Meet Jason Dean | Kombucha Brewer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason Dean and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’m naturally a creative person, I need to have a creative outlet in order to be happy and feel productive. I also don’t particularly enjoy having a boss or being told what to do with my life, so I found my niche as a “freelance” graphic designer & branding consultant in the food & drink industry for nearly 20 years. Eventually I grew tired of sitting behind a desk and wanted to do something more physical. Originally, my plan was to learn as much about beer brewing as possible and start a brewery. However, along the way I discovered many other types of fermentation that don’t involve the production of alcohol. I began to focus on the fermentation of tea using a symbiotic culture of bacteria & yeast (aka the “SCOBY”) to create kombucha. What I found was that my unique background and knowledge of beer production practices and equipment allowed me to make a higher quality, more balanced and enjoyable kombucha than what was to be found in grocery stores. My background in branding & design also gave me a unique understanding of how it needed to look and feel to communicate this to potential customers. From there I began to focus on local, seasonal ingredients to further separate our product from the competition and Figment Fermentation was born!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Figment Fermentation is a small business located in Athens, GA that is focused on creating the highest quality fermented foods and drinks possible using local, seasonal ingredients from Georgia family farms to ensure not only the health of our customers’ bodies, but the community as a whole. We’re excited by local, seasonal ingredients and creating delicious foods & drinks with them. Our collaborators are our local farmers!

Business-wise, we pride ourselves on being totally independent. We’re able to make decisions based only on what will make the product better, not necessarily on what will increase profits. Nothing has been easy and it never will be. The work is physically demanding, mentally draining and it takes all of the time we have to keep it running. Over time, we’ve learned that if we continue to focus on what is important to us (the quality of our products) everything else will work itself out. Rather than being forced to constantly grow in order to appease investors, we can allow Figment to grow naturally when it makes sense for us.

A big portion of our job is simply getting customers to try our product. So many people have tried the national grocery store kombucha brands and decided that kombucha isn’t for them, but when they finally try Figment, they realize that they like kombucha when it’s been made with good intentions. Our number one priority is making products that are not only good for you, but taste good as well. There’s no reason you should have to compromise one for the other when we’re surrounded by some of the best ingredients in the country.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Athens is a city with a small-town feel that’s filled with interesting people. We’ve earned our reputation for being a little weird and we embrace it.

First, we’re known for being a music city and there’s no shortage of live shows any night of the week. For a city our size, we attract some unbelievably world-class talent to our stages. You can’t go wrong taking in a show at any one of our historic venues, including the 40-Watt and Georgia Theatre, among many others.

Even though we’re a smaller city, being a college town attracts hundreds of thousands of people to our streets (especially on football game days) and our local food options reflect that. We punch well above our size with amazing fine dining options like The National, Five and Ten, Seabear, ZZ & Simone’s, Dinner Party, The Expat and Home.Made. We also have some one-of-a-kind casual eating options like Maepole, White Tiger, Cali & Tito’s, Tamez Barbecue, FarmCart, Trappeze and Hi-Lo. You really can’t go wrong eating in Athens.

Of course we’re going to have some drinks, and we’re lucky to have some of the best breweries in the Southeast including Creature Comforts, Athentic, Southern Brewing, Akademia, Terrapin and NormalTown Brewing. If you’re more of a wine or cocktail drinker, I highly recommend The Lark for wine & snacks or The Old Pal for a well-made cocktail.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First, my wife Jessica has endured every hardship that comes along with being a small business owner and has been nothing but supportive and encouraging since day one. None of this could’ve happened without her. She keeps all of Figment (and especially myself) on track, on schedule and accountable to each other.

Five Points Bottle Shop (also located in Athens) Homebrew Supply & Growler Shop gave me an opportunity to learn and hone my craft without boundaries or limitations. They truly allowed me to experiment and create my own path while creating connections and friendships within the brewing industry that last to this day.

The Athens Farmers Market gave us our first opportunity to sell our product, as it does many small local businesses, and will always be our most important retail location. The market is where we get to interact with the local community, talk with local farmers and establish relationships with locals that go beyond a simple transaction. The market people are our people and always will be.

Finally, my fellow brewers (in both the kombucha industry and in beer), brewery owners & employees in Athens and beyond continue to be a resource for learning, mentorship and sometimes a shoulder to cry on when things aren’t going the way we planned. We’re all in this together.

Website: figmentkombucha.com

Instagram: @figmentfermentation