On the heels of a new $5.5 million round of funding, Daily Greens is set to unveil a new look for its conventional-oriented line of high pressure processed (HPP) green juices and has added a trio of hemp milks to its Half Pint line of 8 oz. blends. The organic juice company will debut the updates at Natural Products Expo West 2016.
The revised packaging for Daily Greens’ 12 oz. line arrives amid growing placement and competition for cold-pressed juices in mainstream retailers, where smaller sizes and prices in the $4-5 range are increasingly common for the ultra-premium set. Daily Greens founder and CEO Shauna Martin said that while the company’s 16 oz. juices, which have a suggested price of $7 and are distributed nationally at Whole Foods, will continue to be the primary offering in the natural channel, the 12 oz. products are “probably going to be our mainstay going forward.”
“Over the course of the last six months, we’ve basically moved everybody [in conventional grocery] to the 12 oz.,” Martin said of the line, which is carried by Kroger, Safeway and a broad range of independent grocers in New York City and Texas. “The theory being anybody that’s conventional, we’re on the shelf next to $3.99 juice, so we’ve got to get close to that. Our retail on the 12 oz. is $4.99. And for price-sensitive natural outlets, the $4.99 seems to move the needle a lot.”
Daily Greens initiated the label revamp based on the results of a consumer survey that the company undertook last year. Martin said that respondents viewed the organic formulation and the amount of produce used per juice as the most compelling aspects of the drinks. The feedback led to a new hierarchy in which the USDA Certified Organic button is now at the top of the front label along with words “Always Organic.” Moreover, Daily Greens has moved messaging of “4.5 pounds of produce pressed into every bottle” from the back to the front of the bottle.
Martin said that Daily Greens’ organic formulation has become an important differentiator for the brand, particularly because she sees more juice bars serving non-organic blends.
“The hierarchy has changed, because now you can find green juice everywhere,” Martin said. “You can find a green juice at your local bodega up and down the street in New York. There’s 25 juice bars in Austin, Texas. The problem is all of them have quietly gone to being non-organic. For me, that’s a huge problem.”
“Cold-pressed” continues to hold prominent positioning on the label, however, Martin said that many consumers continue to be confused by the concept of HPP, and Daily Greens has yet to find “an effective way to explain it crisply on the bottle.”
“That’s still part of our overall education campaign to distinguish ourselves from the Odwallas and the Nakeds and Bolthouses of the world,” Martin said. “But I do think some of our competitors like Suja [are] doing a great amount of education and I think that’s amazing that they are continuing to educate the public.”
Along with the new look for the 12 oz. juices, Daily Greens has extended its Half Pint line with three new hemp milk SKUs. Describing hemp seeds as “one of the most nutritious seeds and “a perfect plant-based milk alternative,” the company will launch Replenish, made with cocoa and wheatgrass, Symmetry, blended with matcha and coconut water, and Enlighten, which is made with vanilla and blue-green algae, at Expo West 2016.
Meanwhile, Daily Greens has reformulated its primary Half Pint smoothies, which were designed to appeal to younger consumers. The juice blends are now infused with added probiotics. The company has also introduced two new varieties to its 16 oz. line: Green Lemonade, a spicy lemonade made with no sugar, and Morning Greens, a probiotic-infused green juice made with citrus fruit, that is sold exclusively at Whole Foods. Martin said that the company has discontinued its Rejuvenate variety and also cut the cord on a short-lived line of chia-infused products, citing difficulty in maintaining flavor consistency.
Daily Greens will support the new product launches with part of the proceeds from the recent funding round, which the company completed last month. Martin said that the investment came from a single source, which she described as a new, private Texas-based fund “that has an interest in the super-premium juice space.” She said that the financing will primarily be used for new sales and marketing initiatives and staffing.