Like other major global industries, the food and beverage industry has been rocked by the sudden and punishing onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, within the present challenges and uncertainties that lie ahead, entrepreneurs and brands have also found opportunities to support each other, their consumers and those on the frontlines of the fight against the virus. In this roundup, we highlight some of the work brands are doing to give back during the crisis, including several new initiatives to support independent gyms and a rapidly scaled coffee co-packing program for e-commerce.
O2, LifeAID Step Up to Support Indie Gyms
With much of the country confined to their homes by state order for at least the next several weeks, restaurants, bars and on-premise dining overall have taken a massive financial hit. Yet for a small group of emerging functional sports drinks, the closure of gyms and fitness centers has been just as impactful.
For Ohio-based O2 Natural Recovery, independent gyms have been a wellspring for its growth thus far and represent over half of its overall sales. Despite seeing a volume increase at grocery and a triple-digit surge in demand for online orders (fueled in part by a 50% price discount and free shipping), founder and CEO Dave Colina acknowledged that the sudden drop-off in one of the brand’s most dedicated channels has put a strain on the business. As with foodservice outlets, the uncertainty surrounding when restrictions will be lifted and the economic fallout of a prolonged shutdown has left many gyms, fitness studios and CrossFit centers treading water for the foreseeable future.
In response, Colina quickly set to work creating a way to give back: by using a unique code at checkout, online customers can direct 50% of each sale to support their personal gym. The brand has over 1000 locations and counting already signed up to use the program, and has recruited fitness apparel brand Born Primitive and online coaching service Working Against Gravity to join them in making similar commitments under a “Community Coalition” program that Colina hopes will add more names soon.
The impetus to drive such a deep discount for a premium product came from the desire to support the brand’s gym partners, as well as a “moral obligation” to help people stay hydrated during the COVID-19 outbreak, he said.
“We’ll do it for as long as we feel we need to,” Colina said. “Our approach is about discounting this pretty aggressively to people who wouldn’t be [normally] able to purchase. We’re doing everything we can to take sales and funnel back into gym partners.”
Other brands with deep roots in fitness channels are also stepping up to help. Functional beverage brand LifeAID has introduced “LifeAID LIFT,” a similar code-based ordering system that allows the brand’s wholesale partners to receive $15 cash for every 24-can purchase made by their own gym members or customers.
Elemental Coffee Reroutes Cold Shipping for Roasters
Massachusetts-based Elemental Beverage Co. had planned to spend this month supporting a 40-store regional test with Whole Foods for its line of flash-brewed cold coffee in 12 oz. cans, made with the company’s patented Snapchill technology.
Instead, the company has found itself running a test of sorts for others: with capacity to spare, Elemental has quickly ramped up its co-packing operations and is now offering roasters the ability to quickly produce RTD coffee and ship it to customers around the country.
Co-packing was always meant to be a core piece of Elemental’s business: specialty roasters — such as George Howell (Mass.), Little Wolf (Mass.), Bolt Coffee (R.I.) and others — ship beans to the company’s production facility, which is then flash-brewed (brewed hot and instantly chilled without dilution) and canned.
Most of that product was expected to be sold at brick-and-mortar retail. Yet when COVID-19 hit, a shift to e-commerce became imperative. Within a week, Elemental moved quickly to design a scalable revenue sharing model for customers, bring its existing roasting partners on-board and calibrate its brewing operations to serve incoming leads. As business at small roasters and coffee shops grinds to a halt, the need to realize new sources of cash flow is urgent.
“People are definitely interested in trying to realize these revenue streams, beyond other efforts,” said CMO Sarah Amitay earlier this week. “They are doing everything they can and we just want to offer them an additional outlet to make that happen.”
In addition to the aforementioned names, Elemental is also offering coffees from New Harvest (R.I.) and Regalia Roaster (N.Y.), and is in conversations with “five or six” other roasters from around the country about joining the program. The company is currently offering two-day shipping via USPS on 6-packs ($29.95) and 12-packs ($54.95) of coffees from individual roasters, as well as variety packs from across the product roster.
With brewing capacity and can inventory to spare, plus new staff brought on to help in the warehouse, Amitay said Elemental has the ability to have new collaborations with roaster partners ready to ship in two weeks or less.
“Necessity is the mother of invention, so it was a really easy conversation with most people,” she said. “These are times when people can get a little bit more creative, a little bit more experimental, because you have to be.”
Other Good News From Around the Industry:
- Nutrition shake and snack brand Orgain has launched Shakes for Heroes, a new program that will allow users to nominate health care and hospital workers to receive a free supply of product. The company will be providing 100,000 protein shakes across the U.S. through the initiative.
- Rapper Cardi B, after a brief ER stay due to non-coronavirus related illness, donated 20,000 bottles of plant-based protein shake OWYN to medical staff and ambulance crews at NYC-area hospitals, according to TMZ.
- For every sale, RISE Brewing Co. will donate a can of nitro cold brew coffee to New York hospitals.
- Proposition Cocktail Company is directing 20% of its online sales to support GeUsPPE.org, a group that supplies masks and protective equipment to first responders.
- In Los Angeles, Chlorophyll Water has partnered with Erewhon Markets to provide free products to senior citizens during their ’Senior Citizen Hours’ from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Senior Citizens and immune compromised will receive one bottle of Chlorophyll Water for free at all Erewhon Market locations (Calabasas, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Venice) for two weeks, ending April 9.
- Vermont-based kombucha maker Aqua ViTea has partnered with Caledonia Spirits to use the alcohol byproduct from the kombucha brewing process to create hand sanitizer for healthcare professionals and first responders. Caledonia is one of more than a dozen distillers and other spirits companies that have notified BevNET of their work to make hand sanitizer, from giant Bacardi to tiny Ghost Coast Distillery.
- In Oregon, Brew Dr. Kombucha announced this week that it is likewise joining the call to produce hand sanitizer using the alcoholic byproduct.
- Hydration drink BIOLYTE is offering free bottles to health care employees; contact lauren.jordan@drinkbiolyte to submit a request.