Dive Brief:
- VitaCup, a San Diego-based startup, has developed a line of vitamin-fortified coffee and tea that can be used in the Keurig system, according to Food Navigator.
- The beverage company's initial launch includes French Roast, French Vanilla and Green Tea with Moringa varieties. For now, VitaCup is only selling online directly to consumers, but founder and CEO Brandon Fishman hopes to partner with specialty and natural grocery retailers in the future.
- 'People often forget their vitamins or forget their [vitamin] gummies, but no one's going to leave their house without their coffee," Fishman told Food Navigator.
Dive Insight:
The launch of VitaCup coffee comes during a wave of innovation in the vitamin space. Both major supplement brands and smaller upstart companies are investing in new product creations like gummy vitamins — a category initially targeted at children that has since expanded to adults — and vitamin sipping straws. By positioning vitamins and nutritional supplements as sweet treats, the category has seen increased interest from consumers.
Gummy vitamins have seen some backlash from consumers because of their high sugar levels and relatively low nutrient levels — a Nature Made vitamin C pill contains 1,000 milligrams of the vitamin, while a gummy vitamin from the same company only contains 1/8 of that.
This is where CEO Brandon Fishman hopes to change the vitamin game. According to Fortune, more than half of Americans drink a cup of coffee every day, and today's consumer is already actively seeking out value-added beverages like protein-filled cold brew and probiotic coffees and teas. By bringing vitamins to a vehicle that people consume on a daily basis (and often several times per day), VitaCup could make significant inroads in an increasingly competitive space.
VitaCup’s products are also vegan and dairy and soy-free, which could appeal to health-conscious consumers. It will be interesting to see if other beverage manufacturers try to capture market share in this space, and if companies will innovate in other popular drinks like juice and kombucha.