London Inc. May-June 2023 - 12

Upfront Food & Beverage
A TONIC FOR
THE TIMES
A worker-owned
cooperative taps into
the growing functional
beverage market with a
drink aimed at changing
consumption habits
WE TEND TO like drinks that do
things for us. We drink coffee because
it perks us up in the morning, milk
because it's healthy for us and alcohol
because it alters our emotional state.
Indeed, many consumers don't just
want a drink to be an input - they
want some output as well. So, it's not
surprising to hear it's not just taste
and style that drink-makers think
about now, but function as well.
Jeff Pastorius, worker-owner at
the London Brewing Co-operative (as
well as On the Move Organics) was
thinking about this when, for a period,
he was looking for alternatives to
alcohol. Unlike many who switch to
non-alcoholic beer, it wasn't the form
he was interested in replacing, but the
function.
" Beer is, at the end of the day, an
excellent sedative, " he says. " It works
as a tool, so it's functional. "
What he and his wife Ellie Cook
also knew was that organic ingredients
and teas had all sorts of
functional benefits, too. They reached
into " the enormous tea cabinet we
have " and started experimenting
with different recipes - and the
result was the first of two non-alcoholic,
functional botanical beverages
now sold as Forest City Botanicals
(www.forestcitybotanicals.ca).
Pastorius describes Forest City
Botanicals as a " non-alcoholic,
functional health drink " that uses
herbs, flowers and adaptogenic plants
to produce a beverage that taste-wise
12|londonincmagazine.ca|MAY / JUNE 2023
Jeff Pastorius and Ellie Cook
" ALL OF THE INPUTS IN THIS DRINK HAVE
A LONG LIST OF HEALTH BENEFITS.
THEY'VE BEEN DESIGNED TO HAVE
FUNCTIONALITY "
-Jeff Pastorius
http://www.forestcitybotanicals.ca
London Inc. May-June 2023

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