With its quality flavours and variety, United Sodas is revolutionising the industry.
Brooklyn, New York — A Brooklyn-based soft drink firm that has gained celebrity support offers twelve flavours, including pear elderflower, blackberry jam, and cherry pop.
United Sodas of America, Inc. was established a year ago and provides a variety of carbonated drinks in simplistic, colourful cans. In response to the query, “If soda were invented this year, what would it look like, and what would we want it to be?” the brand was created. CEO and co-founder Marisa Zupan stated as much the reason Ms. Zupan, who was previously a brand strategist for businesses like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Absolut, Target, and others, appreciated the name was that it expressed the vision of what she and her team are attempting to achieve—becoming the next great American soda company. In addition, we created a platform of variety, superior liquid with fairly basic ingredients, and an improved nutritional profile, all while building the brand around the brand name.
Organic erythritol, stevia, and a small amount of cane sugar are used to sweeten the drinks, which have 30 calories per drink. Other tastes include orange nectarine, mango, ginger ale, toasted coconut, sour blueberry, strawberry basil, peach, lemon verbena, pear elderflower, and white grape.
Numerous months after the pandemic began, the brand made its internet debut and swiftly acquired popularity across the country, according to Ms. Zupan, selling out of its variety pack six times in the previous year. Since then, United Sodas has slowly made its way to a few specialty shops including Erewhon, Foxtrot, and Central Market. Some provide the entire range of single cans for sale, which is an uncommon merchandising strategy for startups but very important for the company’s success in the marketplace. According to data, a brand performs better the more units it has on hand, according to Ms. Zupan.
For the brand idea to be understood, she stated, “we are a brand that needs to be seen in at least six to eight units.”
Because of its vibrant colours, many have taken to matching United Sodas cans to events or outfits on social media.
stated Ms. Zupan. Hilary Duff, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Justin Bieber are a few of the A-list fans of the brand. According to Ms. Zupan, United Sodas has an internal concierge team that “handles VIP clients” and offers “white-glove service” in an effort to foster the buzz.
“We enjoy assisting people, regardless of their identity, in utilising soda to accomplish fascinating tasks,” she remarked. Who among you considers soda to be a crucial component of your wedding day preparations? That’s what we assist individuals with. It has been a thought-provoking encounter.
Ms. Zupan talked about United Sodas’s goal to reinterpret the category in a recent interview.
Food Business News: What was the rationale behind United Sodas of America’s founding?
Marisa Zupan: My co-founders and I each have unique perspectives on the beverage industry. I arrive from a background in brands. Throughout my career, I have worked with beverage brands, and I have always found this industry to be fascinating. The backgrounds of my co-founders are more in manufacturing. Having been a member of this environment for a while, we all had a need for disruption and a realisation of what was lacking.
How did you think of all these intriguing tastes?
Ms. Zupan: We were aware that in order to convey the sense of variety and variation of taste, the items themselves were necessary. The idea of developing a colour spectrum was crucial. Every flavour was intended to symbolise a distinct area within that range. In a way, we had to create tastes that symbolised every colour, from crimson to way through purple and indigo.
We made sure to include a variety of flavours, ranging from more conventional options like ginger ale or cherry pop to more contemporary options like strawberry basil, pear elderflower, or blackberry jam.
Working with our flavour team to ensure that everything we wanted to manufacture had the best flavour possible was, of course, another aspect. Part of that was due to the fact that they thought they had some of their most amazing flavors—traits they could only pull off—in their toolkit. The result of all those factors coming together is the variety of flavours we have today.
There were numerous iterations of what is referred to as the beverage’s base. We have our distinctive foundation, which is an organic base of several plant-based sweeteners, including cane sugar, to ensure a uniform nutritional profile throughout. We experimented with variations without cane sugar, but eventually the flavour became quite artificial. Based on the science of components, we deduced that actual sugar, such as a small amount of real cane sugar, satisfies the brain with sweet tastes. If not, there would constantly be a need to find something that tastes like cane sugar and never truly be pleased.
This year, you’re going to be hitting more retail locations. Does United Sodas have a place in traditional retailers?
Ms. Zupan: I believe our the route to becoming conventional will be unorthodox. We truly need to make sure that our conventional partners are aware of the power of the brand’s visual component, just based on the kind of brand we are, how we appear on shelves, and the quantity of SKUs we have. There’s a lot of “Well, let’s multipack you with two SKUs on a lower shelf and see how you do” out there, but that’s not how our brand should establish itself. We truly must demonstrate our individuality, dynamism on the shelf, and brand-operating style, which is multifaceted.
Which flavours are your best-selling ones?
Ms. Zupan: Definitely, the themed assortment pack and online packets greatly surpass any single flavour experience that consumers select. We now consider that style of purchasing to be quite distinctive. We discovered that when you stock a range of flavors—which we usually do—they all sell equally well. I realise that seems absurd, but The velocity data on this have been shown to us. Our tasks are a little more challenging operationally because we have to keep 12 SKUs on the market. However, it just goes to show that you can get this even sell-through if you balance the flavours the way we have, with a little bit for everyone.
In terms of United Sodas product development, where can you go from here?
Mrs. Zupan: We’ll have no trouble creating additional variations. We don’t have a hero flavour where everything else is incidental. Every product we create will have a carefully considered launch that ties with our product launch by having a flavour, seasonal, or cultural relevance. Currently, we are working on a number of these.
Another thing we can do is change the way the cans appear collectively. When it comes to internet marketing, we can offer bundles based on various flavour combinations that correspond to various cultural, seasonal, and fashion trends. Our ability to mix and match our current brand also aids us in using a creative marketing strategy. Is it possible for us to blend flavours, similar to the concept of Jelly Belly?
where a third flavour is produced by combining two flavours?
What difficulties did you encounter throughout your first year in business?
Mrs. Zupan: Many of the difficulties stem from meeting demand. Our retail predictions turned out to be four times lower than we had anticipated. We don’t yet possess our own facility, so a quadruple capacity problem is different from a double capacity one. Due of our youth, we collaborate with a network of copackers who are likewise subject to limitations.