We were lucky to catch up with George Goodwin recently and have shared our conversation below.
George, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
As a fourth-generation grocer, I’ve spent my entire life around food — watching trends rise and fall, hearing customer feedback firsthand, and seeing what actually sells versus what just looks good on a shelf. I grew up sweeping floors and stocking shelves in our family’s small organic grocery store, Goodwin’s Organics, which my dad opened in 2008 — before “organic” was mainstream. Whole Foods once told him it wouldn’t last. Sixteen years later, it’s still here.
That early experience taught me something important: if you believe in better, you build it yourself.
Fast forward to a few years ago — I was deep in the grocery and CPG world, hosting the GroceryPulse Podcast and talking to founders across the country with a goal to push the industry forward by capturing these leaders’ stories. Every week, I’d hear the same thing: consumers wanted gut health, low sugar, and functional beverages. Food is fuel — not just hunger.
I was recruited to revamp a kombucha powder that had previously failed, and investors wanted to give it another go. Kombucha — one of the most popular wellness drinks — was stuck in glass bottles, full of sugar, expensive, and hard to scale sustainably.
The idea for Kōbu Kombucha came from a simple but recurring frustration — one that I’d seen play out thousands of times across grocery aisles and in my own life: people wanted to be healthy, but wellness products were often inconvenient, overpriced, or just didn’t fit real life.
I enjoyed functional beverages and kombucha but didn’t love the $6–$8 price tag, the vinegar bite, or the waste that came with shipping liquid across the country. So, relaunching the brand as Kōbu Kombucha Powder, a clean-label product, I asked: what if we could keep the benefits and culture of kombucha, but make it portable, affordable, and better for the planet?
That question became Kōbu — which in Japanese means inspire, encourage, and motivate — and that’s our mission: to positively impact humanity.
We partnered with food scientists to freeze-dry the live culture — preserving the probiotics — and blend it with organic ingredients to make it pre-, pro-, and postbiotic, creating a shelf-stable kombucha powder. It’s kombucha reimagined for the modern wellness consumer — clean, low sugar, and actually enjoyable to drink.
In many ways, Kōbu combines everything I’ve learned over four generations in the grocery industry — craftsmanship from my family, data and storytelling from my marketing career, and innovation from years of listening to both customers and founders.
At its core, Kōbu exists to make gut health approachable and empowering. It’s a reminder that wellness shouldn’t be intimidating — it should be something you can take with you anywhere.
That’s what gets me excited every day — knowing that what started in the grocery aisles of my family store is now becoming a brand helping people feel better, live lighter, and invest in their health in a way that finally fits their life.
George, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m George Goodwin, a fourth-generation grocer, marketer, and entrepreneur whose career bridges grocery retail, CPG innovation, and modern marketing.
I grew up in a grocery store — literally. My family has been in the grocery business for over 75 years, and my dad opened Goodwin’s Organics in 2008, one of the first all-organic grocery stores in the U.S. At the time, Whole Foods said it wouldn’t last two weeks. Sixteen years later, it’s still thriving. That experience taught me how powerful belief, community, and quality can be in building something that lasts.
Over the years, I’ve worked across nearly every corner of the grocery industry — from store operations and marketing to tech and product development. I helped scale IT Retail, a family-founded grocery point-of-sale software company that later sold for over $25 million, and then co-founded RetailMetrix, a data and insights platform for independent grocers.
Today, I run two ventures that each reflect a piece of that journey:
🎙️ GroceryPulse by Innovar Marketing Agency — a podcast and media platform sharing stories from industry leaders, from Fortune 500 CEOs to Olympic athletes, exploring how innovation, technology, and people are shaping the future of grocery and CPG.
🍋 Kōbu Kombucha Powder — a clean-label wellness brand turning kombucha into a portable, shelf-stable powder that supports gut health, hydration, and convenience. It’s kombucha reimagined — low sugar, eco-friendly, and actually enjoyable to drink.
Across all of these ventures, the common thread is simple: I want to help people and businesses grow better. Whether that’s helping a local grocer compete through digital marketing, inspiring healthier lifestyles through Kōbu, or telling founder stories that spark collaboration through GroceryPulse — my goal is to merge tradition with innovation.
What sets my work apart is that it’s deeply hands-on and heart-led. I’ve lived every side of the industry — from stocking shelves and launching loyalty programs to raising capital and pitching investors. I understand both the entrepreneurial hustle and the legacy of family business.
I’m most proud of building brands that inspire people — to shop smarter, live healthier, and connect deeper. At its core, everything I create — whether it’s a product, podcast, or marketing campaign — is about human connection and better living.
If there’s one thing I want people to take away from my work, it’s this:
Innovation doesn’t mean forgetting where you came from — it means using what you’ve learned to build something better.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
One of my favorite marketing stories was running an organic smoothie promotion for one of my clients — Goodwin’s Organics, which also happens to be my family’s grocery store. We launched two new smoothies, Blue Lagoon and Pink Paradise Wave, and decided to go all-in on organic marketing rather than paid ads. We focused on storytelling, visuals, and customer engagement through social media — letting the drinks speak for themselves.
Within a few days, the promotion went viral across Riverside and Redlands. The store sold out of ingredients multiple times, and my brother — who helps run the store — called me saying, “You need to turn off the ads!” (which was funny, because we hadn’t even run any). That campaign ended up breaking the store’s all-time sales record for smoothies.
That moment reminded me that the best marketing doesn’t always require a big budget — it requires authenticity, creativity, and connection. Another highlight has been seeing CEOs and retail leaders featured on my GroceryPulse Podcast reach out wanting to try Kōbu Kombucha Powder, and even having paid spotlight guests join the show — proof that storytelling and relationships can drive real business growth.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
esilience is something every founder has to learn the hard way. When you work for someone else, there’s security in that paycheck — but when you’re building your own company, you’re responsible not only for your income but for others who depend on you.
In my journey, there were multiple seasons where I went months — even a full year — without paying myself while growing a startup. For one business, I didn’t take a paycheck for twelve months; for another, I went six months getting paid last, or sometimes not at all. But I believed in what we were building, and I leaned on savings, side income, and pure determination to keep things moving forward.
Those seasons taught me that entrepreneurship isn’t about comfort — it’s about conviction. Every late night, every tough call, and every setback was a lesson in grit and gratitude. I’ve learned that resilience isn’t just surviving hard times — it’s choosing to keep building when no one else sees the vision yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.innovaragency.com/george-goodwin-grocer-marketer-founder
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsagoodwin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/george.goodwin.902/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/number-one-marketer/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@InnovarMarketingAgency
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/innovar-marketing-agency-reno
- Soundcloud: https://www.innovaragency.com/grocerypodcastgrocerypulse
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grocery-pulse-podcast-by-innovar-marketing-agency-insights/id1714100207
Image Credits
George Goodwin (Personal Photos)