Pretty Tasty was crowned the champion of New Beverage Showdown 27 today, joining an elite cohort of beverage brands such as Cann and Health-Ade that have also claimed victory in the bi-annual pitch competition.
Founded in 2024 by Scarlett Leung, Pretty Tasty produces a line of ready-to-drink teas and ready-to-mix blends formulated with collagen peptides to support skin, hair, joint and nail care. Available in four flavors – Peach, Raspberry, Lemon and Original Black – each 12 oz. can has 10 grams of protein and 10 grams of collagen protein peptides, while each stick pack contains 9 grams of protein and 10 grams of collagen protein peptides.
Both product lines are available for purchase on the brand’s website, with the cans retailing for $47.99 per 12-pack and the stick packs selling for $39.99 per 30-count pouch.
“Pretty Tasty really sits at the intersection of beauty and functional beverages. The trends show that functional beverages, ingestible beauty and lower caffeine options are really up and coming and so there was a ripe opportunity for us,” said Leung during today’s final round
To generate brand awareness, the New York-based brand is leaning heavily into social media influencers. Since Pretty Tasty’s launch in January, the brand has amassed nearly 29,000 followers on Instagram.
During Friday’s round, finalists were given five minutes to pitch their product and brand while explaining to the judges where their product is situated in the market, their blueprints for scaling and how they plan to stand out in the highly competitive beverage industry.
Judges for the final round included BevNET founder and CEO John Craven; Rachael Waddell, Senior Director, New Revenue Streams – Red Tree Beverages, The Coca-Cola Company; Rachel Krupal, Founder, The Goods Mart; and Charlie New, Global Category Manager, Refrigerated Beverage, Whole Foods Market.
The competition was presented by Coca-Cola North America New Revenue Streams.
The judges praised the brand for creating an approachable collagen product with packaging that will stand out on the shelf.
“We thought the taste was nice and smooth. When you see collagen, sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get or whether it’s gonna be too powdery. The format you have allows the collagen to be tamed in a pretty tasty way,” said Waddell, adding that the brand should call out its high protein content on the packaging.
Looking ahead, Pretty Tasty is set to complete its second product run at the end of this summer, which Leung said will include greater differentiation in colors and new callouts for its product attributes. Before the second run, Waddell advised the brand to consider how it can appeal to both male and female consumers by articulating the benefits of collagen.
Pretty Tasty emerged victorious from a field of five other finalists, including Kace fruit tea, OK Energy, Explorer Cold Brew, Flyers zero-proof THC cocktails, and Holy! Water ketone beverages.
As the champion, Pretty Tasty will receive a $10,000 awareness-building advertising package and join the ranks of past victors including Calexo, Parch, SANS, Plink! and Hiyo.
The finalists were chosen from a group of 12 that also featured Lily non-alcoholic functional beverages, Jas alcohol-free cocktails, Healtea sparkling iced tea, Grim Reaper Coffee Co., NOLIQ alcohol-free cocktails, and Bear Maple sparkling functional beverages.