In anticipation of its roll out into retail later this year with an aggressive multi-category product launch, California-based startup Golden Tiger is angling to ride the trend for immunity and anti-inflammatory functional drinks to fast success with a line of organic beverages that promote “bioactive curcumin” as its leading health ingredient.
Golden Tiger’s current products include turmeric lemonades available in Ginger and Green Tea flavors, as well as an Energy product. The two non-caffeinated drinks contain 20 calories per 12 oz. bottle while the Energy drink contains 80 calories per bottle and is sweetened with organic light blue agave. The drinks retail for $2.99 per unit.
This summer, the core line was redesigned with new packaging emphasizing the drinks’ recovery aspects. Golden Tiger launched last week on Amazon and is only available via the ecommerce platform. The brand also repositioned its beverages from “Limeades” to “Lemonades,” increasing the amount of lemon used in the products in order to allow it to meet the legal criteria to use the term, according to co-founder Ajay Dhawan.
Dhawan, who prior to founding Golden Tiger served as the VP of brand sourcing and business strategy at fashion brands Five Four Clothing and Young and Reckless, began working on Golden Tiger over two years ago after a family member was diagnosed with cancer and began drinking turmeric-based beverages to reduce inflammation during chemotherapy. New to the food and beverage industry however, Dhawan believes he has created a product that delivers on the promise of turmeric beverages which often fail to activate the curcumin within the root vegetable.
“Unfortunately, nobody has taken this concept [of turmeric] to the next level,” Dhawan said. “If you don’t formulate turmeric the right way, then the curcumin within it is not bioactive, and therefore, it has absolutely zero effect on the human body. So, our mission is really to bring this Ayurvedic-based, home-based formula to every American as a daily tonic.”
While turmeric has been highlighted by many other beverage companies, Dhawan claimed most other brands use it only as “a trendy Indian spice.” Golden Tiger, he said, heats its turmeric via pasteurization, making it more effective than cold filling. Dhawan is also quick to cite studies suggesting that curcumin has both anti-cancer and antiviral properties, traits the brand hopes to promote as consumers seek out immunity-boosting products amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What these studies show is there is a great amount of overlap between traditional Ayurvedic treatments and modern Western medicine,” Dhawan said.
This year, immunity products have seen a surge in sales as the pandemic created widespread health concerns among consumers. Nutrition Business Journal reported this spring that immunity supplement sales are expected to pass 25% growth in 2020 while beverage categories such as orange juice, traditionally recognized for being rich in Vitamin C, experienced double digit sales spikes.
Firm in his belief that Golden Tiger is poised to benefit from being on trend, Dhawan plans to employ an aggressive, multi-category strategy out the gate, despite having no current retail presence.
This fall, the brand will introduce a line of frozen Golden Tiger Naan Pizzas developed in collaboration with Ohio-based restaurant chain Donatos. The use of naan bread crust and turmeric-infused tikka masala sauce is inspired from Indian cuisine, though Dhawan said the flavors are intended to appeal to American consumers with typical meat and vegetable toppings. The line is expected to roll out in November and will retail for $6.99-$7.99 per unit.
The brand is also developing multiple new beverage lines, including canned sparkling variants of Golden Tiger (which will be priced similarly to the main drinks) and a canned cocktail product called Tipsy Tiger, made with vodka. As well, the company is branching into beauty products with a line of face masks.
Golden Tiger is primarily self-funded with some friend and family investment. The strategy has been intentional, he said, as he did not want to be constrained by board members or financiers who might try to prevent him from taking this broad portfolio approach as an early stage startup. The company is currently operated by Dhawan and his wife Suparna who created all recipes, while California-based food scientist Victor Hong is on the board and serves as a formulator.
Golden Tiger will also relaunch its own website on Monday, he added. Unlike most brands launching amid the pandemic, however, the company will not have a direct-to-consumer platform as Dhawan said Amazon has “mastered” the online business model and the brand is fully invested in growing through the ecommerce giant.
“Right now it’s exclusively on Amazon and we want it to be on Amazon for the time being because no buyers are taking meetings [due to the pandemic],” Dhawan said. “We are going to invest our money in direct to the customer ads on Facebook, Instagram, on Amazon, and hitting and talking to our consumer directly.”
Dhawan said the brand is currently in discussions with Walmart and hopes to roll out into retail this fall with its lemonades and the pizzas, with the additional lines to follow shortly afterward. Dhawan is also hoping to onboard with UNFI and KeHE in the near future and is in talks with those distributors. He said the company is primarily targeting retail accounts with 100 or more locations nationwide in order to get the brand in the mainstream quickly, forgoing small and independent retailers.
That approach brings its own share of risks and challenges, but Dhawan is convinced an ambitious, wide portfolio of turmeric-based products can deepen the brand’s appeal to consumers and establish a place in the market.
“If we just did beverages we would be a one trick pony,” Dhawan said. “The bandwidth this gives me is I have now four silos of valuation…. We want to be part of your daily life and the common thread throughout is turmeric.”