Barely four months after its initial reveal, Eat the Change’s Just Ice Tea is rolling out to stores this week.
Seth Goldman, co-founder of Eat the Change and Honest Tea, first announced the new line of ready-to-drink teas in June, only two weeks after The Coca-Cola Company announced it would discontinue Honest Tea by the end of this year. In August, Eat the Change – which primarily makes carrot chews and mushroom jerky – raised $14.5 million to support the expedited launch plan for the line, which Goldman said was essential to ensure Just Ice Tea got on shelves before competitors could take advantage of a vacancy in the bottled tea set.
“This is definitely lightspeed,” Goldman said. “I’ve heard of companies taking three months just to get a certification. So, three certifications, recipes, production and sales – we’ve locked in some great sales relationships too – it was end-to-end from tea garden to shelf for the launch.”
Just Ice Tea is launching in 16 oz. glass bottles in six flavors – Berry Hibiscus Herbal Tea, Honey Green Tea, Moroccan Mint Tea, Original Green Tea, Peach Oolong Tea and Half Tea Half Lemonade. The drinks, which were formulated by Eat the Change co-founder Spike Mendelsohn, are USDA Certified organic and contain between zero and 90 calories each and will retail for $2.69-$2.89.
According to Goldman, who co-founded Honest Tea in 1998 with Barry Nalebuff, now a board member at Eat the Change, Just Ice Tea’s rapid journey from conception to rollout was made possible through decades of experience and connections across the Eat the Change team that allowed the company to quickly source suppliers, book production line time, and fast track certifications.
Since Eat the Change was not originally set up to produce beverages, the drinks were manufactured at a local facility. Goldman said the company is currently in talks with a West Coast bottling plant to begin additional production next year.
“When we talked about an early pilot run, we told [the manufacturing plant] it was going to literally come down to, in some cases, labels being delivered over the weekend to somebody’s house, and they knew that we weren’t playing around.” he said. “Like, it was going to be a scramble, but we were going to get it done.”
Just Ice Tea is currently being distributed through UNFI and KeHE, both of which already carry Eat the Change’s snacks, and the brand is also available in New York City via DSD with Big Geyser, Goldman said.
Goldman’s record in the industry also helped secure national retail distribution in accounts like Whole Foods and Sprouts before products had even been produced. Goldman estimated that Just Ice Tea will be available in “several thousand” doors at launch, including natural and conventional retailers like Hy-vee, Giant Foods, Town & Country, New Seasons Market, Central Market, Erewhon, MOM’s Organic, Roots, Yes! Natural Markets, PCC, Dawn’s, Market of Choice, ION Group, Oliver’s, Rainbow Grocer, The Food Bin, Ellwood Thompson’s and The Common Market. As well, Goldman and Mendelsohn’s fast casual restaurant chain PLNT Burger will carry the brand at its New York City locations.
Following the funding round in August, Goldman said Eat the Change hired several new sales and marketing employees to focus on building Just Ice Tea. In addition to existing Eat the Change staff – a group that includes sales directors Melanie Knitzer, Becca Ray and Rick Tidrow, all of whom worked at Honest – Goldman said he’s focused on bringing in a mix of other Honest alumni and newcomers.
According to LinkedIn, recent Eat the Change hires include operations director Alexxis Isaac, formerly director of business transformation at Oatly, and director of field marketing Shireen Husain, previously the director of field and shopper marketing at Poppi.
While Just Ice Tea’s early consumer base is expected to come from loyal Honest Tea devotees, Goldman said the brand will also be stepping up marketing efforts. The company intends to put field campaigns first and be “super aggressive” with sampling, in addition to event and trade marketing activations, he said.
And while taking a brand from idea to national distribution in a little more than a market quarter has taken up much of Goldman’s time, he also hasn’t lost sight of Eat the Change’s core snack products. Now, with the teas finally making it to shelves, the company is looking to tap those relationships to expand its carrot chews and mushroom jerky sales with both buyers and consumers.
“We’re super excited about Just Iced Tea and we see it as a flywheel,” he said. “When we talk to retailers, it isn’t just ‘Oh great, take our tea,’ it’s ‘Take our tea and also we have these adult carrot chews’ … let’s build a display. Obviously a lot of chains are going to be buying Just Ice Tea to replace Honest, but let’s make sure that they can help to build the rest of the business too.”