Spring is here and Blossom Water is preparing for a new bloom.
Massachusetts-based botanical essence water brand Blossom Water has unveiled new packaging and a reformulation reducing the amount of sugar from 11 g to 5 g per bottle, removing erythritol and agave, and adding probiotics. Speaking with BevNET this week, co-founder and president Steve Fortuna said the rebrand moves Blossom Water away from being a “boutique” brand and opens the door for more mainstream appeal.
The new formulation features a clean ingredient label, contains 10 calories per serving, and is sweetened with organic cane sugar and stevia. According to Fortuna, the use of erythritol created confusion and scared away consumers. The brand is also the first water to use Staimune, an immunity boosting probiotic strain developed by Ganeden using inactivated GanedenBC30.
“We feel very good that our functional additive is differentiated, very powerful, super on-trend, and backed by a ton of science,” Fortuna said.
As part of the revamp, Blossom Water is also abandoning its 16 oz glass bottle package in favor of 16.9 oz PET bottles, a move Fortuna said benefits on-the-go active lifestyle consumers. The suggested retail price will remain the same at $1.99 per bottle.
The change also opens new potential retail opportunities for the brand, including hospitality and food service accounts which declined to purchase glass bottles due to risk of breakage. Fortuna said the brand has received interest from hotels, casinos, and schools over the past few years.
“People don’t want broken glass,” he said. “Whether it’s the deck of a ship for a cruise line opportunity, whether it’s food service, whether it’s a school where children are, it just closes a lot of doors you otherwise would have open.”
Also speaking with BevNET, Blossom Water COO Gale Fortuna added that Whole Foods Market identified floral flavors as the top item of its Top 10 Trends for 2018. She said the rebrand offers the opportunity to “blow open the concept” for Blossom Water and move the product away from boutique and towards a mainstream water replacement with everyday usage occasions.
Additionally, Blossom Water’s new packaging and formulation will ideally appeal to millennial consumers seeking new and innovative flavors, she said.
Currently, the brand has nationwide distribution in UNFI, KeHE, and DPI Specialty Foods in addition to various DSD companies. Steve Fortuna said the company is in discussions with several large chains, but any deals are on hold until the company completes its first production run of the reformulated product, which begins this week.
“People are very excited,” he said. “Our sales this year, I think, will be nicely above last year. But next year — when we have a full year, no interruptions, no transitions — I think it will be multiples above this year.”