Launched in 2017 as Canvas, Portland, Oregon-based plant-based milk brand Take Two Foods is ready for its second act. Under its new name and branding, the company has released a reformulated version of its sustainably sourced “barley milk” in local markets over the last few months, its first step to becoming a plant-based food and beverage platform with plans to launch nationwide later this year.
The barley milk product, launched out of Anheuser-Busch’s Zxlerator, is made using rejuvenated barley from spent grain, a protein and fiber-packed byproduct of the beer brewing process. Approximately 8 billion pounds of spent grain go to waste every year, according to co-founder and CEO Sarah Pool.
The barley milk launched under the Canvas brand name on Kickstarter in 2017 in 12 oz. bottles, before being repositioned as a “fiber + protein shake” in February 2018. The product was in the market for 11 months and distributed in over 100 stores across 10 states before the company decided to take it off the market in December 2018. Pool said they discontinued the line when the Canvas team realized the “texture and the flavor of the spent grain just wasn’t perfected yet.”
“The product wasn’t a 10 out of 10,” Pool said. “And that was really what we were going for creating something that was so delicious, so nourishing and truly sustainable. And so we went back to the drawing board.”
Previously, the brand used a lactic acid fermentation process, which left “sour notes” similar to yogurt in the product, according to Pool. It also had a “gritty and grainy” texture because the process couldn’t mill the grain down finely enough. With Take Two, Pool said they stepped away from the previous process and focused on extracting the protein, which solved its texture issues because of its solubility. Along with the spent grain, the barley milks also use coconut cream, pea protein and chicory root extract. Pool said the brand has worked in partnership with A-B over the past three years as it developed the new formulation, and the beer company continues to serve as the source of Take Two’s spent grain, though Take Two will not be distributed through A-B’s distribution network.
Formulation for the “platform of plant-based dairy products” began in December 2018, Pool said, with the team developing a product with three grams of prebiotic fiber and 50% more calcium than other milks. Beyond the barley milks, the team also developed a new iteration of shakes, set to launch in 2021, with plans for yogurt, cheese, ice cream and butter products in the pipeline. Ultimately, Pool said the Take Two brand aims to create “a plant-rich future where our dependence on livestock or dependence on animals for food is lessened because of its impact on the planet.”
Take Two market tested the product with consumers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Baltimore and Chicago last year before ultimately landing on the final formulation of the barley milk in September 2019.
“It’s been a total effort of love and and really wanting to bring something truly unique and special to the market,” Pool said.
Take Two launched in local retailers in the Pacific Northwest in March, recently expanding to Los Angeles and rolling out nationwide shipping. In September, the brand will launch the barley milks into the Pacific Northwest region of Whole Foods. Pool said they’ll look to add new positions to the four-person Take Two team as distribution expands.
Canvas’ original flavor offerings included Original, Matcha, Turmeric Chai, Cold Brew Latte and Cocoa, as well as similar flavors for its line of shakes in 2018. This time around, Take Two is keeping it simple with Original, Chocolate and Vanilla flavors, along with a Chef’s blend for cooking and foodservice, which Pool said will be a focus for the brand going forward.
“We saw a huge gap: people don’t really want to cook with plant-based milk because it changes the flavor of what they’re cooking with or it doesn’t hold up like a traditional dairy milk would,” Pool said. “There’s a huge focus on food service and getting plant based milk that is drinkable and usable in recipes in the kitchen.”
The plant milk set is very different from the RTD beverage category, Pool said, and with the reformulated flavors she wanted to focus on “setting a new bar in the plant-based milk category.” With its sights set on the dairy aisle, Take Two’s barley milks are sold in 40 oz. multiserve bottles, rather than the 12 oz. bottles Canvas launched previously.
Relaunching the product amid the COVID-19 pandemic has “definitely been challenging” with added stress put on grocery buyers and managers at the store level, though Pool said it has given the Take Two team the opportunity to work “hand-in-hand with them one-on-one on the ground.” While the brand hasn’t been able to sample or do in-store demos, they’ve found other ways to connect with consumers, including giving away bottles to local community organizations. The brand has also been partnering with local grocery stores to give away free product to their customers.
“Even though it’s been a challenging time, we can’t imagine not launching it this time, just because of the relationships that we’ve been able to build,” Pool said. “Once demoing bounces back we’ll be in the stores every single day sampling, but until then we’re still out on the streets and building those bridges.”
These marketing efforts are currently focused on Portland, but as the product launches to different regions, Take Two will roll out a marketing campaign focused “believing in second chances and creating second chances for ourselves and for others,” Pool said.
With a lot of information to convey to consumers, including what the product is, how it’s sourced, it’s nutritional benefits and environmental impact, Pool said the brand is mostly focused on communicating the product’s taste and sustainability mission.
“[Sustainability] is why we did this in the first place,” she said. “It wasn’t just to put another product on the shelf. It was really to make an impact.”