As of July 1, one of America's most popular juice brands will be going down the drain.
The maker of the much-consumed Fresh Samantha line of fruit drinks announced this week that it will be discontinuing the sale of Berries gone Beserk, Mango Mama and the 15 other beverages that feature its logo. Odwalla, Inc., which bought the Fresh Samantha line in 2000, has decided to cancel the Fresh Samantha line in favor of their existing line of juice drinks.
Odwalla offers over 35 products within eight lines, including Odwalla Organic Juices, 100 percent Essential Juices, Smoothies, Nutritionals, Quenchers, Future Shake soy shakes, Odwalla Bar food bars and Natural Spring Water, according to its company website.
Though Coca Cola owns Odwalla, it operates as an independent subsidiary, and there is no mention of Coke on any of the Odwalla products.
The Odwalla juices are similar to the Fresh Samantha juices in most respects, while differing in that "they're geared toward a more health conscious consumer; they have more micro-nutrients" explained Molly Vicerra, a company liaison.
According to Vicerra, this decision has been several years in coming, and the company is looking forward to offering "more bang for your juice buck."
Cutting-edge nutrition, however, will cost more than the already-pricey Fresh Samantha. Nevertheless, Vicerra was confident that health-conscious consumers will be willing to pay the extra money for high quality ingredients. According to the Odwalla website, two pounds of oranges go into each 16 oz. orange juice and up to 24 carrots into the carrot juice.
The increase in price, however, does concern retailers like Topside, which currently sells Fresh Samantha juices.
"They are always really popular even though they are expensive," said Erika Walsh '05, a Topside employee. "Everyone has their favorite flavor, but there are a lot of alternatives to that type of 'trendy' juice drink."
According to David Newlove, the associate director of Dartmouth Dining Services, It has not been determined whether the more expensive Odwalla juices in particular will be stocked at Topside. Other options, though, remain.
"Topside will sell a similar juice product. We're negotiating with Odwalla to bring their juices down to Samantha prices. If no agreement can be made, DDS is looking into the Naked Juice line," said Newlove.
Naked Juice drinks are currently available on campus wherever Samantha products are sold, at least for the time being.
While juices such as those made by Naked Juice and Fresh Samantha are popular, other beverages like soda or bottled water outsell the Samantha line at Topside, Newlove said.
