After debuting a canned line of its flagship kombuchas this month, Health-Ade is using the new format to deepen its retail presence and open up new channels, beginning with the company’s first-ever pro sports partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The California-based company announced its new line of 11.5 oz. cans ahead of Natural Products Expo West 2023 earlier this month as a complement to its 16 oz. glass bottles and sampled the new format at the show. Positioned in a press release as a “Take-Anywhere” offering, the cans feature Health-Ade’s four best-selling flavors: Pink Lady Apple, Ginger Lemon, Passion Fruit-Tangerine, and Pomegranate. The drinks are certified organic and are available in stores for $2.99 each and $10.99 for 4-packs, as well as online for $39.95.
According to CMO Charlotte Mostaed, the canned offering allows Health-Ade to enter previously inaccessible accounts like Dodger Stadium, which bans the sale of glass bottles.
“This new format not only opens up new opportunities for new consumers and trial, but new channel opportunities for us to break into things like this where it’s on-premise, glass may not be allowed, and so we’re excited about this new format, in terms of different channel strategies,” Mostaed said.
The launch makes Health-Ade the largest U.S. kombucha brand to embrace aluminum packaging. While long ago a number of kombucha companies had avoided canning the beverage in the past due to logistics hurdles or perceptions around quality – preferring a glass bottle format – cans have increasingly become commonplace in the category over the past five years as numerous brands have adopted the format, including Brew Dr., Humm, KOE, Rowdy Mermaid and Buchi among others.
According to Circana, Health-Ade is the second largest brand in the kombucha category – behind GT’s and ahead of KeVita – and grew retail dollar sales 10% to over $105.5 million in the 52-weeks ending February 26. Its functional Glow line, currently available in limited distribution in the natural channel, grew 412.7% for an additional $1.3 million in sales.
The launch with the Dodgers has been in the works for several months, Mostaed said, and will include multiple marketing activations both inside and outside of the stadium. The cans will be sold in coolers in the Centerfield Plaza, as mocktail ingredients in the speakeasy, and will appear on the VIP menu. The company will also have several sampling events throughout the baseball season, including at “several major rivalry games,” she added, along with signage throughout the stadium, commercials on the digital ballpark screens, and more.
Health-Ade has also partnered with Uber to advertise the brand to consumers using the rideshare app to travel to Dodger Stadium, beginning in May, along with other ads and sweepstakes programs.
Mostaed said the Dodgers partnership is largely aimed at expanding Health-Ade’s consumer base by driving trial, as well as normalizing kombucha as a beverage to be enjoyed at all occasions. In addition to the team being located in the company’s own backyard in L.A., she noted the fanbase is already a strong demographic for kombucha: in recent years the Dodgers have looked to add more vegan and wellness food options in the stadium to meet the preferences of its fans.
As well, Mostaed added that over half of L.A.-based kombucha consumers are non-white, and about a quarter are Latinx. The Dodgers fanbase, meanwhile, is over 50% Latinx: “That’s about 2 million fans that we think are really going to be excited about this,” she said.
“The Dodgers integration is about being available at the stadium, but also about that cue that you can enjoy kombucha in the way that you would enjoy any other refreshing beverage when you’re having your favorite Dodger Dog or stadium meal and enjoying watching your team play.”
But Health-Ade’s can launch is also about much more than just Dodger Stadium as the company is exploring new DSD distribution partnerships, and the launch has already led a “large portion” of its foodservice distributors to bring on the line as an incremental addition. Most recently, the brand received approval from Equinox Fitness to carry the cans nationwide.
This growth is in addition to traditional retail, where Health-Ade will increase its facings in Sprouts, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target and several major grocery chains across the country – including its first multipack kombucha offerings.
Mostaed noted that in categories like CSDs and water, introducing the same flavors in different formats and multipacks has been a proven strategy for growth, while kombucha has often been stuck in single-serve. In particular, she said the company sees multi-packs as vital to increasing sales and “entrenching the kombucha category” in retail.
Though Health-Ade has already had a canned line with its prebiotic soda offering, Pop, Mostaed said that line has been a “small, but mighty” addition to the brand portfolio with strong support from several key retailers, but it’s “not a huge focus” at the moment as the company looks to use the cans to scale sales and operations this year. The brand is also now cutting underperforming lines, including its kombucha mixers – which Mostaed said were only sold in the natural channel and their cold chain requirements made scaling a challenge.
“We need to be able to do things at scale, and so doing an innovation just for the natural channel is not a viable innovation model for us,” she said.
In December, Health-Ade named former PepsiCo executive Chris Lansing as CEO. Lansing’s experience also includes nearly five years as CMO of Peet’s Coffee and seven years overseeing several PepsiCo brands including Naked Juice and IZZE.
Alongside Lansing’s appointment, Health-Ade co-founders Daina Trout and Vanessa Dew announced they would leave the company in Q1. This month, Dew announced on LinkedIn that she and Trout had officially stepped down in order to pursue new business ventures, and to enjoy a brief break of rest and relaxation.
“This isn’t goodbye, it’s just ‘see you later’,” Dew wrote on LinkedIn. “I am excited about this new chapter and deeply committed to using my skills and experience to make a difference in the world by uplifting other females and Asian American entrepreneurs – stay tuned!”
Mostaed said that Dew and Trout have continued to be active in helping Health-Ade transition to new leadership, and praised Lansing’s experience in the CPG industry as the brand looks to the future.
“We remain really connected to our founder story and our origin story,” Mostaed said. “We will always be the rebellious optimist, we will always follow our gut, everything that they’ve created at the company remains.”