.

When I feel unqualified, I say to myself: ‘Well Freya, you couldn’t have gone to school for this’. No-one could have taught me how to face these challenges. Your mindset is everything.

Freya Twigden, Co-founder of Fix8

Has the journey felt lonely?

Before we had anyone working for us, it was incredibly lonely. Sometimes I’d get to my evening meal and I wouldn’t have spoken to a single human being. In the foundational building days, you don’t really have anyone to share big wins with, apart from your family WhatsApp group. 

One way to overcome that is by connecting with other founders who have been in your situation before. I meet anyone and everyone for a coffee, and really listen to any advice they have.

How do you avoid burning out?

I used to think of burnout as a necessary mistake – you have to go there to realise that you don’t want to go there. But the harsh reality of it is, you never switch off. I always joke that creating a business is like having a child. You’re suddenly so responsible for something 24 hours a day.

I try to think less about work-life balance, and more about work-life integration. Because to some extent, my identity is very much linked to the business. If I’m having a glass of wine in a bar, I’m speaking to the bartender about Kombucha cocktail collaborations. I’m not just Freya, I’m Freya from Fix8. But I think I’ve gotten better at that now.

You just need to release some pressure and try to disconnect – I’m trying to take more time offline, for example. You have to put yourself first. Wake up and give the first few hours of your day to yourself. Because without you, there’s no business.

What’s been your biggest challenge so far?

Dealing with self-limiting beliefs like ‘I’m young, I’m unqualified, I’ve never done this before’. It’s imposter syndrome. When I see Fix8 on shelves, I think: ‘I didn’t do that. It was the people around me. It was everyone but me’.

But I try to work with it. When I feel unqualified, I say to myself: ‘Well Freya, you couldn’t have gone to school for this’. No-one could have taught me how to face these challenges. Your mindset is everything. Just be patient and stay grounded, and you’ll be able to see solutions that a haze of stress would normally hide. 

Don’t get me wrong, we are all human and we all get stressed. It’s not a bad thing – but too much of it can be.

What advice would you give to other budding founders?

Work on yourself harder than you work on your business, because fundamentally, your business is going to be a projection of your own state of mind. And just crack on. Get started. There’s never going to be a perfect moment.

You might fail, but that’s fine. You’ll learn from it. Seek the criticism, because that’s what’s going to help you pivot and perfect your product or service for that market.

What has been your biggest success to date? 

It changes all the time. We’ve just confirmed we’ll be launching in Whole Foods – which has been something we’ve been working on for a really long time.

And also, Fix8 is being used in a cocktail in The Connaught Bar – voted best bar in Europe – which is quite a surreal feeling.

What book has changed your life?

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. But a book every entrepreneur should read is The Obstacle is the Way, which teaches you that every obstacle in life is an opportunity for you to learn.