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Hop WTR may have just scored an exit to brewing & spirits giant Constellation Brands but having hops in the brand name isn't the ticket to success for every bevco. That was conclusion that Bay Area's HopTonic drew a little over a year ago when a deep dive undertaken by a marketing consultant confirmed that a potentially large base of female fans for the botanically infused sparkling teas were alienated by the name. Many of these women don't drink beer, so "hop" was a demerit for them, not an attraction. Besides, as founder Wes Wang notes, the liquid's not particularly hoppy anyway. So as Wang revealed a year ago at 2025 edition of Natural Products Expo West, decision was made to change brand name to Bright Leaf Sparkling Tea (styled one word as BrightLeaf) (BBI, Mar 5 2025). The change was implemented a few months after the show, last Jun. As Wang and his biz partner Brian Pham anticipated, the change in name and UPC code cost brand some hard-won pts of distribution, including Sprouts natural food chain. But it produced immediate 10-15% bump in velocity at retailers like Berkeley Bowl, even without marketing support kicking in yet. Nearly a year into shift, co has been intensifying its effort to offer attributes that might appeal to that formerly neglected demo, including increasing amount of ingredients that are certified as regeneratively organic. Despite brand's use of exotic ingredients, its Mint entry has been certified as 100% regenerative, as was a new flavor debuting at show, White Peach. Now Bright Leaf has enlisted new sales broker to help rebuild retail base and is about to onboard its first significant DSD partner, Rainforest house along East Coast, in May. Smaller house Blue Dog Beverage also is in mix in NorCal. Using broadliners UNFI and KeHe on West Coast, brand counts as key accounts Erewhon and Mother's chains in SoCal, Whole Foods, Safeway and Nugget Market chains in NorCal, and QFC and New Seasons chains in Pac NW.In discussion at show and in follow-up call today, Wang was frank in describing typical reluctance as founder to question core premises of launch. Years back, he recalled, marketing exec at BevMo had suggested that Hoptonic name wasn't working. As doubts mounted, tho, he recruited marketing vet Lynn Furge to investigate issue. A survey she ran indicated that 7% of existing consumer base were women who don't like beer or hops. Harvest linguist working as branding consultant turned up Bright Leaf name. By now co identifies its core consumer as females age 28-55. As noted, name change so far seems to be panning out, even before co has committed to meaningful marketing spend.Among keys of line packed in conventional 12-oz cans, Bright Leaf employs actual botanicals rather than extracted functional ingredients - say, by sourcing stress-reducing gaba from mulberries in tulsi-based White Peach entry that made debut at Expo. Several entries that offer energizing lift employ yaupon sourced from Cat Spring ranch in Texas. Some entries like Chamomile Lavender and Earl Grey continue to use hops but they're dialed down in marketing mix now. And while arduous, move to regenerative ingredients could also prove a difference maker, Wang believes. Among rivals in broad tea space, Steaz and Yerba Madre also have been early to make pushes toward regeneratively certified ingredients.One area co is not going to compromise on is unsweetened nature of the drinks, even at time that unsweetened brands like Spindrift have begun to introduce some slightly sweetened sku's, as with Spindrift's new tea line that debuted at Expo (BBI, Mar 3). Citing his Taiwanese heritage, Wang insisted that sweeteners are only needed in teas that haven't been brewed carefully enough to balance out the tannins. Besides, he said, newer generations of consumers grew up in households that put limits on sugared bevs and have less problem with unsweetened bevs. So he's willing to be patient in cultivating that group. His aim continues to be to offer an authentic tea experience, but one with "the crushability of a Diet Coke." Both Wang as CEO and his cofounder Pham as COO come out of food/restaurant biz in Bay Area, with Wang having recently relocated to Napa from Berkeley.

EXPO WEST: Bright Leaf Sparkling Tea Onboarding Rainforest as Tilt from Hoptonic Brand Name Unlocks Natural Demo of Female Users

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