For a company that has trademarked the tagline “Sunshine in a Bottle,” changing packaging is not an insignificant step.
But Vitamin D-enhanced ShineWater is ready to make that jump, announcing this week that its existing 16.9 oz. PET bottles will be phased out over the next year in favor of 16 oz. aluminum cans, a move the company attributed to shoring up its sustainability credentials rather than as part of a specific retail or channel strategy. Three flavors — Strawberry Lemon, Fruit Punch and Mixed Berry — will hit stores this fall, with the full pivot set to be complete by mid-2024.
Speaking with BevNET earlier this week, CMO Ryan Coon said the move was motivated by a combination of consumer and retailer feedback, along with a shift towards restricting sales of single-use plastic bottles in certain hospitality venues.
“We feel this is where the industry is going,” said Coon.
But in terms of brand strategy, the new packaging “really doesn’t change much” for ShineWater, which is sold primarily in singles. On-shelf dimensions will remain consistent with the bottles, and while the brand also markets 8-packs of pouches aimed at kids, the two lines are taking the same approach to growth.
“The difference is you pop the top instead of unscrewing the cap,” Coon said. “You typically don’t find pouches in convenience, just by nature of the beast. But this is not to really change any sort of channel mix that we’re looking at.”
But the brand is expanding its footprint — most recently with Stop & Shop stores in the Northeast — as it continues to scale. The brand secured distribution through Anheuser-Busch’s network of wholly owned distributors starting in 2021. Since then, the brand has looked to build a balanced portfolio of accounts ranging from Walmart to Publix to Qwik Trip as it expands out from its Midwest base in Michigan.
On shelf, Coon said the brand continues to enjoy a lift from consumer interest in immunity drinks, with its 100% RDA of Vitamin D positioned as its main point of differentiation. In pivoting to cans, it joins a growing crop of functional waters that have embraced the format: see Yesly, Courtside, WET Hydration and others.
“(Awareness of Vitamin D) is a lot more prevalent out there than people probably realize, though it was not something that was talked about just five years ago,” he said. “But now everyone we talk to, their first statement is ‘yep, I get it.’ And that’s great for us to see.”