Who's behind Auralis?
Auralis was founded by two friends who understand food and flavour: Chef Mike McKenzie and Andreas Düss, who brings with him 11+ years of building successful food and drinks brands.
Andreas had stopped drinking alcohol because he found that with three young kids, even small amounts of it were interrupting what precious little sleep he could snatch.
The problem he was facing was, what to drink now that he wasn’t drinking.
Most non-alcoholic drinks on the market were either full of sugar, or just boring. As a result, he started researching and mixing alternatives in his own kitchen, even purchasing a traditional copper still to create his own botanical extracts.
At the same time, Chef Mike was diving deep into the benefits of functional mushrooms, trying to figure out how he could optimize both his mental and physical health.
Mike and Andreas decided to create a drink that would combine the health benefits of chaga, lion’s mane and reishi into a range of drinks that were sugar-free, sweetener-free and brewed with ingredients inspired by and sourced from Canada’s pristine boreal forests.
Two years of experimenting, taste testing, distilling and brewing led to the creation of our Botanical SuperTonics.
Shortly afterwards, Sam Arraj and Miranda Malisani joined the team, bringing with them financial and nutritional expertise.
Andreas Düss
CMO
Andreas is looking after the Auralis brand and works with our retail partners on sales and marketing.
If you need to get in touch with him, send an email to [email protected] or connect with him on Linkedin.
Andreas also runs Audacious Food Marketing, where he helps other food entrepreneurs launch successful businesses.
Mike McKenzie
COO
Mike is responsible for the amazing flavours of our drinks. He brews and distills, blends and creates.
Whenever you take a sip of Boreal, it’s Mike’s work and inspiration you’re tasting.
Mike can be reached at [email protected]
When Mike isn’t creating drinks, he runs Seed to Sausage, an award-winning cured meat business.
Sam Arraj
CFO
Sam looks after our finances, ensuring that we’re well positioned for future expansion.
He makes sure that whatever Mike and Andreas dream up can actually be produced and paid for.
You can reach Sam at [email protected]
Sam’s other businesses include his accounting firm, Seeds Chartered Professional Accountants.