Walk into any supermarket and you'll find a wall of brightly labelled bottles promising gut health, natural energy, and all the benefits of fermentation. Most of them have the word "kombucha" on the front. But here's the uncomfortable truth - a lot of what gets sold as kombucha isn't really kombucha at all.
At Loving Foods, we make the real thing. And once you understand the difference, you won't be able to look at those supermarket shelves the same way again.
There Is No Legal Definition of Kombucha
Let's start with the uncomfortable bit. In the UK and in most countries, there is no legal definition of kombucha. No standard a product has to meet. No certifying body checking what's in the bottle. Anyone can put the word "kombucha" on a label and sell it.
That means brands can take enormous shortcuts and still call the result kombucha. And many do.
How Big Brands Cut Corners
Concentrate and dilute
One of the most common tricks is producing kombucha as a concentrated liquid, then diluting it later. This dramatically cuts production costs and simplifies logistics. But it also strips out the complexity and body that real fermentation creates.
Sweeteners and additives
Real kombucha gets its flavour from fermentation. The SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) slowly transforms sugar and tea into something complex and alive. Many commercial brands skip or rush this process and compensate with added sweeteners, flavourings, and additives to get the taste profile they want. You end up drinking a flavoured soft drink with a story attached.
Chemically removing alcohol
Real, fully fermented kombucha naturally produces around 1% alcohol - that's under the legal limit for a drink to be sold without alcohol licensing restrictions. Some producers actually ferment their kombucha properly, then chemically strip out the alcohol to bring it under the threshold. Others simply don't ferment it enough to produce alcohol in the first place, which means they haven't really fermented it at all.
The result in both cases: something that looks like kombucha, fizzes like kombucha, and is labelled as kombucha but has none of the depth, body, or microbial complexity of the genuine article.
Pasteurisation
This might be the most damaging shortcut of all. Many commercial kombuchas are pasteurised - heat-treated to extend shelf life and make distribution easier. Pasteurisation kills bacteria. All of it. Including every live culture that makes kombucha what it is. If a kombucha has been pasteurised, the bottle is full of dead bacteria. You're not drinking a living drink - you're drinking a memory of one.
Rushing fermentation
Real kombucha ferments slowly, over weeks. That time is where the complexity develops - the organic acids, the natural carbonation, the microbial depth that gives proper kombucha its body and character. Industrial producers can't afford to wait weeks per batch, so they cut the process short. The result is an under-fermented liquid that hasn't had time to become what it's supposed to be.
A dead SCOBY (or no real SCOBY at all)
The SCOBY (the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) is the living heart of kombucha. In traditional brewing, it's maintained from batch to batch, kept alive and active, carrying the microbial culture forward. Some industrial producers use dried, standardised, or lab-produced cultures rather than a thriving, living SCOBY. Others skip meaningful fermentation altogether. Without a genuinely healthy SCOBY doing real work over real time, what you're making isn't kombucha.
Non-fermentable sweeteners
Real kombucha uses actual sugar because the SCOBY needs it. The bacteria and yeast consume that sugar during fermentation, transforming it into organic acids and producing a naturally low-sugar drink. Some brands use sweeteners that the SCOBY can't ferment at all, which means no real fermentation is happening. They're adding sweetness back in, not fermenting it out.
The Problem for You as a Consumer
Here's what makes this so frustrating: you have almost no way of knowing.
You pick up a bottle. It says kombucha. It looks the part. You might check the ingredients after you've bought it but even then, the label may not tell you whether the product was concentrated, pasteurised, rushed, or barely fermented. There's no requirement to disclose any of this. People buy it because the name is on the front, and most will never know what they're actually drinking.
What Real Kombucha Looks Like
Ours starts with a proper, full fermentation. We don't rush it, concentrate it, or chemically alter it. What goes into the bottle is what fermentation actually produces.
But fermentation is only part of the story. The other part is ingredients, and this is where the difference becomes obvious the moment you open a bottle.
We use real blueberries - not concentrate, not flavouring, actual fruit. We use real ginger. We source organic juiced lemons, not citric acid from a bag. We brew with actual tea leaves. Nothing reconstituted. Nothing synthetic.
The colours in our kombucha are that vivid because they come from real fruit. That depth of flavour is real because it was fermented, not engineered. There are no shortcuts hiding behind a pretty label.
Why It Matters
Kombucha has a reputation for being good for you. That reputation was built on real kombucha that's been properly fermented, alive with beneficial bacteria and organic acids. When you're drinking a concentrated, pasteurised, sweetened imitation, you're not getting any of that. You're paying kombucha prices for a glorified soft drink.
We think you deserve to know what you're actually buying.
Loving Foods kombucha is the real thing - brewed properly, made with real ingredients, and honest about what it is. Once you've tasted the difference, it's hard to go back.
Ready to try the real thing? Check out our full range of kombuchas and taste what proper fermentation actually feels like.