Califa Farms Achieves Most Successful Product Launch To-Date: Here’s Why

Califa Farms, the maker of plant-based beverages that are packaged in unique curvy bottles, has experienced their most successful product launch to-date with the introduction of their new line of fermented dairy-free yogurt drinks. The new line of probiotic beverages incorporates multiple consumer trends and is finding success in nearly 7,000 stores across 47 states.

The company has found unprecedented success with cross-channel distribution in a variety of store formats such as c-stores, traditional brick-and-mortar grocery stores, health food stores, drug stores and online. This cross-channel adoption allows Califa’s innovative new products to have an expansive reach throughout multiple consumer demographics and plays a key role in their successful launch. In fact, the company achieved a 60 percent gain in the latest 12 weeks versus last year. With over 42 retail chains in the US offering Califa’s Probiotic Dairy Free Yogurt drinks, it really speaks towards the current demand for innovative dairy and meat alternatives.

“The immediate appeal of our new Probiotic Dairy Free Yogurt drinks across a wide variety of retail channels underscores the increased demand and mass acceptance for innovative plant-based products that have a great taste profile,” said Greg Steltenpohl, co-founder and CEO of Califia Farms. “In just four months after launch, our Probiotic Yogurts have nearly 28,000 points of distribution – which is a major achievement for an independent company like Califia. To put in perspective, it normally takes several years for new products to incubate in natural and specialty stores before being picked up by mainstream retailers. This represents a real tipping point for the future of the category.”

Califa’s immense success can also be attributed to the qualities of their new product line. The company’s vegan yogurt drinks align with the growing demand for drinkable yogurt in the consumer space. According to Packaged Facts’ recent Breakfast Product Trends report, the retail sales of drinkable yogurt products and yogurt smoothies grew faster than any other category with a 19.9 percent increase from $760 million in 2016 to $911 million in 2017. The product’s segment is expected to continue to grow an additional 13 percent by 2022.

Additionally, the product’s probiotic properties help it to stand out in the growing probiotics market. According to the company, it took them two and a half years to develop their line of probiotic yogurts. In addition to their dairy-free base made of almond, coconut and oat, the company is the first to batch ferment the BB-12 strain of probiotic bacteria, also known as the most documented bifidobacteria in the world, in a non-dairy yogurt. According to research from Markets and Markets, the global demand for probiotics is expected to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of seven percent from 2017 to reach an overall value of $64.02 billion by 2022 with North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific leading the market. These are promising numbers for Califa who has had an amazing start to their unique probiotic product launch.

However, what makes Califa’s new Probiotic Dairy Free Yogurt Drinks so unique is the fact that the product line is completely vegan. As animal welfare continues to be a top priority for North American consumers, there is a growing demand for plant-based, dairy-free and vegan food options. This is why major food companies such as Aldi, Maple Leaf and KFC have invested in adding vegan or vegetarian food options to their portfolio. In terms of vegan dairy products specifically, this segment is expected to continue to grow as the sales of conventional dairy products are expected decline by 11 percent by 2020.

It seems that Califa Farms was able to achieve such impressive results after their product launch because they invested in cross-channel distribution and incorporated multiple consumer trends in a single product.