Conference Speakers

Ian Griffin is the publisher of Booch News and the editor of SYMBIOSIS Magazine. Over the past five years he has met with and interviewed dozens of kombucha producers in Europe and the States. Since buying his first SCOBY from Hannah Crum in 2010 he has been an avid home brewer. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Kendra Sepulveda is the Executive Director of Kombucha Brewers International (KBI). She came to the position with almost three decades of education and experience in nutrition, culinary arts, kombucha brewing, and entrepreneurship as well as a life-long passion for healthy living and culinary innovation. In her current position, she advances the mission and vision of KBI in fostering excellence and sustainability within the kombucha industry as it evolves to the needs of the market and its stewards.

Martin grew up around fermented food and beverages and started admiring traditional practices and processes early on in life. He started brewing kombucha over 30 years ago and developed a deep love for this culture and its diversity. After finishing his PhD in biology, he left academia and went to work in professional kitchens, to understand the food and beverage industry better. Since kombucha started becoming commercially interesting and entering breweries, Martin is spending most of his time in breweries, helping them to implement wild fermentation practices on a larger scale. His main interest is in developing kombucha flavors and oher kombucha based products.