Everipe 2022: Superfood Smoothies Ready in Seconds

Greg McMullen, Founder of Everipe, shares his passion for superfood smoothies and healthy eating with DeliveryRank. Everipe has recently undergone a full scale relaunch - we find out more!

What can you tell us about the Everipe recent full scale relaunch?

We see this relaunch as a terrific opportunity to take all of the consumer feedback and operational learnings we’ve amassed in the last few years and come back to the market with a much better product experience for our consumer. 

We had a few validations of our original premise: 

Making smoothies is a hassle, but if a solution is healthy, tastes amazing and is made convenient, we hope many people incorporate it into their daily routines.

We knew we had some education to do with the consumer on the use of freeze-dried ingredients. Once people understand the benefits (shelf stability, long lasting, taste AND nutrients maintained with no preservatives) – it really becomes an appealing concept. 

Our customers are hyper-aware of ingredients, so ensuring that everything was real, clean and 100% plant-based was critical. “Superfoods” (foods that have an outsized nutritional impact) are popular and customers want to find ways to incorporate them into their diet, but most of us don’t want to sacrifice taste or convenience. Discovering ways to combine flavors in optimal quantities takes effort.  We tested thousands of ingredient combinations. Tiny adjustments often had a WAY bigger impact on the final smoothie than anyone would expect.

We also had some practical learnings as well:

Desire for more protein and a big focus on fiber (for gut health, satiation). Customers love to get inventive with our smoothies - baking them into treats, making “nice” cream, smoothie bowls, etc. and we have been inspired by their creativity.

These insights in conjunction with the realization that our previous product design made it tough to be consistent, led us to reformulate. Our new smoothie recipes will now be offered in a milled format for blending ease and improved texture. This allowed us to add some really exciting new ingredients that boost the nutritional profile while expanding our flavor range.    

What challenges have you encountered as a small company starting out?

It’s a tough grind to start a business from scratch.  I admire the tenacity of people who persevere through the emotional roller coaster called “entrepreneurship”.  Customers have every right to be skeptical of a new company as you don’t have any brand recognition.  There is no track record.  Will products actually show up if you place an order?  Is it made in someone’s garage?  These are all legitimate concerns, especially with a consumable.

We intentionally designed our smoothies to work well for direct delivery (removing the water makes for efficient shipping). Not yet having a retail presence means we have to work harder to stand out in D2C. 

Also there is an educational factor. All of our ingredients are clean, 100% plant-based but we’re also shelf-stable to eliminate perishability. Traditionally we associate shelf-stable products with chemicals and additives. 

What can you tell us about your smoothies and the deliciousness and nutrition within?

We’re launching with 5 different blends to provide options. Our goal is to introduce more varieties over time and have our customers become a part of our test kitchen efforts by voting on which flavors they’d like us to create.

The relaunch line-up features five flavors (we put a lot of thought into naming our blends in a way that supports the approachability and personality of our brand):

• Unbelievaberry

• Strawberry Bananza

• Cocoa Mojo

• Takes 2 to Mango

• Greens with Envy

Our smoothies have been designed for taste, we call it craveable nutrition. The most rewarding feedback is from parents who tell us their picky kids happily down an Everipe smoothie, without knowing it’s bursting with nutrients!  

All of our blends have key ingredients such as black chia seeds, brown rice and pea protein and psyllium fiber.  We also add selected superfoods that complement the fruits and vegetables.  Some examples include goji berry, baobab, ground flaxseed and spirulina.  We also use ingredients such as lemon juice or coconut flour which are both healthy and influence the flavor of each blend. 

Each pack makes a 12 oz smoothie when mixed with ice and milk (or water.)  In keeping with our brand, it was important that our instructions were approachable too: blend with 1 cup ice + 1 cup milk (or water). While it’s easy to make, there was a lot of effort designing each flavor profile.  

Each recipe is a little different but we typically have 10-12 ingredients.  Each has 10+ grams of protein and high fiber (8-12 grams, depending on the blend.)  Blend packs contain roughly 200 calories each (slight differences between blends.)  The total caloric content is impacted by the liquid (i.e. milk vs. water).

We usually describe Everipe as the ‘best-tasting-healthy-smoothie’ you can find.   

Choking down that horrible glop might work for a brief period or on a ‘diet’ but it’s usually unsustainable.  We’re judgment-free by nature but believe that having something enjoyable and easy leads to a sustainable routine.

What are your thoughts on food tribes?

Conflicted… we applaud anyone who is taking steps to be thoughtful about their nutrition.  Because it’s hard. Life gets in the way and we’re constantly tempted by options that make us feel empty or guilty.

If inspiration or the support network from a food tribe helps someone feel better, that is a wonderful thing. We’re not fans of a diet industry built on failure and shame. Extreme diets such as keto require constant diligence.  Perhaps it’s sustainable for some; we prefer to devote our energy to things other than our food choices.

Both Everipe founders (Kerry and Greg) have had their respective wellness and food journeys.  We advocate for small changes because they are doable.  i.e. drinking more water, eating more plants, having a smoothie in the morning vs. a coffee and a bagel.  

Where can we get hold of your goodies?

From our website (https://everipe.com/). We are focused on shipping directly to our customers.  It allows us to respond immediately if there is ever an issue.  We have been humbled and inspired by the stories from our customers how Everipe has impacted their routines.  It’s the fuel driving the business forward! 

Where is Everipe headed?

In the near term we are focused on ensuring we offer a really good product experience.  That means the delivery arrived, the product was great and our customers are happy. Offering more variety is a top priority and we look forward to hearing from our customers on which recipes we should focus on next. Improving our sustainability practices and environmental footprint is also a big priority.  

Our smoothies are designed to reduce food waste and removing water reduces shipping emissions and energy use. The new blends use ‘upcycled ingredients’, meaning they are diverted from landfill. We’ve partnered with some incredible suppliers to select ingredients that are clean, sustainably produced and provide benefits to local communities. These are positive decisions but we know there is more to improve upon.  We’re on the journey to continuously improve as people and as a company.  

Want to find out more about Everipe, visit https://everipe.com/ or follow on https://www.facebook.com/everipe