Honeydrop Goes Chainwide at Sprouts

HoneyDrop_970Honeydrop, which produces a line of high pressure processed, cold-pressed lemonades sweetened with honey, today announced new chain-wide distribution at natural retailer Sprouts Farmers Market. The beverages are now available at all 250 Sprouts locations across 13 Southern U.S. states stretching from California to Georgia.

Sprouts will carry six Honeydrop SKUs: the brand’s Cayenne, Turmeric and Charcoal lemonades, each of which are made with locally sourced honey sourced from regional farms and three varieties made with Manuka honey — Apple Ginger’ade, Apple Kale’ade and Matcha. Honeydrop promotes the beverages as blended with honey and other ingredients “that can help calm nerves, build up immunity systems, and help with detoxifying the body.”

David Luks, the founder of Honeydrop, said that the deal with Sprouts has been in the making for about a year and a half. Luks noted that while the retailer always saw value in Honeydrop’s use of regional and Manuka honey, “the timing was right as they’re doing their reset now.”

The new distribution pushes Honeydrop’s availability to over 2,000 locations nationwide. The brand is carried chain-wide at The Fresh Market and regional grocers, including Fairway, Central Market and Mrs. Greens. Honeydrop is also sold at the Northeast region of Whole Foods; Luks said that he expects the brand to be available more Whole Foods regions in the coming months.

Luks pointed to Honeydrop’s ability to reduce its suggested retail prices — $3.49 for regional honey varieties and $6.99 for those sweetened with Manuka — as a factor for incremental placement of the brand. The company’s pricing strategy is of particular importance as it eyes new retail opportunities in conventional channels.

“If you look at cold-pressed juices, clearly pricing is going down in the category, as scale is going up, as supply efficiency is going up,” Luks said. “To offer 10 oz. or 12 oz. products at $3.99 or below, I’ve spoken to enough retailers — especially more mass ones — that are more interested in that [price point] versus offering them at $4.99-$6.99 and when you’re selling in cities that are not Boston or New York City.”