Bragg, the OG apple cider vinegar brand, wants to own more of the wellness market

These days, there’s a boom in interest in everything from adaptogens to creatine. But Bragg, founded in 1912, wants to enter adjacent categories while maintaining a focus on health benefits and keeping the beloved Bragg branding intact. 

Rona Williams, Bragg’s senior director of strategic innovation, told Modern Retail that the company wants to strike a balance of retaining quality and integrity, “while keeping our finger on the pulse of all new things.” 

As the originator of the apple cider vinegar, Williams said, Bragg wants to own specific wellness trends that revolve around acetic acid’s health benefits. “There is still more on the horizon, but retailers and consumers have been very receptive to our innovation in ready-to-drink and supplements,” she said. “As we shepherd the brand into these new categories,” Williams said. “My job is ensuring that it’s clear why the Bragg brand is coming into these new spaces.”

When Williams came on board in 2019, the company was trying to ramp up marketing across all its existing base categories, including its traditional apple cider vinegar, olive oil, seasonings and dressings. “These categories needed some extra TLC, in addition to setting up our customer marketing arm of the business,” she explained.

At the time, Bragg also ran a study on the attitude and usage of apple cider vinegar. Williams said the results showed that the majority of consumers were still using apple cider vinegar primarily for cooking. But there was also a growing trend of some people shifting to using it more in their health and wellness routines.

Since then, Williams said, Bragg has honed in on driving awareness around the importance of acetic acid, which is the vinegar’s primary active compound and the force behind ACV’s benefits. 

“Everything we develop has 750 milligrams of acetic acid per serving,” she said. This includes the apple cider vinegar capsules and Bragg’s Refreshers line, launched in 2021, which includes apple cider vinegar mixed with ingredients like apple cinnamon or concord grape and hibiscus to create a ready-to-drink beverage.

Acetic acid has been shown to help people maintain a healthy weight, as well as healthy blood glucose and cholesterol levels. “Moving into the supplements category has allowed us to really drive that education and awareness around acetic acids’ main benefits,” Williams said.

In the last couple of years, Williams said, the primary focus for the brand has been to expand the formats of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar, including to ready-to-drink and mixers. 

In 2019, the company’s Blends line — a line of beverages that Bragg encourages people to blend with other beverages, like smoothies or mocktails — had two flavors: honey and the honey cayenne wellness cleanse. Over the last few years, Bragg has launched three new blend flavors, with pineapple turmeric being the latest to hit the market this summer, launching initially on Bragg’s website and on Amazon.

“We’re seeing double-digit growth in functional beverages, in general,” she said. “With pineapple, specifically, 50% of consumers choose it as their top choice from our five alternative trending flavors.” The pineapple turmeric SKU will be available this fall at Whole Foods and Kroger.

“There are many other brands everywhere right now, whether in supplements or in the food space, that are using apple cider vinegar,” she said. “But their products don’t contain the correct amount of acetic acid to actually make health claims.”  

With the explosion of the modern soda segment, Williams said the company is looking into new potential formulas and wellness categories for growth. “But if and when we move into any adjacent space, we are concerned with having the correct amount of acetic acid per serving,” she said.

For now, having more modern and trendy flavors through the Blends line is creating incremental growth for the business. “It is helping bring in new consumers, which is always important as we look to expand,” Williams said.

One of the challenges for Bragg is to showcase the versatility of its Blends and refreshers flavors. Oftentimes people may not know exactly what to do with all the products that are out there, Williams said. “We feel like it’s incumbent on us, as the OG ACV brand, to lead and guide consumers on the best ways to incorporate it into their wellness routine,” she added. 

Currently, much of Bragg’s marketing material shows how these flavors can be used as a base for teas or mocktails. The functional mocktails trend has taken off recently, Williams said, and seasonal flavors like pineapple lend themselves well to recipes. Moreover, Bragg’s nutritional yeast has also gained traction in recent years, Williams said, especially as more people look for plant-based protein sources for dishes. 

Meanwhile, Bragg’s capsule supplements line has been on the market for about three years and is gradually gaining in popularity. Like other Bragg products, Williams said the capsules clearly call out the 750 milligrams of acetic acid per serving. “We recognize that, while many enjoy the bold taste of traditional apple cider vinegar, there are some who are interested in the category but hesitate to try it due to the strong flavor,” Williams said.

Ray Wodar is the global director of business consulting for the CPG and retail industry at Dassault Systèmes. Wodar said that, as wellness products begin to get closer scrutiny, it’s important that brands are honestly marketing their products’ benefits to gain consumers’ trust.  

Wodar went on to say that there are a few approaches to modernizing a portfolio to fit modern case uses. For some big CPG players, that means acquiring a buzzy startup to build out a more rounded portfolio, as PepsiCo has done in acquiring Poppi. But for legacy household brands like Bragg, Wodar said there is incremental growth to be had in trending categories like functional beverages and supplements. 

“A company has to realize what its core competency is and not necessarily walk away from it, but try to leverage it,” Wodar said. And that doesn’t always require an entire overhaul of the portfolio. “In the Bragg case, it makes perfect sense that they’re just going to build on what they’re known for,” he said.

Still, with all the portfolio modernizing that Bragg is doing, Williams said the company isn’t doing a full rebranding of its classic bright yellow packaging anytime soon. “For a brand that’s been around over 100 years, your intellectual property is all you have,” she said. “It’s not about following trends or fads, it’s about maintaining your staying power.”