Bringing the art of fermentation to life in Baltimore and beyond

Sid Sharma is one of the founders of Mobtown Fermentation. The Baltimore-based company, which Sid along with his partners Adam Bufano and Sergio Malarin, is best known for its Wild Kombucha product line. Made from fermented tea leaves, kombucha dates back thousands of years and is rich in probiotics, vitamins, enzymes, and acids believed to promote digestive health as well as better functioning of the body’s immune system. Mobtown Fermentation offers Wild Kombucha in three flavors, and the products can be found at organic supermarkets throughout the Baltimore–DC metropolitan region. Earlier this year, the company expanded by moving into a new space previously occupied by Michele's Granola—whose founder and owner, Michele Tsucalas, recently spoke with citybizlist as well.

Sid Sharma spoke with citybizlist publisher Edwin Warfield for this interview.

EDWIN WARFIELD: What is kombucha?

SID SHARMA: Kombucha is a probiotic tea made from the fermentation of green tea, and then we add organic juices to flavor it. Wild Kombucha is our urban spin on this beverage. Our goal was to create a more approachable and affordable Kombucha for people.

Q. Walk us through the founding of Mobtown Fermentation. How did you get involved?

A. Sergio, Adam, and I have all been friends since we were 14 years old. We all grew up in the Baltimore area. Their parents loved to make kombucha, so they grew up making kombucha—we would drink it at their house for fun. Eventually, their parents moved out of the country, so they left Adam all the brewing equipment, and one day he decided to pull it out and start making kombucha. Some of his friends and family started drinking it and buying a couple of bottles from him.

Eventually, it caught on in the area, and a few kids from Johns Hopkins would buy from him weekly. So, he approached us and said, “Hey, do you guys want to start making some kombucha again? We thought, “Why not? We’ll make it for fun after work or on the weekend.” And the next thing we know, a few stores started asking for it. So, we rented a small commercial space in Hampden—about 400 square feet—and we started brewing on weekends and after work from 6pm to 9pm. Eventually, we grew to the point that every single day we had to come in and work from 6pm until 2 in the morning. So, in August of 2015 we decided to make that jump and go full time into the company.

Q. What are each of your roles in the company?

A. The three cofounders—our roles have really morphed as the company has gone on. Initially, when we were starting, everyone bottled, everyone brewed, everyone delivered, but obviously as we gained more traction, we’re growing, we have a couple of employees, we’ve divided up the work. It’s kind of shaped itself.

Adam Bufano focuses on the operation side of the business. He does a lot of our R&D, product development work. Sergio Malarin focuses on sales and marketing. And then I do a lot of the finance and supply chain work.

Q. Has it been challenging working alongside old friends?

A. I think the biggest advantage of us being so close and all of us being such good friends for so long is the fact that we can tell each other how it is, or we can yell at each other if something happens, and there’s no question that at the end of that moment we’re all going to still be friends and we’re all on the same side. There has never been a conflict of interest or a concern if one of the partners cares about the well being of the other ones—we know it. I mean, we’ve all been friends for so long and grown up together.

Q. As the company has grown, what lessons have you learned along the way?

A. One big lesson that I think we’ve learned throughout this entire process is really to trust your gut. When you meet someone, or you meet people that you’re going to be working with, it’s really important to trust yourself and trust your own intuition. A lot of the times early on we would question ourselves—we’re new to this industry, it’s our first time doing this—but we’ve really gained confidence through the success of our business, but also just through the experiences and seeing how much better off we’ve been by trusting our gut.

Q. What advice would you give fellow entrepreneurs?

A. The best piece of advice I can give someone is don’t be scared to dive in. You know, an idea like this that you could turn into a business, only comes once in a lifetime. If you don’t take that chance, you will always question it. You’ll always question what would have happened: What would have happened if I would have teamed up with Adam and Sergio and made that kombucha? So, that’s one of the things I’m most happy about. Whether we end up being a $50 million business, or we have to close our doors in five years, I know that we dove in head first, and there are no regrets.

Connect with Sidharth on LinkedIn

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Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

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