Healthy Beverage Innovation
Healthy startups need healthy employees and leaders to succeed, TumericALIVE exec notes
“Startups take an enormous physical and mental energy. Everyone underestimates that. Don’t! Your fitness and diet play directly into your ability to handle situations and pour your best into manifesting success,” said Greg Fleishman, chief operating officer at TumericALIVE.
Speaking from experience, Fleishman recalled when he worked 12-plus hour days at another health food company. He said he often ate In-N-Out Burger for dinners on the go, and he constantly felt “beat up and drained.” But when he became vegan and started eating healthier he had more energy mentally and physically to not only tackle a 12-hour day, but to enjoy it.
“When you are not taking care of your health and have no way to channel stress,” entrepreneurs lose their stamina and can “look like all the life is sucked out of them,” which is not good for business -- especially when the company they represent markets a food or beverage that is supposed to provide sustenance and energy, he said.
TumericALIVE’s new line of “drinkable meals” is well-positioned to help busy professionals and time-crunched consumers alike avoid this fate by providing a healthy on-the-go option that is more substantial than a smoothie, but still light so people will not feel weighed down and slow, Fleishman said.
The flagship product in the line, Turmeric Golden Milk, is an adaptation of an ayurvedic recipe that includes essential fatty acids from coconut cream and hemp milk, plus the 16 grams of Hawaiian gold turmeric that is a signature ingredient in the firm’s beverages.
TumericALIVE is market testing two additional stock-keeping-units in the line beginning this month at Whole Foods Market stores in the northeast, southwest and northwest, Fleishman said. These will include Matcha Latte Superblend and Bullet Brew Turkish Coffee Superblend.
The new line also is well-timed to tap into the sugar reduction trend, Fleishman added.
Whole food energy shots
TumericALIVE also is exploring how best to position its line of PurePRANA 3-ounce liquid shots of concentrated elixir, which are a healthy, whole food-based alternative to the popular caffeine-based energy shots sold in the crowded supplement category.
The organic herbal product is four times as potent as the firm’s other elixirs and include ingredients such as ashwagandha, yerba mate, tulsi, turmeric, ginger, coconut oil and nectar and other spices.
The line launched two years ago, but TumericALIVE wants to leverage learnings gathered during that time to better position and build up the line, Fleishman said. Specifically, the firm is working with Whole Foods Market to determine where in the stores to shelves the shots.
Early data shows the shots are more successful when placed with functional beverages and whole food juices, rather than with supplements. He noted that most of TumericALIVE’s consumers want minimally processed foods as the source for their nutrients and might not think to look in the aisle with the supplements, which they may view as far removed from nature.
Original line supports health
While not as directly aimed at on-the-go consumers, TumericALIVE’s original Tumeric–Elixir of Life line of herbal drinks also can help consumers stay healthy.
This line is positioned as a sports recovery drink that is heavily marketed to yogis and athletes, but also serves as a refreshing beverage for “everyone looking to live better, work harder and feel stronger,” according to the firm’s website.
“Tumeric – Elixir of Life is for anyone committed to a healthy lifestyle. Our sole purpose is supporting a positive inflammation response” in people who drink our beverages, Fleishman said, adding: “One root cause of many health issues is attributed to how your body responds to inflammation, positively and negatively.”
He explained each 12-ounce bottle of Tumeric-Elixir of Life includes “our own specially grown Hawaiian Gold Turmeric plus key adaptogenic spices” necessary to boost the bioavailability of the turmeric root, which according to published research contains more than two dozen anti-inflammatory compounds, including six inhibitors that selectively block the enzyme that promotes pain, swelling and inflammation.
The firm uses fresh Hawaiian Gold turmeric, and not powders or extracts, because the company founder Daniel Sullivan “fell in love with the magic root” while at a yoga retreat in Hawaii and found it was the most effective source for turmeric and curcumin, according to Fleishman.
Because not everyone has access to eat fresh turmeric out of the ground as Sullivan did while he was in Hawaii, he opted to deliver “fresh enzymatic turmeric” to the masses in the form of high pressure processed beverages, according to the website.
The firm opted for the trendy HPP rather than using high heat to pasteurize its drinks to “protect the flavor experience and extend the shelf life of beverages using ‘green and clean’ ingredients,” like those in the elixirs, Fleishman said.
The beverages, which currently are distributed at natural food stores, such as Whole Foods Market and Sprouts, and in yoga studios, are available in a wide range of flavors, including coconut nectar, turmeric pineapple, vanilla bean, mineral green, Brooklyn beet and others.
All of the juices are certified non-GMO and all but those that include honey are certified organic. All the ingredients besides honey in the other drinks are certified organic, Fleishman said, adding that the certifications give the company and consumers peace of mind about what is in the drinks.
Being local while distributing nationwide
TumericALIVE also positions its beverages to take advantage of consumers’ rising interest in local ingredients and products, even though it is distributed nationally.
It does this in part by sourcing as many ingredients as possible from farms local to its New York manufacturing plant and supporting family-owned and operated organic farms, according to its website.
The firm also takes “local” claims beyond its ingredients and into the community by supporting local non-profits and schools. According to the website, TumericALIVE donates a portion of its sales to improving the quality of food in school systems and has been involved in several special events, such as the Pencils of Promise Gala in 2011 that raised more than $1 million to build schools in developing countries.
Social responsibility increasingly is important to consumers who want to spend money on products that the perceive as helping larger issues that they care about.
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