Rebellious streak to refreshing business

WITH a salute to the city’s rebellious past, an enterprising couple have just cracked a deal that will see their homemade non-alcoholic beverages distributed far beyond Ballarat.

Locals Eoghan Clwyde and Kayla Powell only launched their Rebellion Drinks Co onto the local market in December after starting out making traditional lemonade in their home kitchen a few years ago.

But what started as a simple homemade lemonade, using Ms Powell’s gran’s recipe, simple citrus, sugar, and plenty of effort, has quickly grown into something much bigger.

“We make every batch by hand right here in Ballarat in our kitchen at the moment, so it’s small-batch, deliberate, and personal,” said Mr Clwyde, a member of Commerce Ballarat with 17 years of hospitality experience in his background.

“We’re now producing handcrafted lemonade, lemon lime and bitters, ginger drink and iced tea using all natural ingredients.”

Ms Powell grew up in hospitality but also has a background in healthcare.

“Our drinks contain no preservatives, no carbonation and no concentrates, with just very simple ingredient lists and no nasties,” she said.

The couple had previously been selling their drinks using their Redemption Mobile Bar van and attending a wide range of functions and events.

But when their baby son Flynn came along two and a half years ago they discovered their baby had level three autism and they turned their attention to instead developing a home-based business, sold their van and focussed their attention on distributing their new Rebellion Drinks Co range to local independent eateries.

They have not looked back since then with many local eateries now stocking their drinks in their stand-out rectangular shaped bottles.

This month they’ve cracked into the wholesale market in a move that’s set to see their drinks distributed to other locations across the state.

“Currently our capacity is 600 bottles a day and we’re rapidly getting to that,” Mr Clwyde said.

“We are growing rapidly, but it’s controlled. We can also produce custom branded bottles for organisations, events or promotional campaigns.”

They’re looking to shift into a commercial kitchen within six months and are especially keen to provide employment opportunities for locals with disabilities.