There's a healthy drink alternative that has even the pickiest locals, young and old, saying "Flavrz!" — and it's the brainstorm of a local woman.
With graduate of the Harvard Business School and Gloucester resident Karen Barth behind the wheel, Flavrz is making strides in the local market, winning second prize in 2008's Salem State College business plan contest and gaining acceptance onto sale racks in stores both big and small. The drink is now in stores such as the Common Crow, and are quickly making inroads into larger chains such as Shaw's, Crosby's, and Hannaford.
"It's quite simple," Barth says, referring to the drink mix. "Flavrz is completely organic, all natural, and incredibly tasty."
"The idea came to me as I was walking down the drink aisle in the supermarket," she explains. "I honestly couldn't find one drink I would give my family — so I made one."
Barth began experimenting with various combinations of concentrates, and allowed her idea to catch on and become a local craze.
"Pretty soon I had all my son's friends coming over to my house and asking 'for some more of that juice,'" she remarks with the hint of a smile. "At that point I knew I had something. If I could get the average picky kid that was used to drinking Kool-Aid to go crazy over my alternative, I knew I had to market this."
As she puts it, "Flavrz isn't just a drink, it's a lifestyle."
Barth, the wife of Rabbi Samuel Barth of Temple Ahavat Achim, has been actively encouraging people in her local community to revolutionize the way they drink.
"Most of the beverages here in America are largely water, 95 percent or more, and the rest is sugar, artificial colorings, and chemicals," she said. "We need to change our awareness of what we put into ourselves and our kids."
Further adding to her "drink lifestyle" philosophy, Barth is trying to inform the public of the waste the average consumer accumulates each year by not using juices from concentrate or using their own bottles. According to her Web site, Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, but only 23 percent were recycled. That means 38 billion water bottles — more than $1 billion worth of plastic — were wasted.
Further encouraging global change, Barth intends to donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity aimed toward educating communities about global warming and the possible effects associated with it.
One of Flavrz's most interesting surprises is its sweetener. Flavrz uses agave nectar, a natural sweetener derived from a certain type of cactus, as a substitute to the usual candidate, cane sugar. This virtually undetectable taste difference allows Barth to boast that her product has half the sugar of most sodas and juices, not to mention it's low in just about everything else.
Barth's sweet tooth appears to be getting the best of her, as she is now planning to introduce new variations to her hit product, including new flavors and even single servings much like those of the popular brand Crystal Light.
Barth points out that her product has come a long way in one year, but she has even larger expectations for 2009. She says she is planning to get Flavrz into refrigerators and households nationwide, and distributing it to specifically hot markets such as New York and California.
For more information on Flavrz or Karen Barth, visit www.flavrzdrinkmix.com.
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