Zupa Noma (Discontinued)

To date, Zupa Noma, which was created by Sonoma Brands, has been positioning itself as a player in the ready-to-drink soup category. This brand, which is positioned simply as a “Veggie Shot,” leaves the soup category behind and seeks to position the product as a quick hit of veggies that have been formulated with functionality in mind.

The product line includes three flavors: Kale Cucumber Jalapeno (“Metabolism boost”), Tomato Vinegar Habanero (“Digestion boost”), and Carrot Ginger Turmeric (“Immunity boost”). From a taste perspective, the three actually vary quite a bit.

Tomato Vinegar Habanero has a tangy apple cider vinegar note that’s hard to miss, and you can also taste red bell pepper, onion, tomato, lime and cucumber. Noticeably absent is the habanero, which, for a product that features it as part of its name, was somewhat of a surprise. We’d love to see more heat in the finish of this product.

Kale Cucumber Jalapeno, on the other hand, has a nice dose of jalapeno right off the bat. However, it’s not something that we’d describe as overly spicy --  the flavor is ultimately somewhat similar to a green juice but with more viscosity and less sweetness. You’ll taste kale, cucumber, pepper, pineapple, tomatillo, and lemon before finishing up with a slightly salty note. While we can’t help but wonder if a little dash of apple cider vinegar wouldn’t make this better, this is our favorite of the three that we sampled.

Lastly, there’s the Carrot Ginger Turmeric variety which, much like Kale Cucumber Jalapeno, has a somewhat juice-like flavor to it. Carrot, ginger, and turmeric are the flavors that you taste first and foremost, while lemon, apple, lemongrass, cayenne, and salt round things out. There’s something about the front part of it that tastes unbalanced, although we can’t quite put our finger on which ingredient or ingredients is behind it.

As far as the packaging and branding are concerned, this product is one that seems like it could fit in with the juice shots as a savory offering. And the treatment of “Veggie Shot” does make the overall pitch and purpose pretty matter of fact.

That being said, we’re not sold on the way that they’ve introduced functional “boost” callouts on the front panel as they don’t explain this anywhere else on the bottle. We wonder if using the space to either promote the flavor or a more loose nutritional benefit from the veggies might be better off.

Overall, Zupa Noma has done a nice job with this lineup and we certainly see room for additional SKUs.

Zupa Noma is a USDA Organic and high pressure processed (HPP) product (we won’t yet call it a beverage) that is looking to disrupt the soup category. To do this, the brand is taking a variety (six, to be exact) of soup formulations, putting them into bottles, and in essence marketing them as the savory counterpart to HPP juice.

In terms of the flavor lineup, the back of the bottle has a “Flavor Intensity” scale that rates the products from sweet to spicy. However, it doesn’t always accurately reflect the overall intensity of the flavor. This is true with their Gazpacho offering, which, despite being in the middle of the scale, has a relatively assertive flavor. The product, which has an almost pureed texture, has all the right notes that you’d expect to find in a classic gazpacho, including tomato, onion, garlic, pepper, and cucumber. It is, at least as far as the limited bar for bottled gazpacho is concerned, a flavorful and enjoyable offering that kicks off the brand quite nicely.

From there, the Yellow Pepper Habanero and Tomatillo Jalapeno provide two spicy flavor profiles. These two flavors, which are our favorites of the initial six, are assertive, but balanced. And, more importantly, they have greater depth than some of the other flavors. As for the three other varieties, which include Beet Orange Basil, Carrot Coconut Lime, and Cucumber Avocado Fennel, they are a bit more mellow in flavor, but heartier in body. The Beet Orange Basil and Carrot Coconut Lime also have slightly sweet notes, but the Cucumber Avocado does not. Of all the flavors, these were, at least for us, the ones we felt like we’d rather eat with a spoon.

Packaging is a 12 oz. square plastic bottle with a clear label and a black cap. The design feels like something that’s a sibling of HPP juice, with an illustrated design that includes a slightly conceptual image of the ingredients used in each flavor. The package does a nice job of explaining what the product is (“Ready-to-sip chilled vegetable soup”), but there is certainly education that needs to happen for this or any other product in the category to take off. If there’s anything that would help the appearance of the product, it would be the visual differentiation between some of the flavors (the green ones in particular). Otherwise, we think the concept and the execution of the package are great.

Ultimately, coming up with a six-flavor line of chilled drinkable soups is a challenge, especially with this concept being a relatively new one and it being somewhat trial and error in terms of which soups are going to work in this format and which won’t. After our sampling of all six of the initial flavors, we’d definitely lean more towards the spicy and assertive ones. Regardless, Zupa Noma has a nice sturdy core set of flavors and packaging that should, assuming the the drinkable soup concept continues to catch on, lead to this brand being a serious player.