Pressed Juicery launches at Target to grow its presence in mass retail

Pressed Juicery, known for its cold-pressed juices, is kicking off the year with a new launch in more than 200 Super Target stores nationwide as the wellness-focused brand looks to tap into mass retail.
As CEO Justin Nedelman sees it, the time is right for such a rollout, thanks to the brand equity that the 15-year-old company has developed with more than 100 cafes in high-traffic locales around the country. The company also has about 5,000 to 6,000 points of distribution overall in places like universities, hotels, hospitals and food service industries. Nedelman told Modern Retail that he hopes to hit 10,000 by the end of the year.
“The goal is to continue to amplify the points of distribution and use those as sampling grounds to introduce retailers to take our product national,” he said. “We can grow a lot faster — growing our product in different channels than by just adding stores — if we go after different distribution channels like universities, hospitals and good services and grocers.”
Pressed Juicery’s expansion plans point to how wellness and better-for-you products are continuing to become a focus for retailers. On Jan. 9, Target announced that it’s expanding its wellness assortment by 2,000 products, including exclusive flavors from brands like Bloom and Poppi. Nielsen IQ estimates more than $175 billion is spent annually on health and wellness products in the U.S.,
Pressed Juicery, which is a privately held company, wouldn’t share revenue or customer growth figures with Modern Retail. But Nedelman said same-store sales are currently seeing about 30% growth across the whole portfolio following investments into expanding and renovating its brick-and-mortar presence. In 2023, the company began working on revamping its menus to add more healthy snacks and small meal items. Nedelman said the locations are currently seeing the most growth from its newer non-juice categories like dairy-free Freeze soft serve and acai bowls.
Nedelman, who joined the company in 2023 and spearheaded the cafe changes, said Pressed Juicery sees now as the time to expand to mass retail because of the “fragmented yet high-demand space” for healthy and better-for-you products. There’s pent-up demand in pockets where we don’t have stores, so it’s now time to prioritize that,” he said.
Another reason for the growth plans is that the brand already has untapped resources to help it scale. Around 2021, the company took over the former Odwalla smoothie manufacturing campus in Central California. Nedelman said the facility is operating at just 5% to 6% capacity, which means the company can make more product without having to find a new co-packer.
“The vision for the company was to acquire enough manufacturing capacity to take this to a billion-dollar company,” he said. “We have a facility that can take us there that we own.” Nedelman added that the company is adding employees to focus on sales and marketing as it expands its wholesale reach.
Beyond operational changes, Pressed Juicery may face an uphill climb entering the mass retail market as a luxury product at a time when cost-conscious consumers are trading down. The Super Target Pressed Juicery launch is a four-pack of juices marketed as an “Express Cleanse” sold for $20. While a $20 juice package may seem steep for a Target customer, Nedelman said it is accessibly priced compared to the full cleanse packages Pressed Juicery offers at its stores for anywhere from $72 to over $100. “We see a lot of elasticity and willingness to push the price point and have seen success there,” he said.
Other mass retail expansions on deck for Pressed Juicery include continuing to grow its presence within Sprouts grocery. And it is expanding its relationship with Costco to include more SKUs, including a wellness smoothie. Currently, it sells a one-liter bottle for $9 at California locations, which equates to a discount of about 30% to 40% compared to what bottles sell for individually at cafes. Nedelman said it is aiming to expand to more states within the next year. “With Costco, we were concerned initially that it might impact our store sales in those markets, but it hasn’t,” Nedelman said.
Mary Ann O’Brien, brand strategy and founder of marketing agency OBI Creative, said Pressed Juicery can work to overcome price concerns by leaning into the brand’s halo effect, effectively finding a way to channel its cafes’ popularity on the coasts and in popular tourist destinations into ambassadors, influencer marketing or product placement.
She also said that focusing on the performance-boosting functions of the product can help justify a higher cost. She sees consumers aged 40 to 55 who can afford the product and are seeking a supplement or health boost as potentially loyal customers, O’Brien said.
“If they want the trickle-down effect to happen to more of the mass market, they’re going to have to focus on who those ambassadors are,” O’Brien said. “If they can find the right audience, that audience can become advocates in the community and the markets they serve.”