Laurel’s Coffee is moving out East.
The Los Angeles-based RTD brand is bringing its three-SKU line of A2 dairy milk-based lattes — including a new matcha variety — into all 150-plus Wegmans stores this month, a move that founder Isabel Washington says brings the brand deeper into a channel where it can thrive.
The deal came about earlier this spring thanks to the persistence of an account manager at River Valley Foods, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based distributor that services Wegmans. After the grocery chain launched an A2 milk product in the store, the manager began asking Washington to let her pitch them Laurel’s and — after a few ignored emails — she acquiesced. Within days, Wegmans had agreed to bring in all three SKUs — including the still-in-concept matcha flavor.
“I know that they’d seen a lot of success with the A2 products on-shelf, and they were excited about the point of differentiation,” Washington told BevNET this week. “I think they’re definitely excited at the opportunity to bring in something new, something dairy based. And obviously, they had the category data to see that A2 had been performing well.”
Landing Wegmans offers further validation that Laurel’s embrace of A2 dairy — marketed as an easier-to-digest form of natural cow’s milk — is becoming the potent point of differentiation within the crowded RTD coffee category that Washington envisioned when she launched the brand last year. Driven by premium natural brands like Alec’s Ice Cream, Once Upon a Farm and Alexandre Family Farm, the A2 subcategory delivered over $123 million in total dollar sales in 2024, according to SPINS data. That’s not huge, but its pace is far ahead of the anemic growth in conventional dairy (+19.4% compared to +2.6%).
Retailers are seeing the trends and recognizing the opportunity to extend into coffee, Washington says.
“People have said that Wegmans is a tough nut to crack; they’ll want a year, if not two, of retail data before they even take a look at your brand, and they’re kind of notorious for having long sales cycles,” she said. “So definitely, the buyer saw the opportunity to bring in a product that’s pretty early in its life cycle, and early on the trend that is right in front of them.”
Laurel’s 12 oz. slim cans are shelf-stable, but will turn at Wegmans through grab-and-go coolers for $3.99 each. Without the ability to do in-store demos, the brand will be leaning into digital activations and couponing through Instacart. And don’t forget those Wegmans online influencers and Reddit fanatics, which Washington ads will be tapped into as well.
The move also presents a chance to test Washington’s thesis that Laurel’s can truly thrive in conventional accounts, rather than some boutique natural outlets that were among its early accounts. At Erehwon, for example, a sweetened, milk-based coffee like Laurel’s faces an “uphill battle” with wellness consumers that are vigilant against sugar or dairy. Rather, Washington sees Laurel’s excelling in competition with mass brands like La Colombe and Pepsi-distributed Starbucks RTDs.
“I think that, funnily enough, we will actually do better in conventional where people have the opportunity to buy something that’s less than 50 cents more, if not the same price, than the alternative they’re going to buy.”
Even with a full plate of responsibilities as Laurel’s leader, distribution has been Washington’s dominant focus as the brand enters its next growth phase after getting off to a hot start. After orders outpaced inventory and product went out of stock for several weeks, she’s tuned into demand planning, forecasting and integrating automated tools that “can help us paint a clearer picture of where our business is going.” Expect further distribution announcements in the coming months.
Other Distribution News
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- BevNET Best Of Award-winner Lapo’s is taking its flagship Non-Alc Negroni to 112 Whole Foods locations on the West Coast: that’s 92 in California, 11 in Washington and 9 in Oregon. The brand is the #2 best-selling non-alc beverage in Whole Foods stores in the North East, they say.
- All three flavors of BUBLUV Bubble Tea are now available at select Target stores throughout the Northeast in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island.
- Wild Bill’s zero-sugar CSDs are now available at Greenfield’s ShopRite stores on Long Island, per a LinkedIn post.
- NOLA-based Big Easy Pop has made it to SoCal, bringing its line of 4-SKU line of 12 oz. cans to Erehwon.
- Sparkling adaptogenic tea Juni has landed all seven SKUs at Sprouts, as well as new placements in Harris Teeter, H-E-B, Wegmans and Thrive Market.