Harvest Roots Ferments, which moved to Avondale in 2019 and opened a taproom in 2020 serving kombucha, has announced that it is closing.

The taproom at 4420 Fourth Ave. South in East Avondale will have its last day on March 3, according to statements on the company’s web site and on social media.

Founders Pete Halupka and Lindsay Whiteaker moved the business from Mentone to Birmingham in 2019. The company shared the following explanation of its closure:

“Harvest Roots began selling kombucha and fermented vegetables at the Pepper Place Farmer’s Market in 2014,” the statement said.

“We were two incredibly young and naive but dedicated 24-year-olds wanting to bring something unique to Alabama’s food and beverage ecosystem. For many years, we operated Harvest Roots out of a tiny commercial kitchen in Mentone, Alabama. We were primarily a wholesale business during this business chapter, meaning we produced a product and sold it to retailers. The farmer’s market at Pepper Place was our only retail outlet. This era lasted for five years; before this, we were operating out of our home kitchen for about one year.”

In 2018, the company came up with a business plan for the move to Birmingham and opened a taproom in 2020.

“In the fall of 2019 we signed the lease for our production space and taproom based in Avondale,” the company’s statement said.

“Construction began, and we were elated. We also signed a contract with a beverage distributor to start distributing our product for us across the entire state; prior to this, my partner and I brewed, bottled, and hand-delivered every order ourselves. In March of 2020, our construction was well underway when the pandemic hit. This forced us to re-evaluate our entire plan. We scaled back our dreams for the taproom and began cutting costs wherever possible to save face. We officially opened the new space in September of 2020.”

The vision never fully came to fruition, the company said.

“Our original intention was to create a space for non-alcoholic beverages treated with the same craft and intention as alcohol alongside simple but elevated food that highlighted Alabama’s rich agriculture and our love of fermentation,” the statement said.

“While the taproom provided substantial retail revenue to our operation, most business was directed to our wholesale business across Alabama,” the statement said.

“And yes, our hours were a bit unconventional, and our taproom at times looked empty, and yes, it was ambitious to open a kombucha concept in Alabama, but for a decade, we made this thing work with the incredible support of dedicated customers and vendors. We had incredible parties, pop-ups, collaborations, and fundraisers in our space.”

“Without warning in the fall of 2023, our Alabama distributor defaulted on our four-year contract, and a decade’s worth of work building a wholesale arm of our business almost instantly became obsolete,” the statement said.

“This also coincided with our landlord deciding to condo the retail units in our building and post them for sale. We made major investments in our space that we hoped to seek returns on for the duration of the lease and exercise our right to renew the lease for an additional five years. Still, without a clear vision of what might happen if our space sold, we were forced to evaluate our situation. Given these two devastating blows to our company, we decided it was in our best interest to close Harvest Roots, despite the demand for and reception of our product.”

The statement noted that the employees made a minimum of $15 an hour and the price of the product was reflected in that.

“And yes, our product was decidedly more expensive than national brands,” the statement said. “This was a calculated financial decision to ensure entry pay for every employee was no less than $15 an hour. A $3 kombucha is not a reality that we should accept as the standard.”

“Ultimately, we’re grateful for our tenure as small business owners in Birmingham, and we will continue to champion other businesses in our community,” the statement said.

The Avondale neighborhood is trying to bounce back from recent high-profile departures including Post Office Pies and Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog Barbecue restaurant.

Two new restaurants have announced plans to move in.

PURE Taqueria, a Mexican restaurant chain based in Alpharetta with seven locations in Georgia, says it plans to move into the former Melt restaurant building in Avondale.

James Beard Award-winning Nashville chef Sean Brock has partnered with the Pihakis group to open a new restaurant at the former Rodney Scott’s location at 3719 Third Ave. South in Avondale.