As the soda category reshapes itself under the influence of new better-for-you brands, South African soda and kids beverage producer Pura is seeking a slice of the pie in America.
The eight-year-old business has launched in the U.S., rolling out its kids beverage line in retailers like H-E-B, Harris Teeter and OTG while its low sugar sodas are now available online via Amazon with eyes set on a bigger retail push in the near future.
The launch has been a long time coming for Pura, according to founder and CEO Greig Jansen, a former CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa from 2009 to 2014. Recognizing the resurgence of CSDs in the U.S. market under the lead of next gen brands like Olipop and PepsiCo’s Poppi, Jansen said the timing was right for Pura to expand by positioning itself as a “simplified” alternative with just four ingredients.
“We looked at products where innovation meets scale, and if you look at what Poppi and Olipop have done in the soda space, you’ll understand that soda is a place where you want to be – there’s definitely scale there,” Jansen told BevNET. “Effectively, the innovation we’ve sought is around the fact that simplicity is, simply, the new functionality.”
Pura’s sodas in South Africa are lightly sweetened with cane sugar (around 4-5 grams per 100mL serving) while the redesigned U.S. version is touting 12-13 grams per 10.1 oz. can. The American rollout includes Cucumber & Lime, Seville Orange, Pomegranate, Lemon & Elderflower and Cranberry flavors and are available in 24-packs for $34.99.
The Pura Kids line of juice boxes includes Lemonade, Mixed Berry, Peach, Watermelon and Pink Apple flavors with 7-8 grams of sugar per 6.76 oz. carton. The line is available in 6-packs for $14.99.
“I think what we’re seeing is consumers are pushing back at artificial sweeteners or sweetener alternatives like stevia and monk fruit,” Jansen said. “And literally, they’re looking for the real thing, just a little bit of it. So, the pure, natural cane sugar we use seems to be resonating very well.”
The new packaging design, he added, has been well received and Pura is now looking to transition its entire global portfolio to the updated label.
According to Jansen, Pura’s largest market is still its backyard of Southern Africa and is exporting to 13 countries, but the larger goal is for the company to produce a “global brand” making the U.S. a longtime goal for the business.
The company has now raised a round of funding from an undisclosed investor to support the international expansion and is now working to build out local teams in the U.S.
“What we found to be successful is taking people from corporates who’ve got some entrepreneurial experience,” he said. “So how we word it in our business is we like recruiting people who’ve got nuclear warfare experience, but our guerrilla fight is at heart, because at the end of the day we’re audacious, but we need people with that experience who know what to do, but just do it in a in a maverick way.”
As Pura prepares to also introduce its sodas to U.S. retail, Jansen said the company intends to focus on specific regions, including the Midwest, East Coast and Texas. In addition to conventional grocery, the brand is also targeting airport and travel accounts.
As for actually claiming a stake in a highly competitive category, Jansen isn’t worried. Whether it’s smaller brands – naming Zevia as perhaps its most direct competitor – or large strategics, he said Pura has managed to hold its own against well-established businesses in foreign markets and he believes a similar approach can also win here.
“We know how we compete against them, and we compete very, very strongly against them as well as the Coke and Pepsi products,” he said. “In terms of the U.S. market, simply put, you know, we have less sugar than the traditional sodas, we out taste and out sparkle the sparkling waters.”