One hundred and thirty-four acai berries, 14 Concord grapes, one purple plum, one apple and one banana are the fruits that make up the “pound of fruit” inside a bottle of Naked Juice’s Purple Machine. The super-premium juice company, Naked Juice, Azusa, Calif., hasn’t deviated from its path since its acquisition at the beginning of the year by PepsiCo, Purchase, N.Y.

“Naked Juice has grown really by sticking to who we are,” says Adam Carr, Naked Juice’s general manager. “Naked Juice is brand that strongly resonates with consumers. We are all about 100 percent juice and using the best bare naked fruit in all of our products.”

Naked Juice traces its origins back to 1983 to the beaches of Santa Monica, Calif., but really started coming to its own in 2000 when North Castle Partners, a private-equity firm in Greenwich, Conn., purchased the brand. North Castle Partners organized Naked Juice with a group of other smaller beverage companies that went by the name Ultimate Juice Co. Naked Juice soon grew large enough to function as its own entity at North Castle Partners.

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PepsiCo acquired Naked Juice at the beginning of 2007, close on the heels of its purchase of Izze Beverages. Both acquisitions add to the company’s portfolio of wellness options. Carr, who worked at PepsiCo prior to the acquisition, joined Naked Juice at the time of the purchase and has been leading the subsidiary ever since.

Naked Juice is organized under the Quaker Oats, Tropicana and Gatorade division of PepsiCo. “Brands such as Tropicana, Quaker Oats and Gatorade have a real commitment to health and wellness, so there is a natural fit for Naked Juice to join the QTG division of PepsiCo,” Carr says.

With sales of more than $150 million, Naked Juice offers more than 25 juices and juice smoothies with no added sugars or preservatives, and has been a leader in innovation.

“PepsiCo was very impressed with Naked Juice–its fantastic growth, its products and its brand positioning,” Carr says. “And so my philosophy coming into the business is to continue to foster what makes this company great and continue to foster the entrepreneurial environment that is very much embedded in the Naked Juice culture. The phenomenal innovation history and the ability to listen to our consumers and understand what they are looking for and to be able to quickly respond.”

Naked innovation

In the past two years, Naked Juice has introduced 12 new varieties, with the help of its consumers.

“We very much pride ourselves in having a set of processes that enable us to regularly talk to our consumers,” Carr says.

Naked Juice pairs consumer feedback with its Science Advisory Board’s expertise. A group of seven doctors, professors, nutritionists and food scientists in fields including safety, pediatrics, food handling, attributes of berries and probiotics work with Naked Juice on development and regulations. “We believe in the functional benefits that our products deliver, and our Science Advisory Board is a way for us to help ensure that we are always leading in innovation,” Carr says.

Naked Juice’s latest innovation demonstrates its ability to listen to consumers, understand what they are looking for, and the ability to quickly deliver. In September, Naked Juice released Naked Juice Probiotic nationwide. Consistent with its other juices and smoothies, the all-natural, no-preservative and no-sugar-added drink also has the benefits of probiotics and prebiotics. Tropical Mango Naked Juice Probiotic is a five-juice blend that contains bifidobacterium, which aids in digestive and immune health. The product also contains prebiotics to stimulate the good bacteria that already are in the digestive tract.

“What we’ve done at Naked Juice is developed and brought to market the first 100 percent juice product with a probiotic and a prebiotic in it,” Carr says. “When consumed regularly, our Naked Juice Probiotic may help the digestive and immune system, and we’re all about having a healthier digestive track and all about having a healthier immune system.”

“Probiotics are friendly microorganisms that really change the balance of the microorganisms that are in one’s digestive track,” Carr continues. “One’s digestive track is actually the largest and most important immune organ.”

Probiotics have appeared in Europe in several different forms for several decades. In North America, the few probiotic products on the market have shown up in the dairy category. North American consumers are just beginning to understand the benefits that probiotics offer, Carr says. Packaged in a 10-ounce container instead of the typical 15.2-ounce Naked Juice bottle size, Naked Juice Probiotic is bottled in the appropriate single-serving size for probiotic benefits, and provides more than two servings of fruit in each bottle.

“What you’re able to get in Naked Juice Probiotic is all the benefits associated with our juice and all of the great taste associated with our juice, but also the benefits that you get from the probiotic and the prebiotic,” Carr says. “… I believe that a lot of consumers who have come to see the great beneficial attributes of a probiotic will look for an alternative from dairy products, and will very much enjoy having the great attributes of Naked Juice Probiotic.”

The introduction of Naked Juice Probiotic follows the creation of the Naked Juice Energy family in May 2006. Naked Juice introduced Strawberry-Kiwi Kick and Orange Mango Motion Energy Smoothies in May and added Black & Blueberry Rush and Cherry Pomegranate Power last fall. Every Naked Juice Energy Smoothie provides 43 mg. of caffeine per serving through green tea extract and guarana; 100 percent of the recommended daily intake of niacin, riboflavin and vitamins B5, B6, B12 and C per serving.

“We listened to consumers and knew there was a real need for a natural energy product,” Carr says. “Hence, we created our energy line, and our energy line provides a natural source of caffeine.”

Naked Juices’ other lines of juices and smoothies all have been developed in much the same way of listening to consumers. Naked Juice’s Well Being line, including Tropical-C and Power-C, contain immune boosters such as vitamin C. The Superfood line includes Purple Machine and Gold Machine, both of which were released last year. Each Superfood beverage has a unique combination of fruits and vegetables, such as Gold Machine, a blend of kiwi, pineapple, yellow passion fruit and banana, boosted with 11 vitamins and minerals, including green tea, vitamin E and grape seed extract for skin health, the company says.

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Naked Juice also has a large Antioxidant family with flavors, such as Berry Blast, Pomegranate, Mighty Mango, Pomegranate Acai, Pomegranate Blueberry and Rainforest Acai. The company also offers Protein Zone, a pineapple, coconut, apple, orange and banana blend, with added whey and soy protein. And of course, Naked Juice offers a line of Just Juice drinks, including Apple, Carrot, O-J and Tangerine Scream.

“We’re excited to have brought to market 12 products in the past two years,” Carr says. “We’re excited to be at the forefront of innovation, and we know that being a leader at something always continues to make it a challenge to stay in that leadership position, and that’s an opportunity that we welcome.”

With more than 25 juices and fruit smoothies, Naked Juice extensively researches each of its varieties to find the right fruit combination. “R&D plays a large role in helping us listen to consumers, and finding fruits that deliver the benefits consumers are looking for and thinking about how to put them together in ways that they create exciting and great tasting products that our consumers expect from Naked Juice,” Carr says.

Nothing to hide

Naked Juice’s marketing takes a cue from its products–innovation is of the utmost importance. Naked Juice was founded in 1983 on the beaches of Santa Monica, Calif. The products were initially marketed “towel to towel,” Carr says. Essentially, the smoothies were taken to the beach in a backpack filled with ice, and marketers would go from towel to towel explaining the benefits of Naked Juice. The company’s grassroots marketing approach is consistent with its attitude today.

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Naked Juice’s marketing approach sets the company apart in the world of consumer products. Naked Juice’s grassroots program is about being in the market and educating consumers. “We believe that consumers want to not only taste our product and understand and see how great tasting the product is, but also our consumer being ‘believers’ in that they want to understand the attributes of the product,” Carr says.

Naked Juice consumers are “believers” in living a healthy lifestyle through a nutritious diet, Carr explains. “Naked Juice consumers believe in real food and they believe in the powerful impact real food can have on their lives,” he says. “A Naked Juice consumer believes in living today and believes in playing today. And what’s impressive about a Naked Juice consumer is they believe in doing the same again tomorrow.”

Building its base of loyal consumers, Naked Juice is beginning to develop a space for its consumers to talk on the Internet. The site named “Naked Juice Nation” is for Naked Juice consumers, called “Bare Believers” who want to talk and learn more about the brand, Carr says. The web site will launch in 2008 and will enable the company to have a dialogue with its consumers on an ongoing basis.

Through Naked Juice Nation and e-mail interaction with consumers Naked Juice plans to learn more about consumer wants and needs. “It’s that starting process for how do we deliver and innovate around what our consumers are looking for,” Carr says.

In addition to its Naked Juice Nation Web site, the company conducted marketing programs to talk to consumers in 10 markets this year. Led by an event manager and his or her team of brand ambassadors, the marketers attend events during the course of a summer in some markets and over the year in others. “We treat each relationship with our consumers on a real one-on-one basis,” Carr says. “We take the time to educate our consumers on the power of Naked Juice as well as letting them taste the product.”

The third element of its marketing program is its guerrilla marketing and sampling campaign, called “Fruit Protests.” “We stage a pretend protest, but it’s a protest to call for the end of free radicals,” Carr says. “We have people dressed up in fruit costumes and they are chanting on the streets of large cities calling for no-added sugar to juice, calling for no preservatives to juice, calling for the end of fake juice.

“It creates that interruption in peoples’ days as they are walking out to lunch and to just see something fun and exciting. It’s an opportunity for people to get educated on who we are.”

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In its second year of “The Fruit Will Set You See Protests,” Naked Juice conducted Fruit Protests in San Francisco, Seattle and New York City.

In addition, Naked Juice extends its marketing all the way to the bottle itself. Carr explains that if one watches a consumer buy a Naked Juice, they take a bottle of Naked Juice off the shelf and start reading the packaging. On front of the bottle, in addition to seeing the name of the product, they see the family name, the “100 percent juice smoothie” and “No added sugar” tags, and Naked Juice’s Pound Promise of “a pound of fruit in every bottle.” Consumers then turn the bottle to its side, and have the opportunity to ready about each product’s personality. In marketing terms, “the romance copy,” allows Naked Juice to give each of its products a witty personality. Then, consumers can rotate the bottle around and see the list of fruits that are inside and see the functional benefits a product boasts. In the case of Mighty Mango, consumers can clearly see that in one bottle they are getting a mango, a couple of apples, an orange and a quarter of a banana.

“Consumers really understand the anatomy of the bottle, and they have the ability to turn it around and really figure out what they want to get today,” Carr says. “As a result of that, we have really strong sales across all of our product families, and we are really excited to be able to offer consumers great choice. Great choice both in terms of fruits that they are looking to consume and great choice as well with respect to functional benefits that they are expecting to get.”

The Naked truth

In addition to being a catchy name, Naked Juice defines what the products are. “Naked stands for the all-natural element of our product,” Carr says. “When consumers think about Naked Juice they think about a fruit stand in a bottle. Naked Juice is sold in the produce section predominately because it is the closest thing to pure fruit that you can get to, and that’s something that we take really seriously at Naked Juice.”

With Naked Juice’s commitment to remaining the nimble grassroots marketing company that it is and its dedication to releasing innovative products, the company plans to continue the growth that the brand is seeing and be the leader of super-premium juice category as well.

“We’ll continue to deliver great tasting, 100 percent juice products that meet what our consumers are looking for,” Carr says.

RELATED ARTICLE: Needing to get Naked.

Naked Juice is dedicated to developing and delivering its juice smoothies and juices to its consumers. In order to do that, the company is flexible with its distribution system and offers three ways for customers to receive product. One, Naked Juice allows customers to come to its plants in Azusa and Glendora, Calif., or one of its nearby warehouses and pick up the order. “Customers often are coming to the California area and picking up other fruit,” says Adam Carr, general manager of Naked Juice. “It’s a very economical way for customers to actually pick up our product.”

Naked Juice also delivers to its customers’ warehouses and through a chilled-distribution network. Since Naked Juice is a fresh, refrigerated product it always needs product and deliver it to the store. The route sales reps stock the shelves and handle the merchandising. “It’s really a way for our customers to offer everything that Naked Juice can offer to their consumers in a real worry-free way,” Carr says.

“We’re really proud of this hybrid approach to distribution, and we really think it’s the best way to serve our customers and ultimately our consumers by ensuring we have the broadest range of distribution possible,” he says.

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