Kiddiwinks is a line of 100% plant-based beverages in 7.5 ounce cans that aim to emulate the childhood staple, chocolate milk (plus a second flavor, Vanilla). 

The drink uses a base that includes oat milk, chickpea protein, and chicory root fiber. It’s lightly sweetened with sugar, 6 grams per can.  Additional key ingredients include sunflower lecithin, natural flavors, and a mineral blend. The end result are formulations that are 140 calories for Vanilla and 110 calories for Chocolate. Both products have 8 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, and are fortified with vitamin A, vitamin D, iron, calcium, and vitamin B12. They’ve certainly ticked a lot of boxes that will be important to parents.

When it comes to taste, both flavors are enjoyable. Chocolate is, in our opinion, the better of the two thanks to its rich flavor from added cocoa processed with alkali.  It certainly wouldn’t fool anyone looking for dairy-based chocolate milk as the flavor is layered and more complex thanks to the plant-based ingredients. But it’s very tasty in its own right and we definitely appreciate that the flavor is clean and, unlike some of its competitors, doesn’t have an aftertaste.  

As for Vanilla, it’s good too, but the vanilla flavor is derived purely from flavorings which aren't on the same level as in Chocolate.  It could use a bit more depth, whether they adjust the flavorings or go with real vanilla (obviously an increase in ingredient costs). 

On the outside, Kiddiwinks uses a shrink sleeve label with a matte finish. Its monochrome label design uses a light brown for the Chocolate label and an almost pastel blue for the Vanilla label.  The label features an illustrated design that starts with the Kiddiwinks logo at the top, followed by some marketing copy that says “how come so yum?” Beneath this in the center of the label is an illustration of a  playful animal face.  Finally, at the bottom, you’ll find more label copy including the flavor name (“chocolate” or “vanilla”) and “plant-based milk.”  

We think that both the approach and the execution of the branding are quite good, especially for a startup brand. It’s playful and approachable and we like the less technical looking appearance as compared to competitors such as Orgain.  Being in a can is a good potential point of differentiation and one that might help expand the brand’s reach beyond just children.

Overall, Kiddiwinks’ initial effort is a good one. While its Vanilla flavor needs some tuning, the Chocolate variety feels like it is in a very good spot, and  its branding and choice of packaging make for some nice points of differentiation that can serve as a good foundation to build on.