Daily Greens, a fast-growing brand of organic, cold-pressed and high pressure processed green juices, has launched its new lemonade-inspired “Green ADE” line at Costco stores in the club retailer’s Texas region. The new line, which was introduced in September at Natural Products Expo East 2016, expands upon the company’s popular Green Lemonade variety with four additional offerings, each formulated with citrus juices and nutrient-dense algae-based ingredients, including chlorella and spirulina.
In an interview with BevNET, Daily Greens founder and CEO Shauna Martin said that Costco gave the company an opportunity to launch the Green ADE line in its entirety, something that hadn’t been an option with other retailers. Debuting the full line — as opposed to a couple SKUs — “helps drive overall brand awareness, and that’s where we were most interested,” Martin said.
She also described Costco as “very innovative” and is a retailer that “likes trying new things.” Moreover, she said the launch made sense because it’s in Daily Greens’ backyard; the company is based in Austin, Texas and Martin noted that the brand has “amazing brand awareness in the Southwest”
Costco sells Green ADE in 10-packs (two of each variety) of 12 oz. bottles at 32 locations across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kansas. Each pack retails for $19.99.
Martin is hoping that Green ADE’s launch at Costco will drive awareness and interest among other retailers, including Whole Foods, which carries the brand’s flagship juices and its probiotic-infused “Half Pint” line nationally. Sold individually, the Green ADE products will be line-priced at $3.99-4.99, depending on the outlet.
The development of the Green ADE line came on the heels of booming sales of the brand’s Green Lemonade variety, which Daily Greens launched in March 2016. The success of the product represented a key, yet simple, aspect of the company’s innovation strategy.
“We add a single SKU to our lineup, and if it does really well we’ll expand upon it,” Martin said.
Sweetened with stevia, the Green ADE drinks contain 20-40 calories and 0-7 grams of sugar per 12 oz. bottle, depending on variety. Martin conceded that while stevia is often a divisive ingredient, “it seems to work well with the citrus” juices in Green ADE and “there’s really no aftertaste.”
Green ADE flavor varieties include Green-Lemon ADE, Watermelon-Hibiscus ADE, Lime-Basil ADE, Jicama-Blue Majik ADE, and Orange-Turmeric ADE. Although some of the ingredients have yet to reach mainstream awareness, Martin believes that the line will attract a broad set of consumers and bring new customers to the cold-pressed juice category.
“We did some consumer [research] and this really came to the top as having mass appeal because it’s an introduction to people who are scared of 100 percent green juice,” she said. “It’s really tasty and has a high ‘yummy’ factor.”