For a decade, Remedy Drinks has been brewing down under. Now, the Australia-based kombucha brand is making a broader push into the U.S., bringing over a full slate of new products to American retailers this year.
Founded by Sarah and Emmett Condon in 2012, Remedy is the top selling kombucha brand in Australia and New Zealand and now aims to expand beyond its home territory. In late 2020, the company soft launched in the U.S. via ecommerce sales and has now created a separate global division, backed by investment firm L Catterton, to manage its U.S., Canada and U.K. businesses.
Speaking with BevNET this week, VP of marketing Erin Costa said Remedy has been quietly preparing to execute on its U.S. ambitions since last summer – building a team and making a retail launch into accounts like Target and Walmart. Now, the company has expanded its product offerings and is preparing to expand to over 21,000 stores across North America and the U.K. by the end of the year.
“Kombucha is certainly building much more mainstream awareness with consumers and with the huge growth that Remedy has seen globally, that made it fresh to bring to the U.S.” Costa said. “So we have U.S. heads now actually going after a lot more. We have sales leads that are aggressively working on rolling out distribution in 2022.”
The kombuchas are currently available in six flavors: Raspberry Lemonade, Mango Passion, Mixed Berry, Cherry Plum, Peach and Ginger Lemon. The company also sells three additional products – a Ginger Beer soda, a Blood Orange Switchel, and Good Energy, a Blackberry flavored energy drink made with caffeine from green coffee beans and ginseng.
Remedy utilizes a small batch, long-aging brewing process where the kombucha is brewed for 30 days; the extended length allows the sugars in the tea to naturally convert into healthy acids, reducing calorie content and removing the risk of refermentation once canned, Costa said. The result is a product that is organic, shelf stable and live cultured with no sugar, while remaining raw with a “lighter, approachable” flavor profile without strong vinegar notes.
In recent years, as kombucha sales growth has plateaued and consumers have continued to avoid sugary beverages, many U.S.-based brands have introduced similar innovations to court new shoppers. In 2020, Humm introduced a canned, shelf-stable Zero Sugar line made via a similar long-aging brewing method and sweetened with monk fruit and allulose. Other shelf stable kombucha brands like KOE have also sought to disrupt the category with canned offerings on the dry shelf.
However, Remedy believes it will be able to win in the U.S. on flavor and price point, Costa said. At $2.49 per 11.2 oz. can and $7.99 per 4-pack, she noted Remedy undercuts many of the top brands in the category. As well, the company will focus heavily on field marketing and sampling activations to get cans in hand and bring new consumers to the category.
Costa pointed to Remedy’s experience at grocery chain Loblaws in Canada, where over 2/3 of its sales in the retailer have come from consumers who are new to the category, as proof the brand can drive incremental sales for kombucha. The brand’s ability to be flexible on cold set and dry shelf placement, with an eye on building display sets in stores, will also be a key role in the brand’s merchandising strategy.
“Your typical kombucha consumer is buying one or two bottles a week that they’re going to consume that week, because they have to sit in the refrigerator,” she said. “What [shelf stable] allows us to do is actually give consumers more frequent purchase and usage occasions, which will also allow for multipack sales and stock up opportunities for the retailer.”
The company is now executing on an ambitious expansion plan with expectations to be in over 21,000 retail doors across North America and the U.K. by the end of the year. In the U.S., Remedy is currently available in select Walmart and Target stores, as well as conventional grocery, natural and specialty stores such as Erewhon, Albertsons/Safeway, HyVee, Tops, and Weis Markets, among others. The U.S. growth strategy also includes ecommerce platforms; beyond direct-to-consumer and Amazon, Remedy is also sold on Box.com, Snack Magic and Imperfect Foods.
Looking ahead, Costa said Remedy is also looking to add specialty and travel accounts, including hopes for stores like Vitamin Shoppe and GNC. The brand will also seek to build out its non-kombucha lines, with plans to rebrand its Switchel as an apple cider vinegar drink in the near future.
In the coming weeks, Remedy is also planning to relaunch its social media accounts for U.S. audiences, Costa said. While most of the brand identity will remain true to what has proved successful in the Australian market, she said some messaging may be tweaked to speak more specifically to Americans, with flavor and zero sugar expected to be major pillars of the messaging. The social relaunch will also accompany a broader digital advertising campaign to drive brand awareness.
“[Social media] will be the first step to building the brand and, obviously, we’re also doing some influencer outreach after we get that established,” she said. “We want to touch the people that are going to be our target consumers here in the United States.”