One year in, SoFresco VP of sales Diogo Gilman feels that Portuguese cold pressed juice brand’s decision to open a U.S. production facility to grow its North American presence has been validated — global pandemic notwithstanding.
“Of course we never expected this situation that we are in now,” he said with a laugh, speaking from the company’s stateside headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania. “But it was a good decision.”
Committing to a U.S. manufacturing base marked a significant new chapter for the 78-year old family owned Group GL SA, which is based in Lisbon and operates as Good Crop Inc. in the U.S. and under the Sonatural brand in Europe and Asia. Along with high pressure processed (HPP) cold pressed juices in single-serving PET bottles, SoFresco markets juice shots and apple cider vinegar shots, each in 3.7 oz. bottles. In Portugal and Spain, the company also produces packaged HPP salads and sandwiches.
Sold across 24 countries in Europe, the company’s international pedigree helped open opportunities when it entered the U.S. market in 2016 as an import brand. But despite receiving good feedback on quality, SoFresco’s own comfort level with exporting products from overseas wasn’t matched by its partners.
“For Portugal, we are a small country and we are used to exporting our products all over the world because we need to,” said Gilman, who’s father is SoFresco co-owner Douglas Gilman. “[The U.S.] is so big, I think retailers were always a little bit afraid if we could keep up with the service — if there was an increase in sales or if there was any issues, could we respond on time.”
The 17,000 sq. ft. Malvern facility, housed on the complex owned by HPP service provider Universal Pure, symbolizes the brand’s commitment to growing its North American presence: opened in April 2019, the plant employs 25 people and produces products sold at over 2,000 retailers in the U.S., as well as at stores in Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama. Despite its production capabilities, Gilman said SoFresco is focused on developing its own branded products rather than co-packing for others: it’s only U.S. manufacturing client is cafe chain Pret-A-Manger, for which it also supplies product in Europe.
The brand has retained its European roots within its brand identity — the company’s tagline is “Taste the Mediterranean” — but also in its outlook and approach to the cold pressed juice category. After securing The Fresh Market as its first partner on the East Coast in 2016, SoFresco has moved into conventional retailers like Publix, H-E-B, Meyer and Walmart. The company’s experience at U.S. locations of Lidl and Aldi, two low-price German supermarket chains that are each growing their American presence, has encouraged Gilman that the brand can work in various channels.
“Lidl and Aldi — these are considered discount stores,” he said. “But in Europe you see a lot of people going there to buy specific things and they come out with stuff they wouldn’t expect to find there.”
Having expanded from juice into shots, SoFresco’s new line of spoonable “smoothie cups” is intended to continue extending the brand into new use occasions while retaining focus on its core competency of fresh fruits. Gilman described the product as a dairy-free spoonable snack alternative to yogurt, an experience similar to an acai bowl. The line will be available individually and in 4-packs in three flavors: Mango, Avocado Spinach and Acai. A 2.2 lbs. bag format with tap is also available for food service.
The line — SoFresco’s major new innovation for this year — was intended to debut at Natural Products Expo West in March, which was cancelled due to the coronavirus. Yet it’s other current launch may prove to be timely in the current climate: the brand is introducing new 32 oz. and 59 oz. multi-serve bottles of its orange and apple juices.
“This is not the time for big innovation,” Gilman said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen — the retailers are postponing all the new resets because they don’t know what this is going to open again. What we are doing now are products that they can add to their lines easily. We are trying to make things easier for the customers and retailers to decide because they don’t have time now.”
While production continues to run along in Malvern, Gilman acknowledged that the current environment was unpredictable, both for his own business and for retailers, to say nothing of the deep uncertainty about the future of on-premise food service. In the meantime, the company is, like others, adapting to the new realities of life under lockdown: making Zoom calls with buyers, sending sample packages and fine tuning execution with safety in mind. Finding ways to stay productive during this phase of the COVID-19 crisis, Gilman said, is critical.
“We are still operating and that is very important,” he said. “This gives hope to the people who work with you and to the market as well. It’s really important that we keep doing something.”