How
Steap Green Tea Soda Became a Hit
By Ellen
Walsh
Basically,
Steap Green Tea Soda is a lightly carbonated green tea
soda, with natural and organic flavors and ingredients.
Sounds simple. However reinventing soda to make it nutritious
and organic took over a 2 year period of time in the R
& D stage, with over 50 versions in all before settling
in on the current flavor profile.
Because
sodas are such a world wide commodity, it was important
to "kill a lot of birds with one stone" in order
to get picked up by main stream grocery and health food
stores. The taste had to be perfect. The overall goal
was to take the every day soda flavors already accepted
by the masses, and re engineer them to be healthy, and
taste good.
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"We
finally settled in on organic Ceylon green tea,"
says co- founder Eric Schnell." It is the one of
the finest green teas in the world, and it's mild flavor
worked well with the formulas."
Schnell,
who previously ran an organic tea company, sits with partner
Steven Kessler, former President of an international bottled
water company, as they explain how they decided to come
together to create a green tea soda to introduce to the
masses. They were creating the first organic soda to carry
the new USDA Organic Seal, and they were creating the
first "tea soda", so their strategy, as well
as their product, had to be perfect.
A
key factor to their success, is that the soda is brewed
in a 100 year old microbrewery, the old fashioned way.
Needing a place that could pasteurize by heat, and was
willing to go under QAI certification in order to meet
current NOSB (National Organic Standards Bureau) standards,
the team struck a deal with The Lion Brewery, which is
nestled away in the Pocono Mountains in Northern Pennsylvania.
Eager to be part of the organic movement, The Lion Brewery
converted their entire facility to create the protocols
needed to produce organic beverages.
Every
Ingredient is Healthy
One
of the best parts about the green tea soda, is that it
is heat pasteurized naturally, at 210 degrees, so there
are no artificial preservatives needed, like most other
soda brands. This fact alone is enough to change the entire
health profile of the beverage, however care is taken
to make sure that every ingredient offers some benefit
to the human body.
Organic
Cane Juice is the Sweetener
Nature's
purest sweetener, it is harvested by pressing the sugar
cane, and then steaming it until it is a pure golden liquid.
As it still contains its own dietary fiber and calcium,
it's nutritive value is absorbed by the body and processed
as a food.
Striving
for a cross marketed hit that could someday lead to the
vision of a "green tea soda in every household",
great care was taken in the appearance of the soda, while
still adhering to the organic standards. The raspberry
color comes from the hibiscus flower. The orange color
comes from a blend of purple cabbage juice and blended
with beta carotene. The key lime and lemon dew flavors
have no color added at all, as they are the color of the
green tea itself. The lime flavoring, from real limes,
is an extract of the lime oil from the skin of the limes.
Everything has to be healthier. Sodium citrate is added
to the formulas to help keep the tea solids and compounds
in solution longer and help keep the products health benefits
consistent over the product's shelf life.
The
soda is available nationally in over 3,000 stores today,
including Safeway, Kroger, Wild Oats, Whole Foods, and
many more. Eric and Steve have been successful in getting
the majors to pick up this new category, due in part to
an aggressive grass roots sampling campaign. "Every
time someone tastes the soda, they want to buy it",
says Schnell. "That's a lot of incentive to be out
there night and day, making sure that people get to try
it."
For
more information on how you can order or stock this product,
Contact The Healthy Beverage Co. at 800-295-1388 or visit
their website at HYPERLINK http://www.healthybeverage.com/
Other
Great Links:
Steaz
Green Tea Soda Ad
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