Bolthouse Farms

Product Type:Juice: Smoothie; Container: 32 oz PET
BevNET Review: Made with 90 percent juice, Mango was the preferred flavor of the Bolthouse Farms’ Protein Plus drinks that we sampled. Why? First, there is the flavor of the drink. Starting with a juice heavy base, which includes mango, carrot, apple, orange, and banana juices and purees, the product has an extremely natural flavor to it with each of the fruits distinguishable in the mix. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, with a smooth consistency that’s on par with other juice smoothie products. Second, Bolthouse Farms is known for juice, so creating a protein drink on top of what this company is known for seems more logical and marketable than its chocolate flavored counterpart. Nutritionally, the product is loaded with 16 g of protein per serving (both whey and soy), vitamins (B, C, A) , and minerals. Reading the bottle, they’ve done a nice job of explaining what’s in the drink and its benefits, which is something that they have the space to do on the larger size 32 oz. bottle. Otherwise, the package is aesthetically pleasing, with a nicely designed layout of fruit images and text along with the Bolthouse logo. The result is something that visually fits with the Bolthouse Farms brand, but, since it looks so similar, it might be missed as just another smoothie product. Still, a very strong entry from Bolthouse.

Product Type:Juice: Smoothie; Container: 32 oz PET
BevNET Review: Using a blend of 21 nutrients and featuring 16 g of protein per 8 oz. serving, Bolthouse Farms has done a really nice job of executing their all natural approach to the protein drink category. From a flavor perspective, this product’s viscous body has a fair amount of flavor to it, with the main flavor being chocolate. It’s not overly sweet, giving the product more of a cocoa flavor than something that drinks like chocolate milk. There are some other flavors that hit your tongue, but they are not really distinguishable as anything in particular. This leads us to believe that these flavors are the after effects of the protein and nutrient content that has been used to fortify the mix. If anything, we’d probably enjoy this product a bit more if it weren’t as thick in body. On the nutritional front, the product is loaded with vitamins, minerals, protein (16g per serving), and electrolytes. The protein is derived from both soy and whey protein, which, according to the manufacturer delivers increased performance. Packaging is a large 32 oz. bottle, which they’ve covered with loads of explanatory text about what is inside the bottle. Since it’s a larger format, they have more room to play with, so we think they’ve executed this well. Perhaps our only concern for the product is the use of the Bolthouse Farms brand and trade dress – it seems visually and conceptually at odds with the product’s performance-oriented theme and chocolate flavor (we’re not sure what a farm has to do with either of these). Overall, a strong all natural protein formulation, but the branding seems like it’s potentially off the mark a bit.