Frozen Smoothie Kits Launch Nationally at Expo West 2023
DURHAM, N.C. –Seal the Seasons has chosen Expo West to announce the national launch new of their new Smoothie Kit innovation lines now available in 10 UNFI and KeHe warehouses. The origin of the new product line can be traced back to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up and lockdowns changed Americans lives overnight, as that’s when the frozen fruit category was changed forever. The category became one of the fastest growing categories in the frozen aisles, growing up to 56% YoY during the March – May 2020 time period.1
During the months and years following this accelerant to the frozen fruit category, a new subcategory emerged as new consumers flocked to the frozen fruit section – smoothie kits. Customers that were new to buying frozen fruit and smoothie ingredients needed an option that empowered them to make quality crafted smoothies in their blender at home. That’s where brands such as Seal the Seasons, Evive, and Blendtopia came in.
“We designed these Smoothie Kits with fan input, centered on trending flavor profiles with hard-to-measure ingredients. We want to make eating healthy smoothies as easy and accessible as possible. The initial reaction and velocity results over the first 24 weeks have surpassed our internal goals.” said Alex Piasecki, Co-Founder & COO of Seal the Seasons.
Expo West attendees who stop by Seal the Seasons booth (#E5535) will be some of the first on the west coast to try the innovative smoothie kits. “We quietly debuted them at Expo East last fall as we launched exclusively on the East Coast,” said Piasecki. “Now that we have the data, production and national distribution set up, we knew Expo West was the perfect event highlight this new addition to our portfolio.”
The initial line is made up of 4 skus: Super Greens Cleanse, Acai Antioxidant, Dragon Fruit Probiotic Blend and Plant Protein Mix. Unlike other smoothie kits, Seal the Seasons pairs whole premium fruit from local family farms, with propriety frozen SuperFood gems. “For our smoothies we created a proprietary frozen cube we refer to as SuperFood Gems. It allows us to include proven essentials and nutrients such as pea protein, probiotics, or kale just to name a few. These were into blended and frozen into gems and are mixed in with the frozen fruit,” said Piasecki.
Each 24oz bag contains enough individual fruit and superfood gems for 5-6 full size smoothies. Consumers only need to add their liquid of choice (water, coconut water, or plant-based milk). Piasecki added that Fan input also showed people prefer controlling the amount of fruit that goes into their smoothie over pre-mixed bag in bag smoothie kit options.
In the past 5 months, Seal the Seasons Smoothie Kits have risen to the top of the subcategory and can be found at over 800 retailers including Harris Teeter, Wegmans, Lowes Foods, Central Markets, and as well as various independent grocers.
Seal the Seasons is one of the only frozen fruit brands showing double digit dollar sales growth over all 4, 12, 24 and 52 week periods in both the MULO and the Natural Channel. The brands growth is especially strong given the flat MULO category and slump in the natural channel for frozen fruit sales nationwide. Seal the Seasons dollar sales growth outpaces the MULO channel by 24 points and the Natural channel by 50 points.
The company currently has 65+ unique local SKUs available – supporting over 120+ farms and utilizing over 12 freezing and packing sites across the United States.
