Aloha Looks to “Provide Options” With New Launches

Brad Avery

Plant-based protein brand Aloha is getting ready to become a more serious beverage player.

The Colorado-based, plant-based CPG brand, which makes bars, powders and protein drinks, announced this week a line extension of its ready-to-drink beverages, adding new rPET plastic-packaged variations of its core flavors. The addition will complement its existing Tetra Pak offerings. The launch also accompanies the debut of a new caffeinated Iced Coffee flavor, Aloha’s first new beverage flavor since 2019.

While 70% of Aloha’s sales are through ecommerce, its RTD products are primarily sold in retail, CEO Brad Charron said. The rollout in rPET is expected to give its RTD line a boost in online sales and he noted that the company had challenges shipping its carton products, which have a tendency to get damaged in the mail.

As well, the move to bottles further strengthens its retail business by giving the brand an advantage for grab and go placements. Tetra cartons, Charron noted, are more suited to multipacks and at-home use occasions. He added that the branding is intended to have a billboard effect and Aloha will aim to seize on the re-emergence of on-the-go use occasions as the pandemic winds down in the U.S.

“We’re just trying to give the consumer options to find and consume the brand and the product as they wish,” Charron said. “Our job is to provide options, and so we’re just trying to find ways to get people to meet us, especially as they come out of this pandemic and their eyes open and they get back to life.”

Though many food and beverage brands are attempting to shift away from plastic to be more sustainable, Charron said the emphasis on using recycled plastic is important for the brand, which recently received B Corp certification, and continues its mission to provide better-for-you, environmentally friendly products.

According to the company’s internal data, Aloha’s drink sales grew dollar sales in MULO 41% year-over-year for the previous 12 weeks. In the same period, the brand’s bars were up 45% in the natural channel, where it is sold primarily in Sprouts.

Charron said Aloha is currently in “distribution expansion mode” but is taking an even-paced, purposeful approach and is not aiming to quickly add “thousands and thousands” of doors — a strategy he said that stems from his experience as SVP of marketing at Chobani. Currently sold in Wegmans, Shop Rite, Harris Teeter, The Fresh Market and several Kroger banners, the brand is now targeting expansion in the natural channel and is shoring up its trade marketing efforts by investing in displays and shippers.

Aloha is continuing to emphasize digital and social media marketing for its consumer-facing campaigns and has launched online advertising campaigns designed to drive traffic to Sprouts and Wegmans stores through custom landing pages and geo-targeted campaigns. With the launch of the rPET line, the company intends to do more to emphasize its beverage business, Charron said.

“Now that we have bottles as a vehicle where we can have the great customer experience come through, where I feel very certain that if you order a box of bottles from us it’s going to come to your door in great condition, now we’re going to be pushing it,” he said. “We’re ready to be a player in the broader beverage business now.”

In addition to the bottles, Aloha is expanding its RTD line with an Iced Coffee flavor of its protein shakes, made with Fair Trade certified coffee beans. Each 12 oz. bottle contains 20 grams of plant-based protein, 5 grams of sugar and is USDA organic and Non-GMO project certified. The flavor launches online on May 13.

“I didn’t want to make a coffee drink just because it’s ranked X in the SPINS report or so-and-so brand has one,” Charron said. “I wanted a coffee drink that would be really smooth, that wouldn’t have bitter offnotes, that wouldn’t taste like a protein drink trying to do coffee. So that’s what we did. It’s an iced coffee that doesn’t taste like a protein drink that has a really smooth coffee flavor.”

Beyond beverages, Aloha’s bars still make up the majority of its sales. While drinks will continue to dominate Aloha’s retail presence, the brand is expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint for the line by adding 158 The Fresh Market stores next month. The bars are currently only in Sprouts stores in the natural channel, but Charron said the company is ready to begin adding new accounts.

Aloha is also launching a limited edition Peanut Butter Cup flavor, which is an update on its previous peanut butter offering but dipped in chocolate, Charron said. The brand also introduced a Coconut Chocolate Almond flavor to the line.

With its portfolio now taking a more solid shape, Charron said he hopes to tap into Aloha’s full offering to establish a stronger place in the market, including building out full product sets in stores.

“I want brand blocks, I want people to find the whole offering,” he said. “This is not about one product at a time. This is about platform by platform.”