Pannela Organic Drink

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 16 oz. bottle
BevNET Review: Pannela is derived from panela, a product that's made from unrefined cane juice and traditionally served as a hot drink in certain Central and South American countries. That being said, this is concept is one that will be unfamiliar to the American consumers, despite its pretty basic taste. The flavor of Lemon Fun is sweet but light in your mouth, with a flavor that's like a distant cousin of a lemon flavored black tea drink. While it is certainly drinkable, its sweet sugar like flavor doesn't offer enough to make this worthy of being chosen over other beverages with more established health benefits. Packaging is a bit busy, with lots of text splattered on the fully wrapped bottle. They use both "Pannela" (the brand name) and "panela" (the ingredient name), which adds some confusion to the already foreign concept. Lastly, there's a claim of the drink being healthy. This claim isn't explained to well, with minerals and vitamins promoted despite a pretty weak nutritional panel. Pannela isn't a bad concept, but we think that the product needs another ingredient or more catchy name if it's going to find its way into the American marketplace. Otherwise, Pannela Lemon Fun runs the risk of being viewed as high end sugar juice.Reviewed on: 12/5/2008

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 16 oz. bottle
BevNET Review: Peach Smile is the peach flavored variety of Pannela. It has a pretty decent tasting peach flavor followed by an earthy sugar flavor that is the base of this beverage. Like the other varieties, it has an almost tea like taste to it. However, with 140 calories and 32g of sugar per bottle, this product might meet some resistance, especially since the "healthy" claims don't feel all that credible. Otherwise, it's a decent tasting product that scores well in terms of refreshment. Packaging is a stock 16 oz bottle with a full wrap label, which isn't bad from an aesthetics point of view. From a functional point of view, the images of the sugar cane aren't that appealing and some of the text on the label could be eliminated. This would certainly help simplify the pitch a bit. In addition, we'd lose the word "smile" from the name as it doesn't add to the drink's appeal or authenticity. Overall, it's a drinkable but sweet flavor that needs help building appeal.Reviewed on: 12/5/2008

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 16 oz. bottle
BevNET Review: This was our least favorite flavor of the Panella brand. Something simply doesn't taste right with the pairing of the pomegranate flavoring and that of the panela. On the outside, we like the large image of the pomegranate and that will certainly get some eyeballs if placed in a cooler. Unfortunately, the rest of the product isn't all that appealing, especially with images of sugar canes placed on the front and back panel of the drink. Promoting the use of sugar cane as a health benefit seems like a move that will require a lot of education, and this bottle doesn't execute that particularly well. Definitely the weakest flavor of the brand.Reviewed on: 12/5/2008