Monday, May 22, 2006

What to do with 110 blueberries (or $6)

Wired/Forbes reports on a new way of selling healthy snacks under the headline "Exotic Food Packaging Fights Rot":
Lucia Klansek wanted her teenage son to tote an apple or a banana to his basketball games, but fruit tended to get mangled in his bag, and containers of juice had to stay cold. The boy is lucky that his mother is a packaging expert. She designed her first soda bottle at age 12; it's still on store shelves in her native Slovenia.

So when she saw a package based on a design developed by Japanese scientists for NASA, she knew it would be perfect for her latest creation. Into a soft, 11-ounce pouch with a screw cap she packs a purée of 110 blueberries, six raspberries, half a banana and one and a half apples. The flash-pasteurized smoothie, which Klansek dubbed "e4b," contains no preservatives, and the package's seven-layer lining locks out air to protect nutrients. It can last on the shelf unopened for a year. Klansek, 48, and son Niko, now 22, used $2 million from the sale of her Slovenian beverage company to start a company to manufacture the fruit purées.

In January, Kings Super Markets started carrying the product in 27 stores and sold 187 pouches in its Short Hills, New Jersey, store during one four-hour promotion. The price is steep -- $6 per pouch, $1 more than a small Jamba Juice. But QVC wants in, as does Whole Foods Market.
Slovenia, Japan, Short Hills. Age 12, 11 ounces, 110 blueberres, six raspberries, half a banana, one and a half apples, "e4b," seven layers, Klansek 48, Nico 22, $2 million for the soda bottling operation, 27 stores, 187 pouches, four hours, $6 per pouch, $1 more than a Jamba Juice. How many bluberry smoothies were going to St. Ives? Does Jamba Juice really charge $5 for a small? There must be some mighty tasty Femme Boost™ whizzing in those blenders.

("e4b" turns out to stand for "easy for busy" and its website is about as annoying as you might expect.)

1 Comments:

Blogger zoe p. said...

it seems to me we are now contemplating warm fruit puree. which might be nice under ice cream. but not before playing basketball.

4:13 PM  

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