Meet the couple behind fast-growing Songbird Kombucha

Just over a year ago, Jacob Fokken was hit with what he calls his “thunderstruck” moment.

He was home on a lunch break during the first week of February 2020, and the thought that had been ruminating for a while finally exploded to the top of his mind.

“I truly believed that we could start a business … a sense hit me like lightning that day,” the 29-year-old said.

Now, Songbird Kombucha — the business he runs with his wife, Elsa — has nine wholesale accounts, a busy corner of the Falls Park Farmers Market and enough momentum that they’re moving into a bigger commercial kitchen space near 26th Street and Minnesota Avenue.

Kombucha is a sparkling, nonalcoholic, fermented beverage made with tea, and it can be flavored with all sorts of fruit, herbs or other natural ingredients. The Fokkens had been home-brewing the beverage for a couple of years before they started their business.

“We wanted to do this three years ago, but all the doors slammed in our faces,” Elsa Fokken, also 29, said. “When we tried again a year ago, all the doors swung wide-open for us. It seems like we were the exact right people to be doing this at this exact right time.”

The couple credits their success to forces greater than themselves.

One of those forces is family.

The Fokkens have two children and one on the way, and caring for a family has shown them a new level of strength and commitment they’ve taken to their business.

“In a way, we feel for the community of Sioux Falls the same way that we feel for our own children,” Elsa Fokken said. “We long to take care of them and to see them thrive in this world.”

Another is the healing power of nature.

“We need food that’s alive, and probiotic foods (like kombucha) benefit your gut biome,” Jacob Fokken said. “We also want to heal local farming and agriculture. We do that by buying fruits that are grown here.”

The Fokkens also know they’ve got a “guardian spirit” looking over them in the form of their friend and teacher, Lily Baltazar, who died in 2019.

Baltazar brewed kombucha for the Sioux Falls Food Co+op, and she helped the Fokkens learn the brewing process in their home.

“She’s our inspiration. … We do this to honor her,” Jacob Fokken said.

Songbird Kombucha officially launched in June 2020 at the farmers market, and from there it quickly expanded to wholesale accounts with Coffea Roasterie and the co-op. Now, Songbird can be found at eight Sioux Falls locations, including Severance Brewing Co. and The Source Roastery + Taproom, as well as one location in Yankton.

The business also offers direct delivery, “old-fashioned milk-style,” Jacob Fokken said.

On June 1, Songbird will move its commercial kitchen from a section of the Breadico kitchen out on Western Avenue south of 69th Street to a 1,500-square-foot space on the east end of the same building as Kaladi’s Bistro at 26th and Minnesota.

“We’re really excited because we’ll get to experiment in ways that we haven’t been able to so far,” Jacob Fokken said.

Their next year will focus on scaling up to expand to more wholesale accounts. The couple also is looking to add fermented vegetables to their offerings, starting at the farmers market.

The fermented vegetables are another way to connect to both nature and the past, Jacob Fokken said.

“You think about how our ancestors survived without refrigerators,” he said. “They would ferment their food, and they would store it in root cellars and crocks buried in the ground.”

But ultimately, when it comes to new products, they’re letting the market tell them which direction to go.

“We just really want to help people live healthier,” Jacob Fokken said. “We’re definitely at the beginning, but it’s definitely exciting when something you just started is being well-received.”