A year after launching into the format, Joe Tea is going deeper into cans, along with entering into hydration drinks, more snacks and global expansion.
The 30-year-old, New Jersey-based brand showed off plenty of innovation at the Summer Fancy Food Show, including an expansion into more canned flavors, seven varieties in both 12 oz. and 16 oz., as well as a new category for the iced tea and lemonade maker: hydration drinks.
The 3-SKU Space.Sip line – Lemon-Lime, Berry and Fruit Punch – is offered in 20 oz. glass bottles. The caffeine-free drinks are fortified with zinc, 472mg potassium, 30mg magnesium, 230mg calcium, and vitamins A, C and E.
“It’s an experiment in basically a premium version of Gatorade,” said founder Steven Prato. “We’re impulsive and if we come up with an idea, we want to play with it. We’ve got a great base in Joe Tea, but we’re firing shots from it.”
Among the shots that Joe Tea is firing from its base of 20 oz. glass bottles (and now cans) is a move into Australia where it sees an opportunity to springboard into the “700 million people living in Southeast Asia,” Prato said.
“As Covid exposed supply chain deficiencies, we sought a more diversified and global supply chain – particularly for glass,” he said. “With this coming into place, we realized that we could look at the world from both an export perspective and one where we produce closer to the markets that we are hoping to enter.”
Australia provided that because it was closer to the glass suppliers the company used and it is English-speaking, allowing for an easier stepping stone to the larger opportunity in Southeast Asia.
Joe Tea developed a special glass bottle embossed with its signature pickup truck that is being manufactured in Australia. The brand is starting with seven SKUs in two test markets.
For years, Joe Tea has used a strategy adapted from large beverage strategics of packing lightweight boxes of potato chips and popcorn on top of the heavier pallets of liquid beverages. Not only does this maximize space in delivery trucks but it builds brand identity and revenue opportunities within retailers and foodservice partners.
Taking that into account, Joe Tea has tinkered with its snack options, releasing a line of chips last year branded with a two-wheel riding sloth named Motorcycle Pete. This year, the brand showed off two new snack brands: another kettle-cooked chip, Couch Potato, and Off-Road Joe’s Snack Mix.
Couch Potato is currently available in Original Sea Salt, Honey Barbecue and Habanero with new flavors like Mustard Hot Dog, Pizza and Buffalo Wings coming soon.
The Off-Road Joe’s Snack Mixes include five varieties of sweet and salty pretzel and trail mixes, available in 3.5 oz. to 8 oz bags.
“We realize that not everything we do is gonna work, but we take our chances and manage it,” Prato said. “Our model is basically driven around starting inventory, see if we can sell it. If it sells, we make more. If it doesn’t, we shoot it between the eyes.”
The new products represent the business “pivoting” slightly and “acting as a ‘seed capitalist’ for new projects,” he said. “Currently, these are internally developed but we are open to look at other ideas. We have management, distribution and production infrastructure in place to support this effort.”
The family-owned business has prided itself on building without outside capital and is using its leadership team’s experience as financial professionals to “build a portfolio of brands” and provide seed capital to start-ups, Prato said.
The company is building a “crawl, walk, run” launch factory where it can spin potential winners out, he said.
“We’re not driven by the normal forces in this business. We’re not looking for an exit. We’re not hype guys. We’re just running a marathon step-by-step-by step, and we have fun.”