Adding a twist
Some juice marketers are differentiating by giving new spins to classic beverages. That’s what you find with Chicago-based Poppilu L.L.C., which is rolling out a line of namesake lemonades marketed for their antioxidant content. They carry the tagline: “bold on citrus, not on sugar.” In order to deliver as promised, each flavor of Poppilu contains 16% to 19% lemon juice and aronia berries. To bring the flavors together, Poppilu is sweetened with a blend of sugar and stevia, yielding a beverage with 60 calories and 14 grams of sugar per 12-oz bottle. Poppilu comes in three varieties. Original is lemonade with aronia berry, which gives the beverage a pink hue. The other two varieties — blueberry lavender and passionfruit — include additional fruit juices.
Unilever, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is differentiating in the R.-T.-D. tea category with its Pure Leaf’s Tea House Collection, which features blends of organic tea, brewed in small batches and blended with fruits and herbs. Varieties are: Fuji apple and ginger green tea, Sicilian lemon and honeysuckle black tea, Valencia orange peel black tea, and wild blackberry and sage black tea.
The combinations of the familiar with something exotic appeal to today’s adventure-seeking consumer. Many combinations suggest benefits beyond hydration and refreshment.
Ms. Sexton said consumers were introduced to exotic beverages in 2016, and they started gaining momentum in 2017.
“In order for brands to differentiate, they needed to diversify,” Ms. Sexton said. “Think charcoal lemonade. Turmeric being added to juice. It’s all about adding value to further enhance the health and wellness attributes of the beverage.”
This summer, Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice introduced Carrot Ginger Turmeric Juice. Made with four ingredients — American-sourced carrots and apples, and a mix of ginger and turmeric — the juice blend is crafted to fight inflammation, said Ms. Sexton.
