Hi Earthrise Community!
Adam here, and I'm back with our third Founder Update. I’m still blown away by how many of you read these, reply to them and genuinely care about what’s happening behind the scenes. It makes Earthrise feel less like a brand and more like a community we get to build with all of you. Thank you!!!
It's almost our birthday! 2 years since John, Zoe and I started this journey. Wowza! Time flies when you're drinking cacao. This business has been so rewarding... not the “cash in the bank” kind 😅 (that one’s still pending approval), but the heart-full, purpose-driven, holy-moly-we’re-actually-doing-this kind.
I'd love to start by sharing this amazing review we received this week from Laura:
Any company that does smaller sample buys tells me they have faith in their product.
I’m a brutally honest reviewer and I can say it’s very well balanced with flavour.
No you cannot taste any mushroom and the cacao is not overbearing.
Will it give you an energy pump like you have just downed a double shot espresso No but it still gives you that energy you need for your day.
If you’re umming and ahhing just buy it, you never know until you try.
Woweee, it blew us away to read that this week. Thank you Laura!
The biggest news this month has easily been our Hot Chocolate launch. It was shared on 7NEWS, featured on Taste.com.au and spread across social media like someone had lit a fuse. The orders, the reviews, the messages... it all came in so quickly. It’s surreal watching something you’ve worked on quietly for months suddenly take on a life of its own.
Behind that excitement, we've been deep in the trenches learning performance marketing properly. Not just delegating it, but actually understanding it. And the biggest realisation has been just how critical Google Ads is for a brand like ours. Meta helps you introduce yourself to new people, but Google is where the intent lives. The people searching for coffee alternatives, functional blends, mushroom drinks, hot chocolate rituals... they’re already halfway through the door. Once you understand how to meet them there, everything becomes more stable. It’s been a huge learning curve, but a very satisfying one.
We also have a couple of secret products in the works. We will share more about these very soon, some reworks to previous products, and some brand new ones. Keep your eyes peeled.
Sustainability continues to be a big theme this year. We’re upgrading a lot of our packaging to more eco-friendly, higher-quality materials and we’re finally producing custom Starter Kit boxes that feel as premium as the brand we’re building. These have taken months of sampling, designing and refining, but the final product is worth it. They’re sturdy, beautiful, and actually feel like “Earthrise” from the moment you open them.
Another fun update is the creation of our new Morning Bundle. This wasn’t planned or brainstormed in a meeting, it came from you. So many people started mixing Stellar Mind with Dark Matter and sending us messages describing the flavours. After the tenth person sent us some wild combination they’d invented, we realised we needed a package that celebrated the creativity of the community. That bundle is now live and already becoming a favourite.
We’re also undergoing a major shift in our content strategy. We’ve brought in video producers and creatives to help us express Earthrise in a more narrative-driven way! More founder moments, more behind-the-scenes, more education, more creativity. The goal is to let people feel the brand, not just consume it. You’ll start seeing this roll out soon.
Wholesale continues to grow in the background too. It’s one of the most rewarding parts of the business right now! Seeing Earthrise appear in cafés, studios, and retailers around Australia is still surreal. And we want to keep expanding. If you have a favourite café, a local store, a gym, a wellness spot then please tell us. If your suggestion turns into a successful wholesale partnership, we will absolutely make sure you’re showered with gifts. That’s a promise.
As always, thank you for being part of this journey. Every message, every review, every handmade recipe, every shared photo... it all fuels what we’re building. Dark Matter’s success has opened a new chapter for Earthrise, and we're excited for what the next few months hold.
With gratitude,
Adam
Co-Founder, Earthrise
