WNC beverage company suspends production amid draining legal battles
ASHEVILLE - A local craft beverage and tailgate market staple may be difficult to find come the new year as production has been temporarily halted for Shanti Elixirs.
This month, Shanti Elixirs founder/CEO Shanti Volpe will suspend operations for an indeterminate period as the future is reassessed for the company, which specializes in jun, a fermented prebiotic and probiotic beverage made with green tea and honey.
The Western North Carolina-based woman-owned and led business has been burdened by financial challenges that Volpe attributes to an ongoing trademark legal battle and cost inflation.
“The financial realities have prompted us to pause production as I explore some alternative options,” she said.
Small business impact
In 2017, Volpe launched Shanti Elixirs to provide a nonalcoholic, healthy drink and a nonalcoholic alternative to consumers.
“Introducing tens and thousands of people to jun, we’ve gotten so many reports of how jun has helped their healing journeys as a pre and probiotic beverage. That has been rewarding,” Volpe said.
Volpe, who’s currently a nurse, began her career as a beekeeper at a Sacred Art of Beekeeping Workshop in 2016. She said honeybees inspired her to create sparkling jun mocktails “fostering health and well-being through ancient traditions and locally sourced ingredients.”
The small business started in the basement of Volpe’s sister’s West Asheville home, and her aunt and uncle provided cold storage at their restaurant, Avenue M.
Within six months, growing demand prompted production to expand to her parent’s basement in Weaverville, where it continues to operate.
The company’s expansion led to Volpe employing 16 staff members.
In November, Volpe said she laid off eight employees. This month, the remaining employees will be laid off by the final day of operation, Dec. 20.
“I’ve always placed a priority on supporting my hive members ― my team members ― over making profits and trying to stay on top of a living wage and also a heart-centered way of handcrafting our beverage,” Volpe said. “It’s all sort of come to head.”
Shanti Elixirs’ final event of the year will be from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Dec. 16 at the North Asheville Tailgate Market at UNC Asheville.
Reasons for suspension
An extended trademark dispute that escalated to a lawsuit has “posed some really overwhelming financial obstacles.”
Shanti said “Shanti Elixirs” ― named after its founder ― was approved by the U.S. Trademark Office.
In June 2021, Shanti Wines, a California winery filed an objection with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board contesting consumer confusion over Volpe’s Shanti-Jun, Shanti Elixirs and Shanti Junery marks leading to cancellation proceedings.
Volpe said counterclaims were filed “highlighting a regulatory violation in the winery's trademark approval.”
“Despite initial victories in the legal realm, these trademark battles tend to go on for a long time, and we’re still struggling with this battle,” Volpe said.
Inflation of ingredients is weighing on the company, as is operating in a niche market as a brewer of small-batch, artisanal, nonalcoholic craft beverages, she said.
“All of that together has made it really challenging to continue,” Volpe said.
Where to buy Shanti Elixirs
Shanti Elixirs' distribution spans more than 400 establishments, including retail stores, bars and restaurants across WNC and into markets such as Charleston, South Carolina; Roanoke, Virginia; and Knoxville and Johnson City in Tennessee.
Flavors include lemon lavender, grape, tulsi rose, pineapple turmeric, elderberry lemon and ginger.
Blueberry basil has remained the top seller, and Siberian rose has led its fine dining line, she said.
The company released the specialty drink, Orange Rosella made with CBD, in collaboration with Hemp and Heal.
Products will be available across the markets until they sell out.
“I’m working very hard to come up with a solution so there will be little pause in the availability of the jun,” Volpe said.
What’s next for Shanti Elixirs
It’s not the end of Shanti Elixirs, as Volpe is determined to regroup and relaunch the business, though it may be with noticeable differences.
Volpe said she is exploring rebranding and partnering with other companies, as well as cost-effective alternatives to sustain production.
“My ultimate goal is to keep the jun flowing, so that’s what I’m working on right now; trying to figure out what the path forward might be,” Volpe said. “We’re not certain at this time, but there are some possibilities.”
Fighting the good fight
Since 2017, Shanti Elixirs has accomplished many successes and garnered praise for its work and outreach, including raising funds for bee preservation and community organizations.
“Supporting local nonprofits has been a big part of our mission and co-founding the Asheville Honey Festival with the Center for Honeybee Research where we have helped them raise thousands of dollars for supporting the bees,” Volpe said. “That and other local companies that we’ve worked with, and social services has been a big part of our mission.”
The company’s charges have extended to supporting small farms and championing other woman-owned enterprises.
In 2021, Shanti Elixirs’ Mango Habanero Jun placed third in the International Flavor Awards’ Spicy Flave Awards for Specialty Drinks.
Shanti Elixirs' Blueberry Basil Jun won Our State Magazine’s 2022 Made in NC award for Beverage of the Year.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is helping people with the sober-curious journeys and having us find nonalcoholic tasty craft beverage for folks who are trying to decrease the amount of alcohol that they are consuming, and the numerous people who are drinking it in place of alcohol. That warms my heart," Volpe said.
For more, visit shantielixirs.com and follow facebook.com/shantielixirs and on Instagram @shantielixirs.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Shanti Elixirs suspends production amid legal battles, inflation
