Elite Naturel 100% Organic Juice

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 4.2 oz
BevNET Review: This variety of Elite Naturel is straight up 100 percent pomegranate juice with no added sugar and not from concentrate. From a flavor point of view, it’s definitely a drinkable product. That’s partially because the flavor isn’t as tart as some of its competitors, but also because the product is packaged in a 4.2 oz. bottle, making it harder for you to get sick of it before emptying the bottle. However, we wonder how the market will feel about a pomegranate juice drink that’s made in Turkey, when most of the competition is bottled in the US (regardless of where the juice is sourced from). Either way, it’s a pretty good drink, especially if you’re the type of person who avoids juice drinks that are high in calories. Since this one has only 65 calories per bottle, it makes for a pretty good treat if you’re looking to indulge. As mentioned with the other flavors, Elite Naturel’s Pomegrante has a cute looking packaging, which is certainly due in part to the use of a small format glass bottle. Unlike some of the other flavors, this one uses a clear label, which makes the text harder to read. In addition, it ruins the uniformity of the line, which is certainly something that we’d like to see fixed by standardizing on one of the formats. Overall, a good product with a unique look, but we’re not sure if this will be enough to at this stage.Reviewed on: 6/24/2009

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 4.2 oz
BevNET Review: The second acai flavor in the Elite Naturel lineup is this one, which blends acai, pomegranate, apple, and black mulberry juices (all of which are organic). Flavor is enjoyable, with pomegranate and mulberry providing the majority of the flavor, while acai and apple notes hit your tongue on the finish. The mulberry juice in particular gives the product its own unique flavor compared to drinks that are currently on the US market, which is certainly a plus. However, we’re not really sure how it will do in a 4.2 oz. size. On the one hand, it makes for a lower calorie portion, but on the other hand, it seems like the price point and value might be a bit skewed. As far as the packaging is concerned, we like the look of the 4.2 oz. bottle, but it seems a bit confusing to have two products labeled “ACAI.” That’s the type of thing that could easily be missed or confused. Overall, a nice tasting product, but we have some concerns about the packaging size and the name of the product.Reviewed on: 6/24/2009

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 4.2 oz
BevNET Review: This product is made with 100 percent organic acai juice, with no sweeteners added. So, what’s inside this bottle is rather bitter and completely lacks sweetness. Instead, it’s an almost vegetable like flavor that’s somewhat difficult to drink. Realistically, this is only going to have appeal with consumers who are drinking it purely for its antioxidants. And that seems like a pretty small audience to us, especially since there are so many great tasting acai drinks already out there. Packaging is a 4.2 oz. glass bottle, which certainly looks cute and feels good in the hand. We also like what they’ve done with the label design, using a large “ACAI” that’s easy to spot and, when paired with the images of the berries, certainly whets the appetite. However, we just can’t get past the lack of sugar, so we’d pass on this flavor and go with the acai blend variety.Reviewed on: 6/24/2009

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 4.2 oz
BevNET Review: Pomegranate with green tea might be a more appropriate name for this drink – the tea flavor is almost totally masked by the fruit juice. What remains is basically pomegranate juice that’s been cut and sweetened with apple juice, resulting in something that’s slightly less tart than straight up pomegranate. However, the finish seems slightly off, which might be the tea extract making its mark. Either way, we think that the product should be reformulated or renamed. Packaging is a 4.2 oz. glass bottle, which has, like the other Elite Naturel flavors, a paper label that’s decorated with an image of fruit and a 100 percent organic badge. In this case, they’ve also added green tea plants, which cover more label real estate than the fruit image does. Again, this gives the impression that the product is much heavier on the tea flavor than it really is. Otherwise, the product has a “cute” feeling to it, which is definitely the result of its small 4.2 oz. size. Overall, decent looks, but needs work in the flavor department.Reviewed on: 6/24/2009

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 4.2 oz
BevNET Review: Like the other flavors of Elite Naturel, this product is “100% pure”, meaning that there are no added sugars and the drink is not made from concentrate. That makes for a really nice tasting drink, especially since the somewhat delicate and mellow flavor of watermelon is quite flavorful on its own. And out of any of the Elite Naturel flavors, Watermelon is the most chuggable, leaving us wishing that the product came in a bigger size. Ultimately, if you like watermelon juice, you’ll love the pure taste of this product. The 4.2 oz. packaging is nice looking and keeps the calorie level low (40 per bottle), both of which are nice points of differentiation. However, the writing on the label is a bit hard to read in places and the fact that it’s unsweetened is easily overlooked. Lastly, we wonder if a small bottle of this size is something that will create some logistical issues at retail. Either way, this is a nice product that’s definitely the high point of the brand. Reviewed on: 6/24/2009