In search of a partner that aligned with its focus on serving Hispanic audiences, Taste Salud has found one of the biggest.
The Los Angeles-born company has been marketing its powdered agua fresca stick packs since 2021, but its recently launched collaboration with iconic Mexican soda brand Jarritos on a pair of releases represents a new phase of growth for co-founders Josh Leyva and Tyler McCann.
The co-branded products, launched last week online, include two Jarritos-flavored releases in Taste Salud’s Hydration + Immunity line (Mandarin and Guava) and Energy + Focus (Fruit Punch and Lime). Both are priced at $24.99 per 15-pack. They join 24 other flavors in the brand’s roster, which lean into classic aqua fresca recipes and ingredients like Jamaica (hibiscus) and Tamarindo (tamarind).
“We are excited to keep innovating with new partners and finding new ways to share our signature flavors people have loved for 75 years,” said Eric Delamare, Marketing Director at Jarritos, in a release. “This collaboration marks a new chapter that honors where we have been and celebrates where we are going, all while staying true to our authentic roots.”
For L.A. native Leyva, rallying Jarritos behind Taste Salud is welcome validation for his concept of a brand that marries Latin culture and flavors with modern health and wellness trends. While McCann, who brings product development experience from time spent at supplement maker MusclePharm, works behind the scenes, Leyva, a seasoned social media creator and co-host of the podcast La Platica, is more in the public eye. Along with interviewing celebrities and discussing pop culture, his show has also touched on critical issues for the community like the ICE raids and subsequent protests in Los Angeles in May.
Yet despite its focus on Latinos, Taste Salud has enjoyed a warm reception from mainstream audiences from the beginning. Walmart was its first retail partner, and the brand’s 9,000 current doors also includes Target, CVS and H-E-B.
For its Jarritos collaboration, the brand’s initial connection to parent company Novamex through McCann gradually evolved into a relationship and collaboration over the course of months. As chronicled in a short documentary about the process, Taste Salud’s founders travelled to Mexico to visit Novamex’s facilities and help develop the flavors.
“Getting that stamp of approval from Jarritos was the ultimate. This is a Latino hydration brand, but we’re more than just that,” Leyva said, speaking to BevNET earlier this week. “It really just allowed us to really feel confident about what we were doing. I even talked about that in the documentary where sometimes I question if I’m on the right path, and the collaboration really kind of sealed that [question] for me.”
That support is helping to further fuel Leyva’s ambitions for his brand: within two years, he’s confident that Taste Salud will “dabble” in RTDs.
Culture Builds Community
As next-gen American brand leaders — often the children of immigrants, as the case with Leyva — have made their mark across CPG categories, Latino and specifically Mexican culture has been at the forefront. While global celebrities like Canelo Álvarez, Eva Longoria and Lionel Messi have enlisted the support of major strategics for their respective beverage ventures, entrepreneur-driven startups like Bawi, Agua Bonita, Como No, Perfy, De La Calle and Casalu have lately made important strides on their own.
Large Latin-owned corporations like Harvest Hill owners Castillo Hermanos, Grupo PiSA (makers of Electrolit) and Jumex, currently in the midst of reviving premium juice brand Odwalla, have been active in expanding their presence north of the border, as well.
For Novamex, the collaboration with Taste Salud arrives as part of a broader push towards innovation. While the brand has dabbled in different categories over the years, Jarritos and sparkling mineral water Mineragua have been its primary sales drivers; now, with releases like a reduced sugar Jarritos and 16.4 oz. RTD boba tea Jarri Boba, it’s looking beyond.
Having Jarritos’ support brings a higher profile, as seen from the collaboration’s kick-off celebration last weekend in Los Angeles – a multi-day event complete with a mural commissioned to mark the partnership, a mariachi band (naturally), and a screening of the documentary. That approach hints at how the project will go deeper in Latin culture; its official retail launch is timed for Hispanic Heritage Month in September.
“A lot of Latinos have been waiting for a product like this, and I felt that [and] I’ve always kind of known that,” said Leyva. “And just to really see it pan out the way it has and the community kind of rally behind it and support it to this magnitude is such a dream come true. It’s truly such a blessing.