The Rooster Design Group has selected Kombucha Brooklyn as the winner of its first "Next Big Small Brand" Contest for Culinary Genius. The contest, created by the Manhattan-based branding, marketing and design studio, awarded the winner a package of The Rooster Design Group's services to help launch its product onto the New York food scene.

Kombucha Brooklyn was started three years ago by brewing veteran Eric Childs. Childs created his version of the Chinese fermented tea, using the best organic ingredients, as an alternative medicine for minor ailments like colds. Kombucha Brooklyn can already be found online and in select stores in Brooklyn, but Childs hopes that The Rooster Design Group's services can help the company to turn a profit.

Rooster partner Fernando Music said, "Eric is incredibly passionate, and ready to scale up, which clear brand communications will support. We are eager to begin working with him."

The Rooster Design Group vetted over 140 applicants with an esteemed panel of judges: Betsy Devine, Ricotta Sensation from Salvatore Brooklyn; Carla Lalli Music, deputy editor, Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine; Eric Demby, co-founder, The Brooklyn Flea; Jennifer Baum, PR guru, Bullfrog & Baum; Karen Karp, national food consultant, Karp Resources; and Kara Rubin, regional buyer, Whole Foods. The group selected five finalists -- Better Butter, compound butters for the discerning palate; Brooklyn Batch, hand-cut and locally smoked beef jerky; Catskill Confections, handcrafted candies; Kombucha Brooklyn, tea brewed by Brooklyn's own Kombucha man; and Plowshares, certified fair trade coffee -- who pitched their food products at a culmination event last week. The criteria for judging included: taste, presentation, personality, professionalism, uniqueness of product, marketability and demand.

The Rooster Design Group, the marketing brains behind culinary cult favorites Early Bird Granola and Salvatore Brooklyn, will continue its search for and discovery of the next big small brand. Details of the 2010/2011 edition of "The Next Big Small Brand" contest will be announced soon on www.nextbigsmallbrand.com.