Purity Organic Launches Sparkling Line

Purity Organic is getting in the sparkling water game.

In a press release yesterday, the San Francisco-based organic beverage company announced a new four-SKU line of fruit flavored sparkling waters as the latest addition to its product family, which also includes coconut water, juice and RTD iced tea.

All four varieties — watermelon, lemon, mandarin and grapefruit — contain a combination of 15 percent USDA Certified Organic cold-pressed fruit juice and sparkling water, with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. The new line, which contains between 20 to 30 calories, depending on variety, will be rolling out to retailers in 12 oz. aluminum single serve cans and 4-packs by the end of this month.

Speaking with BevNET, Bernadette Aguirre, director of marketing at Purity Organic, explained that the brand saw an opportunity in the space in between flavored zero-calorie sparkling waters, such as LaCroix, and full-calorie soft drinks.

“We saw that there really wasn’t anything in between,” said Aguirre. As they searched for a happy medium between flavor and low calories, the brand set a target of between 20 and 30 calories and tweaked the formulation until the right balance was achieved.

The choice to exclusively use organic fruit juice for flavoring was also influenced by consumer feedback, as Aguirre noted that respondents found it more appealing than using natural flavors. Even more important, she said, was the addition of 100 percent of the daily recommended allowance of vitamin C to each SKU.

“The vitamin C functionality aspect was actually one of the most important features of the product that was appealing to consumers we talked to,” said Aguirre, calling it an important point of differentiation for the brand. “It ranked even higher than being low-calorie.”

Aguirre said the company views the sparkling water line as having a wide appeal for male and female consumers and being capable of competing within the sparkling water category and also with carbonated, sweetened soft drinks. She said that Purity would be supporting the new line’s launch with a digital media campaign and sampling opportunities, as well as partnerships with local organizations, such as the Eat Real Fest in San Francisco, for co-branded field marketing initiatives.

At retail, Purity will be focusing on distribution through its DSD networks in natural and conventional grocery channels on the East and West Coast, as well as the Mountain region, for the initial rollout of the sparkling line. It will also be available on-premise at select food service partners.