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JuneShine leapt onto the scene in early 2019 when it acquired former Ballast Point Scripps Ranch facility, a 24K sq-ft brewery with 100K bbls/yr capacity, for a bargain deal just as its hard kombucha biz was getting off the ground. Just over 6 yrs later, JuneShine will move outta that facility entirely as it shifts all production to contract brewing partners across its portfolio of hard kombuchas, FMBs, RTDs, beers, non-alc kombuchas and hemp THC bevs, co announced. JuneShine Peaked at ~65K Bbls on its Own in 2023; Woulda Been 116K Bbls That Yr w/ Flying Embers JuneShine's biz evolved dramatically in short order, leading to this big change. Co initially drove the hard kombucha mini-wave, surging to around 65K bbls/yr on its own by 2023. At that point its hard kombucha biz was showing some signs of leveling off/declining after peaking at 56K bbls the year prior, while newer JuneShine spirits RTD line took off and nearly reached 10K bbls on its own. JuneShine's biz was still heavily concentrated in SoCal and the west region, but found various other pockets of growth as distribution expanded across the country.Next up, JuneShine made waves by acquiring Flying Embers in an all-stock transaction early the following yr. At the time of the announcement in Mar 2024, JuneShine and Flying Embers combined biz woulda collectively produced 116K bbls/yr, and Flying Embers planned to move its production to Scripps Ranch. JuneShine was just starting to dabble with expanding its portfolio, launching a lower-priced regional SoCal lager called Easy Rider that was contract brewed in the area. And thru the deal with Flying Embers, it brought on that co's founder Bill Moses to its board of directors, and inherited some large investors including Beam Suntory.Hard Kombucha/FMBs Ran Outta Steam; Lookin' at Other Oppys Ever Since; Struck Green with Willie's As JuneShine brought in Flying Embers production, it was operating profitably within a few mos. But hard kombucha category became more challenged, driving both JuneShine and Flying Embers sales down double digits in 2024 vs yr prior. To help navigate more complexity across the org, JuneShine hired Boston Beer vet Whitney Stevenson to run the co as prexy/cco in Aug 2024. It announced plans to launch a non-alc JuneShine kombucha line the following mo, noting that it had an oppy to "be bigger" than its hard kombuchas, co-founder Forrest Dein told CBN at the time.In 2025, JuneShine and Flying Embers alc bev sales each declined at steeper double-digit rates and Easy Rider lager didn't cycle its initial rollout. But co made up for that in droves thru new partnership with Willie Nelson's hemp THC bev line, Willie's Remedy, forming the partnership in Mar 2025. Remarkably, that brand's sales skyrocketed to a $60-mil-revenue run rate by late 2025, virtually all thru DTC sales in its large format bottles, while pouring in $1-1.75 mil in mktg spend on the brand per mo, Whitney shared at Brewbound Live. That got up to $80 mil in first 12 mos, Fast Company reported yesterday. In Feb 2026, Willie's raised an additional $15 mil in capital primarily thru VC firms as it prepped for bigger retail push this yr, albeit operating against the backdrop the the hemp THC business is in jeopardy of major changes that would essentially erode Willie's current route to mkt."The Most Sustainable and Sensible Next Step for Our Business" "At our current size and trajectory, this realignment allows us to be a more agile and effective partner," co-founder Forrest Dein said in a released statement. "In an era of rising raw material costs and increasingly complex supply chains, maintaining a fully vertical, high-quality craft brewing operation has become a challenge for even the most established brands in California," JuneShine VP of Operations Ronnie Riedell added. Net-net, "this realignment is the most sustainable and sensible next step for our business," Ronnie stated. "By outsourcing production, we are not just cutting costs; we are building a more resilient, efficient organization that can continue to deliver the premium quality our fans expect for years to come." And it adds "increased bandwidth" to "innovate&hellip;ensur[ing] the company's creative energy remains fixed on developing category-defining products." Unclear if any other alc bev/bev suppliers are lookin' at the possibility of taking over Scripps Ranch, but judging by the challenges other larger facilities in the area have had trying to sell to new operators, that may be a tall task.

JuneShine Moving Outta Scripps Ranch, Shifting to Solely Contract Production Amid Volume Drops

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