Wagga sisters' mission to rebuild gut health leads to thriving water kefir business

After falling severely ill following a two-month trip through South and Central America, Lisa Pearce set out on a mission to improve her gut health – ultimately leading to the creation of Riverina’s water kefir drink, Rewild.

Water kefir is a fermented, probiotic-rich, and slightly fizzy beverage made by fermenting sugar water with water kefir grains – a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.

Lisa was struck down by illness on her last day in Cuba in 2016. On her return home, she visited her doctor every two weeks.

“Six months later, they discovered I had a parasite,” Lisa told Region.

“I went on antibiotics to get rid of it, but after the antibiotics, things got worse because they killed all the good and bad bacteria in my stomach.

“I wasn’t really given any help except ‘work on your gut health’.”

Lisa sought help from a naturopath and tried the FODMAP diet.

“When you don’t know much about gut health, all the information can be overwhelming,” she said.

Then her sister, Haley Tait, co-founder of Rewild, came in with her research and brewing skills.

“We didn’t know what gut health meant at the time. So we just did extensive research and came across probiotics and prebiotics,” Haley said. “We then discovered kombucha, and then came across water kefir.

“We started making it for Lisa in an attempt to introduce probiotics back into her gut, and it grew from there.

“It started as something we made for Lisa, but soon we were making it for ourselves to bring to barbecues and share with friends. Before we knew it, we had the beginnings of a business.”

While Lisa initially turned to the sweetened black tea drink kombucha as one of her go-to aids for her gut health, she said it made her feel sicker.

“Kombucha was harsh on my stomach. Later, we learned that it is great for maintaining gut health if your gut is already strong,” Lisa said. “However, if you have poor gut health, it can actually be damaging.

“Water kefir, on the other hand, is fermented using a different process and culture, making it much gentler on the stomach. That’s why we chose this path — it’s an easier product to drink and digest, especially if your gut health isn’t in the best shape.”

She is now managing her gut health; however, she admits she can’t do what she used to do in her 20s.

“I have to be careful with what I eat and drink. If I’m not careful, I can feel the difference — lots of inflammation in my body,” Lisa said.

Haley said water kefir was just part of a lifestyle change.

“It’s great to add probiotics and a probiotic drink into your life, but we look at this as the healthy switch and not a magic pill,” she said.

Initially starting with an unflavored water, the process of perfecting their products took the sisters a few years.

“We decided to introduce flavors, but tweaking the flavors and then scaling up production were two very different processes. Going from making 10 litres to 60 or 70 litres wasn’t just about time — it required significant adjustments,” Haley said.

“The culture reacts differently when you have more water. Even with the same amount of sugar and flavor, it still behaves differently in bulk.

“There was a lot of experimenting and many exploded bottles in our cupboard until we figured out what we were doing.”

The sisters began the process for their homemade business in 2019 and slowed down in 2020 due to COVID. They officially started selling the kefir water commercially in 2021 at the Riverina Producers Market, marking the sisters’ first real experience of selling to the public.

Since then, the small business has seen steady growth, with several stockists around the region.

“We’ve seen a positive response from customers, particularly at the Riverina Producers Market, where we have regulars who come in every Thursday to purchase their favorite flavors in a six-pack,” Haley said.

“We are also seeing an increase in demand from our stockists during summer, which is great.”

While the sisters have part-time jobs, their future goals are to rely solely on the business for support.

The biggest barrier for the business is transport. They said it was difficult to find couriers who could transport their product, which needed to stay cold during transportation.

“Wagga seems quite isolated when it comes to couriers that travel long distances. For us, we either need to get our products to Sydney or Melbourne, and then have them sent back to the regions just outside of Wagga, as we can’t get direct delivery to those areas,” Haley said.

Rewild Water Kefir can be purchased from Wagga Fruit Supply, Riverina Producers Market, The Red Pomegranate, The Brew Cafe, Griffith Winery, Limone Dining, and Goldfields Greengrocer in Beechworth (Victoria). Keep up with them via their website, Facebook page and Instagram.