JuneShine creates a recipe for growth with help from Avalara

Founded in 2017, JuneShine is a fast-growing company started by a team of environment-conscious adventurers, artists, and creatives with a shared mission: to create a different type of alcoholic beverage made from high-quality, sustainable ingredients that would appeal to people with healthy lifestyles. 

The JuneShine flagship product is a hard kombucha made using only organic honey and organic cane sugar in its fermentation; the residual sugar in the final product comes from organic fruit. The San Diego-based company currently distributes its kombucha to wholesalers and retailers in 40 states. In January 2021, JuneShine started selling its products direct to consumer.

When the company was only distributing their kombucha in a handful of states, licensing was easily managed in-house. But when they decided to go nationwide, JuneShine needed a solution to help them scale quickly. Beverage alcohol licensing requirements vary widely from state to state, as do the applicable tax rates. “I knew we didn’t have the time or the expertise to manage it ourselves,” says Matthew Webster, director of operations. 

“All the licensing, the product and brand registrations in 40 states … it was too much to deal with,” Matthew admits. “And things are always changing — there’s constantly new legislation being adopted. Because of all the hats I wear at the company, I don’t have time to stay on top of that.”

Once JuneShine made the decision to expand across the country, Matthew’s primary concern was speed. “We just needed to get it done,” he says. “Avalara for Beverage Alcohol was exactly the solution we needed, at the time that we needed it. Their ability to deliver quickly was the major selling point for us.”

“Avalara helped us get the new product licensed in 46 states within a few months,” Matthew says. “Once again, the speed-to-market that Avalara enabled was essential for us. Without this solution, we would have gotten there eventually, but not in a timeframe that would meet our goals.” 

Avalara for Beverage Alcohol brought more than speed to the challenge — Matthew also cites efficiency and peace of mind among the benefits he values the most. “Having it all consolidated in one place saves us a ton of time,” he says. “I don’t have to worry about keeping up with renewals or licensing new products, and the reporting capabilities are powerful and easy to use.”