Drink well, do good
Soft drink companies usually get a bad rap for being unhealthy and socially irresponsible. But Karma Cola is a soft drink company that pledges to create a fun, great tasting cola that looks after all those involved in the supply chain for its beverage business.
Matt Morrison, co-founder of Karma Cola, was looking at ways to look after growers in third-world countries. “We found kola nut growers in West Africa, on the border of Sierra Leone and Liberia” says Matt. From there, the great tasting soda was born. Since then, Karma Cola’s rapid success moved them from New Zealand to Australia; they even operate across Europe and the UK.
Currently, the Karma Cola Foundation works in Sierra Leone to make sure that growers and their communities have the opportunities and rewards they deserve.
Building a beverage business with confidence and knowledge
For Karma cola, Unleashed is “a one-stop-shop for all our assembly, production, inventory management, and sales processes,” says Matt.
“We’ve got one of the most convoluted supply chains I’ve ever come across” laughs Matt. Firstly, they source their kola nuts from Sierra Leone, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla and ginger from Sri Lanka, and sugar from India. Then ingredients and materials are transported to production sites around the world in Tauranga, Austria, and Somerset.
Maintaining visibility of their inventory is essential to Matt. “Unleashed is a one-stop-shop, as founders, to see how the business metrics are progressing” he explains. Karma Cola always know what they’ve got, where it is, and how much they’re selling.
Since Unleashed is a cloud-based, users can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. This mobility allows Matt to keep an eye on how his business is doing, even when he’s away from the office. “Wherever we are, whether we are in Sri Lanka in a vanilla plantation, or we are in an airport in Singapore, that we can see on our phones how the business is tracking,” Matt explains.
“We’ve got big ambitions and we are very confident that Unleashed is the platform that’ll allow us to have constant visibility of how we’re getting along.”
Karma Cola is prepared to face future business growth. Unleashed gave Karma Cola confidence and visibility of their inventory. “Unleashed was a very easy decision to make. Along the way, we have been able to expand with Unleashed” says Matt. With Unleashed, they have the ideal software that grows with their business.
