06.01.01
He’s an innovator because...as the innovator behind Odwalla juices, he combined fresh juice, botanicals and other ingredients into a hugely popular genre of natural/healthy beverages.
The Background:
Brian Lovejoy is co-founder and president of Drinks That Work, Inc., a manufacturer of herbal beverages that provide truly efficacious doses of herbs. He was formerly vice president-marketing and product leadership at Odwalla Inc., where he was responsible for product strategy, brand development and product development. While at Odwalla, he developed and launched over 30 products including concept and formulation of the entire nutritional and herbal beverage lines, the first such products in the industry.
Words of Wisdom:
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced thus far?
“Getting the attention of and focus from mainstream beverage distributors. Most are only interested in established brands or concepts and don’t want to pioneer new ideas. We are having to do it for them.”
What should be the measure of success in our industry?
“We measure success by repeat sales levels and consumer intercepts; the question is how they are responding to the product and we know through market research that 77% of purchases are being made by repeat customers and 100% of these people are buying again because it really works.
“We started this company because we wanted to make a difference and get people to treat their mind and body as well as they treat their automobile. This is high performance nutrition; we want people to ‘drink different.’”
Where would you like to see your company/your work/your industry in five years?
“In five years I want us to be viewed as an industry innovator, as a company that is making a credible phytoceutical beverage. That’s why we focused on kava and the energy category, because there are recognizable benefits.
“I’d also like to see us all playing on the same playing field—all as supplements or all as foods. We consider ourselves a supplement, because we are giving a therapeutic dose of an ingredient, but we are playing against ‘foods.’ We should all be regulated the same way, be allowed the same label claims, be taxed the same way.”
Are we making a difference?
“From the perspective of the nutraceutical beverage industry, not yet. Industrywide we need to do a better job of informing consumers and the media about what nutraceuticals are. We are letting the SoBe’s of the world define the business; these are not phytobeverages, it’s ‘herbaltainment’ and we are losing ground.”
If you could change one thing, on an industry-wide scale, that would open up new opportunities for all industry, what would it be?
“I’d like us all to be on the same side. The medical community, the food industry, the dietary supplement industry, the pharmaceutical industry and regulators—we should all be working together on what’s in the best interest of the consumer in terms of information about their health.”
The Background:
Brian Lovejoy is co-founder and president of Drinks That Work, Inc., a manufacturer of herbal beverages that provide truly efficacious doses of herbs. He was formerly vice president-marketing and product leadership at Odwalla Inc., where he was responsible for product strategy, brand development and product development. While at Odwalla, he developed and launched over 30 products including concept and formulation of the entire nutritional and herbal beverage lines, the first such products in the industry.
Words of Wisdom:
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced thus far?
“Getting the attention of and focus from mainstream beverage distributors. Most are only interested in established brands or concepts and don’t want to pioneer new ideas. We are having to do it for them.”
What should be the measure of success in our industry?
“We measure success by repeat sales levels and consumer intercepts; the question is how they are responding to the product and we know through market research that 77% of purchases are being made by repeat customers and 100% of these people are buying again because it really works.
“We started this company because we wanted to make a difference and get people to treat their mind and body as well as they treat their automobile. This is high performance nutrition; we want people to ‘drink different.’”
Where would you like to see your company/your work/your industry in five years?
“In five years I want us to be viewed as an industry innovator, as a company that is making a credible phytoceutical beverage. That’s why we focused on kava and the energy category, because there are recognizable benefits.
“I’d also like to see us all playing on the same playing field—all as supplements or all as foods. We consider ourselves a supplement, because we are giving a therapeutic dose of an ingredient, but we are playing against ‘foods.’ We should all be regulated the same way, be allowed the same label claims, be taxed the same way.”
Are we making a difference?
“From the perspective of the nutraceutical beverage industry, not yet. Industrywide we need to do a better job of informing consumers and the media about what nutraceuticals are. We are letting the SoBe’s of the world define the business; these are not phytobeverages, it’s ‘herbaltainment’ and we are losing ground.”
If you could change one thing, on an industry-wide scale, that would open up new opportunities for all industry, what would it be?
“I’d like us all to be on the same side. The medical community, the food industry, the dietary supplement industry, the pharmaceutical industry and regulators—we should all be working together on what’s in the best interest of the consumer in terms of information about their health.”