Back in 2006, we covered an ancient commodity that was being marketed in a fresh way—mastiha, made from resin of the mastic tree, which is mainly cultivated on the Greek island of Chios. As we pointed out, mastiha (or mastic) is used in a wide variety of products, and Mastihashops—founded by the Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association—carry everything from mastiha-flavoured coffee, biscuits and liqueur, to toothpaste, cosmetics and chewing gum. All well-branded and sleekly packaged.
So we were pleased to hear that Mastihashop has made it to New York, its first retail outpost west of Greece. The shop, located at 145 Orchard Street, was opened by two sisters, Artemis and Kalliopi Kohas, who spent many childhood summers on Chios. The New York store sells an extensive range of edible goods and skincare products, from the raw material—'tears' of mastic resin—to mastiha eye cream. Naturally, there's still plenty of room for mastiha expansion. Sao Paulo or Singapore, anyone?
Website: www.mastihashop.com
Contact: info@mastihashopny.com
Last year we wrote about VIZcap, a bottling innovation that lets consumers release vitamins and other supplements into bottled water just before they drink it, and now a new line of health drinks has launched based on much the same idea.
Los Angeles-based Activate Drinks, which debuted earlier this spring, is a line of vitamin-enhanced waters that don't get mixed until the consumer is ready to drink them. Working on the premise that vitamins deteriorate in water over time, Activate Drinks are packaged in bottles featuring a special top, similar to the VIZcap, in which the vitamins and other supplements are stored separately in order to protect their freshness. When the consumer twists the cap on an Activate bottle, a small plastic blade within cuts the seal in the cap's waterproof chamber. Simultaneously, a small armature opens the chamber, allowing the ingredients to drop into the water below. (There's even a video on YouTube to demonstrate.) Four varieties currently make up the Activate Drinks line, including a Fruit Punch flavour packed with vitamins, an Orange flavour with supplements for immunity, an antioxidant-enriched Berry version and a Lemon Lime energy drink. No preservatives or sugar are included, and each drink contains 5 calories per bottle.
With a suggested retail price of USD 2.29 per bottle, Activate Drinks are currently available in a variety of stores throughout Southern California—meaning distribution opportunities likely abound throughout the rest of the world. Alternatively, we still love the idea of using caps like this for ready-to-mix bottles of baby formula; how about bringing the twist-and-release concept to other types of drinks? It's a thirsty world out there—no shortage of opportunities! (Related: Sipping flavour into milk.)
Website: www.activatedrinks.com
Contact: info@activatedrinks.com
Spotted by: Jamie Reedy
Lattes and cappuccinos may have achieved near-cult status around much of the world, but health benefits are not typically among their virtues. A new contender fresh out of South Africa is now proposing a healthier alternative: espresso made from red tea.
Back in 2005, South African Cape farmer and espresso junkie Carl Pretorius walked into his kitchen for a quick fix. Worrying about the caffeine, though, he opened up Rooibos red tea instead and poured it into the handle of his espresso machine. red espresso was born, featuring a strong, slightly nutty flavour and a clean finish. The Rooibos used for red espresso is grown wild and hand-harvested from a single farm at the highest altitudes in South Africa's Cedarberg Mountains. A patented cut and method of preparation give red espresso richer flavour, colour and health properties than regular Rooibos, yet it is still naturally caffeine-free and is claimed to contain five times more antioxidants than green tea—a full 10 times more than regular Rooibos tea itself. Like coffee-based espresso, it can also be made into lattes and cappuccino-style drinks.
red espresso launched into the South African market in November 2005, and won a Product of the Year award just a year later in an important South African food and beverage innovation competition. By the end of 2006 it made its way around the globe, and last fall it earned a spot on the shelves at Whole Foods markets around the US. Those in food and beverage: one to serve up to the rest of the world.
Website: www.redespresso.com
Contact: info@redespresso.com
Spotted by: Marijke Krabbenbos
It's estimated that one in every three traffic fatalities in Europe involve alcohol-impaired drivers. In the US, alcohol-related car crashes kill someone every 31 minutes, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the problem extends around the world. Blow Me is a UK-based company that hopes to reduce such statistics by bringing its mobile alcohol breath-testing service to private and corporate events.
Event organizers can hire Blow Me to attend any party or other happening where alcohol will be served. With the same equipment used by police forces throughout the UK, Blow Me's trained team conducts unlimited alcohol breath tests for event guests in a non-threatening and professional manner. Both branded and unbranded packages are available, and Blow Me's staff will follow any dress code to suit the occasion—tux and ties if needed. They can offer custom promotional materials, if requested, as well as information for guests about local transport options. The result, Blow Me hopes, is that more people will think twice before getting behind the wheel. Package prices start at GBP 695.
Launched in 2006, London-based Blow Me serves clients all over Europe; by January of this year it had stopped more than 1,000 people from unknowingly driving drunk, founder Sam Rose says. Undoubtedly it has also enhanced many a company's corporate image. Blow Me is currently considering franchising the brand—one to bring to an area near you?
Website: www.alcoholbreathtesting.com
Contact: info@alcoholbreathtesting.com
The line between kid and adult beverages began to blur a few years ago, when vintners began offering wines in Tetra Paks resembling juice boxes. Now, the confusion goes the other way with First Blush's Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay fruit juices. First Blush varietal grape juices are alcohol-free and entirely suitable for kids, with no added sugar or preservatives. Like wine, however, they're also full of polyphenol antioxidants. Launched last May, the drinks are available in upscale grocers such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats, along with delis and restaurants in select states nationwide. Retail pricing is about USD 4 for each 16-ounce bottle.
Juice is already well-entrenched in the world of 'snobmoddities', as we've noted before. But rather than focusing on organic ingredients, as so many others are currently doing, First Blush takes a different approach with its use of grape varietals. It just goes to show: not only can everything be upgraded, but there's usually more than one way to do so!
Website: www.firstblushjuice.com
Contact: sales@firstblushjuice.com
Spotted by: Martina Meng
Korean-style frozen yoghurt stores like Pinkberry and Red Mango, which we featured in 2006, are popping up across the US, hooking consumers on a dessert that’s tangier and less sweet than fro-yo of yore. Entering a crowded market, a small Californian chain has come up with a simple sales model that sets it apart from the competition. Customers serve themselves at Yogurtland—choosing from 16 frozen yoghurt flavours and 33 varieties of fruit and other toppings—and pay USD 0.30 an ounce, no matter which toppings they’ve picked. To stress the simple pricing, it’s printed on staff members’ shirts.
Besides offering customers the opportunity to create exactly the dessert they want, it wouldn’t surprise us if the portions they serve themselves are larger than they would buy if faced with the choice between small, medium and large. One to look into if you’re thinking of bringing new style frozen yoghurt to other parts of the world.
Website: www.yogurt-land.com
Contact: info@yogurt-land.com
Spotted by: Amy Leung
Wine may be enjoying new popularity, but that doesn't mean the average consumer isn't still daunted by the knowledge it takes to pick a bottle they'll like. We've written about several efforts to simplify the process, and now WineSide is taking a novel approach by offering wines packaged in sample-sized tubes.
WineSide offers both sweet and classic wines in patented, flat-base glass tubes with screw tops carefully engineered to protect the wines' flavour. The sweet wines—which include Sauternes and Muscat, for example—are available in 6cl tubes, while the Pomerol, Chateau Neuf du Pape and other classic wines can be purchased in 6cl or 10cl sizes. WineSide's collection represents a range of appellations and producers; tubes are available individually or by the box, which can be chosen to provide an introduction to a variety, year or region. Kicking off retail sales, the products are available exclusively at Colette in Paris this month.
In addition to giving consumers a new way to sample and discover wines, WineSide's tube format also promises to give vintners new tryvertising capabilities at relatively low cost. The French company's website is still under construction, but it says it is looking for distributors. One to get in on early!
Website: www.wineside.net
Contact: vincent@wineside.fr
Spotted by: Jean Friesewinkel
Last November, we featured Picnics on the Piste, a high-end catering firm that organizes gourmet meals for skiers right on the mountainsides of plush winter resorts in Austria, France and Switzerland. While affluent travellers increasingly seek out memorable experiences of the kind Picnics on the Piste offers, an even larger market exists for companies that can make it faster and easier for vacationers to buy everyday foods and household supplies for their holiday abode.
A new UK firm, Snowman’s Larder, is helping pioneer that niche in two neighbouring French ski resorts: Val d'Isère and Tignes. Customers can order online before they leave home, select a delivery time, then wait for their order upon reaching their apartment or chalet. To be sure, provisioning services have been around for a long time. Whether you’re vacationing in a time-share unit, motor home or sailing yacht, companies can set you up with food and supplies in just about any major resort area. But Snowman’s Larder is unique in several respects: the company says it can save travellers money by shopping in resort-area supermarkets instead of the higher-priced convenience stores at the resorts themselves, which shows how it has taken a business model skewed toward the affluent and adapted it to average vacationers. Snowman’s Larder’s also caters specifically to UK travellers, providing them with foods they’re familiar with.
Plenty of variations could work with this model, of course. If British food works in the French Alps, for example, kosher meals might just as easily work in the Colorado Rockies. The trick, in either case, is finding potential customers without spending much on marketing. Solve that issue and you might find yourself running a profitable company in the kind of location others can only dream of. (Related: Helping parents travel lighter.)
Website: www.snowmans-larder.com
Contact: info@snowmans-larder.net
Spotted by: Katie Rowen
