February 21, 2005
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Elizabeth Bretko grinds tea and spices together for her chai blends at Heartsong Herbal Brewing Co. in Jacksonville. The operation grew out of her own kitchen.
Mail Tribune /
Jim Craven
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Home Grown
Heartsong Herbal Brewing Co.
Owner: Elizabeth Bretko
Age: 33
Address: 130 Graham St., Jacksonville
Phone number: 541-899-5640
E-mail: chaimama@heartsongchai.com
Number of employees: one
Editor’s. note: This is one in a weekly series of profiles on locally owned and operated businesses in Southern Oregon.
What do you do and how long have you been doing it?
I run Heartsong Herbal Brewing Co., offering people alternatives to soda, coffee and alcohol. I’ve been doing this for five years. We have four varieties of chai, a spiced tea, and also
make the Heartsong Habañero Honey Brew, a spicy lemonade.
All brews are made with organic ingredients and we distribute to restaurants, cafés and stores from Ashland to Eugene.
How long have you lived in the Rogue Valley?
I have lived here since 1997; I arrived with the flood. I was heading for the ocean, from Akron, Ohio, and never quite made it. I just fell in love with the Rogue Valley.
What inspired you to go into this line of work?
When I was first introduced to chai, when I got to Ashland, I loved it. I started drinking it all the time. But it began having an adverse impact on my body. Chai is traditionally a digestive
aid and I soon realized it was so loaded with sugar and that’s what was hurting me. I started looking for an alternative and it wasn’t out there. That’s why we only use a local
honey and no white sugar.
What decision or action would you change if you could do it again?
Last year, we — me and the business — were challenged financially. I made the decision out of fear to take on an investor who wasn’t particularly aligned with our mission. That
decision wasn’t made with clarity, vision or strength, and it turned out to be a huge distraction.
The upside is that since that time I have set up an advisory board, so I’m not a lone wolf making all these decisions. There are a few youths under 20 and the rest are business-oriented
people in the beverage and food industry.
What’s the toughest business decision you’ve made?
Heartsong was born in Ashland and I brewed at night for two years. When I realized that we needed to build a kitchen, I realized that wasn’t going to happen in Ashland.
I was just breaking even and the hardest thing was to dive in full force and build a kitchen for Heartsong. Once we got our space, we were able to grow and market our product.
Who are your competitors?
Our goal is to offer healthful alternatives to soda, coffee and alcohol; because of that, our competition is stiff. However, no one else in Oregon is hand-crafting a fresh organic elixir,
something you can drink every day. There are other chai companies, but we’re high-end quality and sugar-free (though it is sweetened with honey, which contains fructose and glucose, while
white sugar is sucrose — a disaccharide combination of fructose and glucose).
All other chai is packaged in plastic, metal and cardboard boxes, or the chai is in powder form. Ours is packaged in glass bottles and is refrigerated.
How do you define success for your business?
To me the success is that every time I leave the house, someone stops me to profess their love for Heartsong.
We get a lot of traffic on our Web site from people who have heard about us, but as far as building store accounts, we pretty much do the footwork.
What are your goals?
Now that we have a permanent space, the immediate goal is to hire an employee and get a delivery vehicle. My long-term goal is to create a manufacturing space that employs Rogue Valley youth
and to grow Heartsong into a regional wonder — from San Francisco to Vancouver, B.C.
What training or education did you need?
I went to Michigan State University and studied history. College gave me a lot of skills, but I wish I would’ve taken more business classes.
I took a Serve Safe class — a health and restaurant certification program — at Rogue Valley Manor. My family and mentors in the food industry have been priceless.
What’s your advice for budding entrepreneurs?
Listen to everybody and then trust your intuition.
To suggest an idea for this column, contact reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail
business@mailtribune.com
