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Seven Teas started out 8 yrs ago as an intriguing - bordering on arcane - line of artfully crafted iced teas packed in glass bottles sporting elegant labels that offered a window into the historical and cultural traditions of key tea-growing regions. Its offerings included likes of Berry Hibiscus Rooibos and Spot o'Honey Earl Grey. In a milestone now, LA-based co is scrapping those glass packs as it pivots to large and small cans sold single and in new 4-pks, continuing a quiet transition that's seen it opt for more approachable flavors like Georgia Peach and Tropical Mango Green Tea and new graphics scheme employing hard-to-miss red & white palette and crisp fruit renderings. And owners Josh and Jeremy Issakharian, brothers who come out of a family fabric biz in Texas, also are leaning more heavily into lemonade subline that the duo previously regarded as a concession to greater approachability. They're over that now as line has resonated and its new 4-pks have been embraced by key partners like HEB. Not changed are brand's careful sourcing and its organic certification. We got update this morning from Josh, who relocated to LA to support biz and has preferred to operate quietly despite the din emanating from other players in reimagined "modern tea" segment. He didn't deny that killing of glass bottles - "my babies" - was tuff move to make, not just for him and his bro but for diehard fans and for retailers like Whole Foods, where line did very well. The fans have included eminences like Neil Young, who has glass bottles of Seven Teas and Mtn Valley Spring delivered to his tour stops. The move is erasing over $1.5 mil from topline. It may return some day, but for now the move to cans and elevation of lemonades in mix are clearly the right move, he said.A bit of history is helpful here. At time Josh and Jeremy launched, coolers in natural/specialty channel still were full of brands like Runa, Inko's and Tazo, the latter often promoted at 4 for $5. That was tuff competition for glass-bottle line that Whole Foods preferred to sell for $3.49 but brand still thrived, with its top 4 sku's listed among top 100 items in all categories in brand's 2 regions of SoCal and Colo. An elite pack like Seven Teas' seemed a good way to counter what was otherwise becoming a race to the bottom in segment. Still, bros stayed cautious, seeding brand in manageable accts like Lassen's and Mother's but instructing their broker partners to stay out of big chains until premise was fully validated and strategic direction was clear.Still, as shakeout in segment saw those other brands fade, Seven Teas added its first cans in 2023, viewing them mainly as a potential entr&eacute;e into C&G channel vs likes of Gold Peak. More approachable flavors like that Georgia Peach were part of that strategy. But the cans proved to be embraced by core natural grocery partners. "Overnight" they were doing 3-4X the glass biz as they entered 2,800 retail doors right away. They brought many practical benefits: higher margins, less breakage and they could be cubed out to 160-170 cases per truck vs 95 for the glass. As for the lemonade line, that debuted with initial batch of cans, but Issakharian acknowledges brothers were a bit snobby about launching them and they were overshadowed by the teas, even as Blueberry and Strawberry lemonades outperformed Peach and Half & Half teas. After all, brand name is Seven Teas and it was launched out of Issakharian family's passion for tea.Still, there clearly was room in lemonade segment for less-sweet offering in contrast to likes of Lori's and Calypso, and the new 4-pks are a natural format for brand, with HEB and Natural Grocers among retailers immediately onboarding them now. Whole Foods, where brand has ground to make up, is evaluating them. Bolder graphics treatment of red & white core color scheme brings shelf sets a broad red band to catch shoppers' eyes, in contrast to graphics approach that used to be more on the "serious" side, Josh said.The moves have occurred as co has rejiggered its biz operations, stripping down co to handful of full-timers and cadre of fractionals, during stressful period a couple years ago when Josh Issakharian was dealing with wildfire damage to his home in Altadena even as his wife was expecting their first child. Last year was first profitable year for Seven Teas, which to date has brought in no outside money. The pair tested the markets a coupla yrs ago but didn't like the deals they were offered, but might be ready to try again. In meantime, as Josh told us, he's gotten good at saying no to major retailers that want to incorporate Seven Teas into those modern tea sets populated by likes of Just Ice Tea, Ryl and Halfday. Also constrained is co's DSD footprint, not much more than Rainforest on East Coast and LA Distributing in So Cal, augmented by smaller shops here and there. Main route to retail is broadliners UNFI and KeHe.Overthrowing the Tyranny of Choice That's the name of a book some years back that argued that, contrary to economists' avowal that more choice is always good, too many choices can have a paralyzing effect that hinders rather than abets sales. Yet with its multiple lines of teas and lemonades in cans and glass, Seven Teas was confronting retail buyers with "a mountain of product," Josh Issakharian reflected. He should have known from his family's fabric biz that that's a risky road. For customers looking to redo their home d&eacute;cor, sending them out of the store with 20 swatches to consider could end up costing the sale. Give them just 3 and they were more likely to come back, he said. That seems to apply in bevs too.Here's One Way to Get Abundant, Highly Direct Consumer Feedback A coupla yrs ago, Issakharian got rid of the 1-800 line to which consumers were directed and substituted his own cellphone # instead. He hasn't been disappointed with degree of direct consumer feedback he's received, on days, nights and weekends. "I hear the good, the bad and the ugly," he reported. He said he's been pleasantly surprised by how "high-minded" the conversations can be, extending beyond the pros and cons of Seven Teas even to subjects like God.

STRATEGY: Seven Teas Completes Migration to More Approachable Face, Discontinuing Glass Bottle Line That Got It to Dance as It Ups Focus on Cans, 4-Pks & Lemonades

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