A thriving Portland non-alcoholic drinks maker has settled into a new space and begun a hunt for more money as it expands its line.
For Bitter For Worse also filed a patent application over the past few weeks, said Shelley Elkovich, the company's co-founder and "Taste Maven." The moves come after the company logged 700% year-over-year growth between July 2020 and July 2021.
For Bitter For Worse launched an investment campaign on the equity crowdfund platform MicroVentures, on which investments start at $100. The company, which had been self-funded, seeks to raise $400,000
“Our growth has been largely organic, via earned media and loyal repeat customers," said Jeff Heglie, who co-founded the company with Elkovich, in an email. "We’re running a very modest Instagram ad spend this year. Now that we have a larger facility, we can scale to meet demand. We’re raising funds to implement an aggressive marketing strategy, and to increase our capacity with larger equipment."
For Bitter For Worse had begun operating in a new 2,400-square-foot Northeast Portland facility earlier this year.
The patent application is for a process that Heglie, an MIT-trained engineer whose company title is "Reverse Bootlegger," designed to remove and recover alcohol from the company's botanical blend.
“Our drinks are robust. The intensity of flavor comes from what we call our spirit base," he said. "We macerate botanicals in spirits. Then we use a still to remove the alcohol from that base.”
Added Elkovich, “We blend that base with house-made decoctions, syrups, and juice to achieve a layered cocktail, without the hangover.”
