When you think of sea moss, think of the Sexiest Man Alive.
Florida-based startup Moss, which markets a ready-to-drink functional beverage featuring sea moss as the hero ingredient, has a new celebrity face behind its vibrantly colored bottles, this morning unveiling Black Panther and Creed star Michael B. Jordan as its co-founder. The brand came together as a partnership between health and wellness cafe chain Dr Smood and Jordan’s Outlier Society Ventures.
This is the first standalone brand backed and launched by Dr Smood, which operates 5 cafe locations in New York and Miami. The chain sells a variety of prepared food in its cafes as well as CPG food and beverage products under the cafe name ranging from pastas and sauces, to soups, condiments, coffee, tea, bars, snacks and more.
According to Ross Shepard, VP of Sales for Moss, though Jordan’s participation in the brand is just now being announced, the beverage concepts were originally formulated by the actor, himself a longtime sea moss user, as an immune support elixir during the early days of the pandemic. Shepard said Jordan mixed up the early iterations of Moss at Las’ Lap, a rum bar he co-owns with friend Scott Robert Williams, among others, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
“As a co-founder, Michael B Jordan has been a true partner and collaborator on everything from ideation and flavors to creative, and shares in Dr Smood’s mission to bring health and wellness to all,” said Francesco Perillo, CEO of Dr Smood.
The product comes in three varieties – Pure, Mango Ginger and Pomegranate – and is made with a combination of water, erythritol, wild Elk Horn sea moss, lime juice and monk fruit. Dr Smood formulators have recently worked to upgrade the original formula and are rolling out a new iteration in Q1 this year that includes functional ingredients such as ashwagandha and ginseng.
While a newcomer to RTDs, sea moss has a long history of use for functional and medicinal purposes in both modern health and wellness circles as well as in traditional Chinese medicine and Caribbean cultures. The aquatic vegetable is known to be a natural prebiotic, containing high amounts of fiber and iodine as well as phytochemicals to support immune health and hydration. However sea moss has primarily been marketed and sold as a supplement until now and consumers had to mix it into a food or beverage themselves or consume it in its pure form.
“There have been a wealth of people using sea moss so we want to help provide a platform for them to be able to tell their story about how this ingredient has affected them positively throughout their lifetime,” explained Nate Schlimme, CMO of Moss. “That’s people all over the world, young to old, utilizing it in a variety of ways – we’re just happy to have a new spin on it.”
While thousands of species of sea moss grow in both the cold waters of the Atlantic as well as warmer climates like southeast Asia, Moss currently sources its Elk Horn variety from Indonesia. Perillo said the product formulators selected this species as it was the best fit to pair with the current recipe’s desired consistency, viscosity and flavor.
“Seasonal conditions impact the manner and volume in which sea moss can grow,” explained Perillo. “That’s why for our sea moss, we are developing a global supply chain with the objective to ensure access to ethical and responsible sourcing, as well as best-in-class practices at all times.”
Moss uses only wild-grown sea moss as well as minimally processed organic ingredients, when possible, said Perillo. The carrageenan industry, a fat stabilizing ingredient created from red algae extracts, has already worked to commercialize sea moss, often cultivating the ingredient in man-made pools that result in a crop with lower nutritional value.
With a wild-caught supply chain in the works, and manufacturing muscle from Dr Smood behind it, Moss has significant plans to expand in the year ahead. The brand expects to grow from 50 doors as of December 2023 to nearly 1,000 stores nationwide by the end of 2024, recently onboarding with KeHE ahead of a nationwide launch with Sprouts. The brand has also partnered with Rainforest Distributors in New York to go deep in independent retail including bodegas and c-stores.
“I’m excited to be able to offer the product to some of the smaller independent retailers up and down the street or already offering sea moss in some other forms,” said Shepard. “I live [in Brooklyn] in a neighborhood with a big island population and there’s sea moss gel in every single store so being able to provide another way for those retailers to create incremental sales is really exciting.”
Moss is already available at Erewhon, Bristol Farms, Lassens. In addition to retail, the brand is also working to build community and drive consumer awareness by tapping alternative channels including a partnership with 1 Hotel in the U.S., LIV Method gyms and cafes including Isle of Us, Community Goods and Dialog Cafe.
“We look to places like 1 Hotel to be really credentialing for the brand,” said Nate Schlimme, CMO of Moss. “It’s unexpected that you would be staying in a hotel and find a sea moss drink but it’s actually one of the best places.”
As for future expansions for the brand, Perillo said Moss is excited to continue finding ways to “shed new light on sea moss.”
“Nobody’s really doing [a sea moss ready-to-drink beverage] and it’s been fun to see retailers say wow, this is something that I didn’t even know I needed,” Shepard said.