Shaka Tea Makes Bicoastal Moves
Having established its presence on the mainland in recent years, Hawaiian tea brand Shaka Tea is expanding its presence on both coasts this month through partnerships with key regional distributors, including Nestlé Waters’ ReadyRefresh service in California.
Starting today, Shaka Tea, makers of a line of ready-to-drink teas made from the Hawaiian māmaki plant, will be taking all four of its flavors — Mango Hibiscus, Pineapple Mint, Guava Gingerblossom and Lemon Lokelani Rose — on to Nestlé’s ReadyRefresh platform in California. Users will be able to have 12-pack cases of Shaka delivered for $27.99 per unit.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the brand is also partnering with fresh grocery delivery service Good Eggs to make all four SKUs available on the platform in individual bottles for $2.99 per bottle.
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Shaka recently launched with Brooklyn based Gold Coast Distributors, which services independent and natural retailers in the borough. The brand will also be taking all four flavors into Wakefern and ShopRite stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
The spate of recent moves, including entering SoCal DSD house Classic Beverage, takes the brand’s total store count to 3,500 locations, split about even between natural and conventional accounts, according to Shaka co-founder and president Bella Hughes.
”We are starting the year very focused on growing our market depth on the East Coast and West Coast. We are happy to see increased access to our 100% plant-based, zero calorie, herbal teas brewed with Hawaiian māmaki,” she said.
Pillars Goes Nationwide with Whole Foods
When founder and CEO Eric Bonin launched Pillars Drinkable Greek Yogurt in 2016, he started with placement in just four local Whole Foods stores in the Boston area. Now, over four years later, Pillars is finally going nationwide with the retailer, a move that marks the Massachusetts-based brand’s first expansion into the West Coast.
Pillars makes a line of drinkable yogurts featuring pre- and probiotics, reduced sugar (5 grams per 12 oz. serving) and are additionally sweetened with organic stevia. According to Bonin, Whole Foods will carry three to four SKUs of Pillars’ 12 oz. single serve drinks, with flavors varying by region, as well as one SKU of its 32 oz. multiserve line.
Though the brand is currently in over 3,000 retail doors, primarily along the East Coast with a presence as far west as Texas, Bonin said Pillars’ slow journey towards going nationwide had less to do with the brand’s sales and more to do with the competitive dairy and yogurt cold case. As well, the past few years have seen an influx of plant-based alternatives that have also made it difficult for a startup dairy product to gain shelf space.
“It’s almost like the American dream of our industry, right?” Bonin said. “To have this kind of Cinderella story come true, you start in one store and then you have this sort of evolution. So we’re very excited about it and having full national distribution meets a very big goal that we had.”
In addition to Whole Foods, Pillars has grown through retailers such as Giant Foods, HyVee and Schnucks, Bonin said. Last year, the brand entered select Walmart stores with its 32 oz. line. As the company adds the West Coast, he said the company hopes to tap into its existing relationship with UNFI and build out its distribution network in order to establish a more efficient nationwide business. The company’s current goal is to expand steadily, rather than rapidly, and Bonin expects Pillars to be in over 5,000 stores by the end of the year.
“The strategy is to get pre-aggressive on the sales front to build additional distribution through those [distribution centers] so that we can fill out the rest of our supply chain, to start making it more efficient to ship less,” he said.
Pillars recently hired two new full-time marketing team members and Bonin said the company has developed a “robust” marketing strategy to support the expansion. With in-store sampling and field marketing disrupted due to COVID-19, the company will shift its focus to “dry demos” without sampling, plus guerilla marketing, digital marketing and press releases.
In addition to retail, Pillars is also preparing to launch a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform in the coming weeks. Though he anticipates hurdles shipping cold chain products, Bonin said the benefits of owning a sales platform — including the customer data, financial control and ability to test new innovations — outweighed the logistical challenges.
“I do think that there’s a ton of value in owning a sales channel yourself, especially now as retailers [are pushing back] reviews,” he said. “So being able to control your own sales channel is super important for data and financial controls. And then being able to give yourself another revenue stream.”
Poppi Enters Southeast Region with Publix
Prebiotic soda maker Poppi announced last week that it has added over 1,100 Publix grocery stores throughout Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia, marking the brand’s first expansion into the Southeast region.
Publix will carry three SKUs: Raspberry Rose, Strawberry Lemon and Orange. The drinks will retail for $2.49 per 12 oz. can and $8.99 per 4-pack.
According to a press release, Poppi reported 531% year-over-year growth for the 52-week period ending November 29, 2020.
Genius Juice Adds Costco
Coconut smoothie maker Genius Juice has entered the club channel for the first time with 15 Los Angeles and Orange County area Costco stores, the company announced this month. The retailer will carry the brand’s top selling flavor, Original.
The drink will retail for $11.99 per 4-pack. In a press release, founder and CEO Alex Bayer said the company worked with Costco to design the package, which will also be sold on promo for under $10.
“We could not be more excited, said founder and CEO Alex Bayer in a press release. “Costco selected our top selling SKU, The Original, and we firmly believe we offer real value to the Costco consumer with a cleaner, better for you plant-based smoothie with literally only two ingredients that make up the entire drink. It hits on trends of lower sugar, more filling and meal replacement value, and functional ingredients, being the coconut water and coconut meat for increased energy, brain function, and hydration.”
CellDration Partners with KeHE
Functional water brand CellDration announced this month in a press release that it has partnered with KeHE and will add Wakefern, Key Food and Albertsons stores in the coming weeks.
Founded in 2018, Long Island, New York-based CellDration makes a line of bottled waters which utilize a micro-filtration and reverse osmosis purification process. The drinks also include added minerals and electrolytes. According to the release, the company has secured a first round of financing to help support its roll out.