Innovators in the beverage industry never cease to impress me. A few years back, I saw Odwalla smoothies for $3 and ZICO coconut waters for $4 and thought no way. Not for my poor credit card. Now I’m seeing cold-pressed organic juices on the shelves for upwards of $10! The amazing thing is, even with such high prices, beverage suppliers are managing to make it out of this highly competitive industry alive and with flying colors. Breaking into the lucrative beverage industry is not easy; nor is it impossible. Here’s how the leading brands have done it:
1. Research research research
And when you think you’ve done enough research, do more. Find out how existing beverage distributors are serving their customers. How can you do it differently and do it better? David Bryce and Jeffrey Dyer from the Harvard Business Review call this, ‘Indirect Assault.’ Strategic market entrants don’t challenge well-established brands at what they’re good at. “They don’t duplicate existing business models; they don’t compete for crowded distribution channels,” say Bryce and Dyer. Instead, they look for faults or weak links, and attack. Also ask, what technologies can you utilize that competitors have not caught on to? What will allow you to simplify your supply chain and reduce your costs to get ahead of the game? What resources do you already have that you can extract the most profit out of? What is the most cost effective marketing strategy? the best pricing strategy? The list goes on and on.
2. Solve a problem
Gatorade saw that athletes needed energy. Red Bull excelled because college students needed a quick fix to power through all-nighters. Odwalla saw that not everyone wanted to buy an expensive blender and lots of produce every week. Finally, Suja and Green Juice caught onto the demand for something healthy, fortifying, and organic while others are now trying to fulfill the desire of going green. So what’s next? Well that’s for you to figure out. One way that innovators have been identifying problems and finding trends is by narrowing down their focus to a particular consumer—a niche. With sports drinks it was athletes, and for cold-pressed juices it’s yogis. By focusing on one type of consumer, you can pull them out from under your competitors like the health-oriented beverage companies did from Coca-Cola and Pepsi. These soda companies are now trying to shift gears to catch up with the trend when consumer demand has already been met.
3. Foster connections
ZICO founder, Mark Rampolla, realized the importance of having strong relationships with good connections and used it to his advantage. Before even producing his first bottle, he sought to establish a relationship with Coca-Cola, a connection anyone can see value in. Again, this required some research. As you can imagine, you can’t just ask Coke to have your back. You have to give them a reason to want to, and that’s exactly what Rampolla did. He found that his strategies and vision would resonate with Coca-Cola. “I couldn’t think of a better partner to help us achieve our goals and hoped ZICO would grow to play a part in helping this mega-corporation be more active in health and wellness,” he said. Rampolla came out strong, tying together problem-solving, research, and connections. Today, ZICO can be found in over 30,000 stores in the US and is experiencing growth rates of over 50% every year.
Breaking into the beverage industry is a lot of work, but when done right can be incredibly rewarding. Warn your wallets consumers. We may be seeing some $20 drinks in grocery stores very shortly.
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