How Remedy Drinks strengthened working capital for growth

Starting as a high-growth business built around its category-defining kombucha brand, Remedy Drinks has rapidly transformed into a global player in the ‘better for you’ drinks market. In April 2025, Remedy Drinks merged its North American, European, and Asian operations with its Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) business to create a single, unified entity.

This integration allowed for centralised and improved operational visibility across markets, and more effective capital and cash flow management. Each of these aspects is enabling Remedy Drinks’ vision to become a multi-brand, health-focused drinks manufacturing powerhouse.

With consumers demanding healthier options, the company took a bold step into the rapidly growing ‘modern sodas’ market. The new product, Sodaly – a flavour-rich, no sugar soft drink with prebiotic benefits – is excelling in the Australian market and is poised to drive category growth internationally.

Scaling production and inventory

The company supplies more than 20 countries, with production based at its Dandenong South facility, the now upgraded plant that CommBank helped fund during Remedy Drinks’ early growth stages.

Finished goods for the ANZ and Asia markets are manufactured locally, while bulk liquid is produced and shipped to co-packers in Canada and Belgium for bottling and sale in the northern hemisphere.

Nick Marshall, Remedy Drinks’ Chief Financial Officer, says the mix of local production and strong partnerships with co-packers ultimately simplifies the supply chain but comes with the complexity of managing warehousing and freight providers. He also explains that Remedy Drinks has growing direct-to-consumer channels, using its site to serve customers in Australia and Amazon to sell and fulfil orders in the US and UK.

Marshall says that the business must navigate customer expectations in different markets, including varying inventory requirements across regions.

“In export markets, far larger minimum production runs and retailer expectations for product lifespan mean we have to sit on a lot of stock for longer periods. That can push out cash conversion cycles to 100 days or more, whereas Australia is half of that” Marshall says.

As the business grew local and export volumes, and held more inventory, access to working capital became critical to both continue meeting market demand and carefully manage its supply chain.

Using CommBank working capital and cash advance facilities, secured against existing stock and debtors, Remedy Drinks was able to access additional liquidity to deploy as needed, and free up cash flow to fund ongoing expansion plans.

Capital investment that leads to greater production capacity

Rapid growth has been accompanied by a major productivity drive, with the Remedy Drinks team continuing to invest in production capacity and efficiencies over the past eighteen months.

Marshall says, “on top of expanding our business and brand,” Remedy Drinks has taken on co-packing and sales support for partner beverage maker Fever Tree. Fever Tree decided to onshore its production, and Remedy Drinks undertook a significant capital expenditure project to upgrade the glass line at its Dandenong plant.

To keep up with the rapid growth in demand for canned beverages, given consumer appeal and recyclability, the business is also considering a second can line and additional warehousing solutions.

A line of sight for cash flow and commodity risk management

According to Marshall, CommBank supported the consolidation of Remedy Drinks’ global businesses and ongoing expansion. Previously, the international arm worked with a US-based bank, with the team deciding to refinance the borrowing base through CommBank and bring global treasury needs under a single partnership.

To support rationalisation and remove operational constraints, CommBank provided two funding lines: a Trade and Working Capital facility to support growth in international markets, and another to enable the merger and boost production capability. Together, these provided the business with the financial flexibility to seize offshore opportunities quickly and without compromise.

“Bringing everything under one partnership has been a game changer. At any point, we have up to 15 accounts in different currencies to manage our working capital needs. Now, we manage cash flow and currency exposure more easily. We also work with the CommBank team to hedge against commodity risk for raw material inputs like aluminium,” Marshall says.

A true partnership

Marshall says the relationship with CommBank has evolved from a strong lender to a strategic partner, with the bank’s teams providing early input on financing options, including support in working through capex funding scenarios that are then taken to the board.

While he’s confident in the sector’s growth potential, he recognises that the supporting foundation is what truly drives it. “Our products not only match local consumer preferences but also provide a genuine competitive edge in the extensive northern hemisphere markets,” Marshall says. “But the key part of executing on our cohesive and sustainable growth strategy is that backing from CommBank.”

“They’re in the business with us and have been for a long time…if we didn’t have that flexibility that they’ve offered, we couldn’t meet demand or achieve the growth we’re seeing today,” Marshall says.

With CommBank continuing to offer flexible working capital solutions and global markets expertise, Remedy Drinks can stay true to its mission: delivering healthier, great-tasting drinks to more consumers worldwide, without compromising quality or market momentum.