It is barbecue season, which the Hispanic consumer enjoys so much; It’s the time of the beach, the pool and outdoor games. And this summer, the temperature has risen even more with the celebration of the great football event of the World Cup in Russia. With all these activities, Hispanics look for refreshing drinks and to take care of their health and if they are 100% natural, even better. In this hot summer, KLASS’s fresh beverages arrive as a refreshing option that is unrivaled because they became the first and only brand in the category of powdered drinks, in the Hispanic market, with 100% natural ingredients.
In order to achieve its goal of offering “aguas frescas” of excellent quality beyond taste, the KLASS brand decided to evolve by betting on consumer health. They transformed the production process of their products and eliminated artificial sweeteners, colors and flavors.
According to the research agency Global Data, the consumer of today continues to look for products that allow you to have a healthier life. It is moving away more and more from highly processed products and artificial ingredients and favoring those who use natural ingredients in their formula.
Particularly in the powder beverages category, 94% of consumers in the US are interested in beverages and foods with natural attributes. The main challenge for producers in this industry is to develop products with natural ingredients without sacrificing flavor or convenience.
The brands that are innovating within this segment, are contributing to a large extent to the performance of the category of powdered drinks, an industry of $1,300 million in the United States.
“What we did was to stop worrying about our competitors and rather to put all the attention on our consumers and our competitive advantages. We wanted to be pioneers and separate ourselves from the actions that our competition was taking in general, which were very much focused on the price,” Jorge Kovacs, country manager of KLASS Time, told Abasto magazine.
The company, born in Mexico in 1982, dedicated to the manufacture of powder and confectionery drinks for transnational companies and in 1998, the KLASS brand was born to take the opportunity to export high quality traditional products to the Hispanic market in the United States.
The brand achieved exponential growth due to the opening of more markets and more distributors throughout the country. Their product began to position itself strongly among the Hispanic consumer and they developed a larger portfolio to satisfy all consumers regardless of their ethnic origin.
A year ago, they decided to turn the company around to focus their efforts on offering the consumer a “much better product.”
The path they took was to follow the trend that is taking hold in the “clean label” market. “What followed was the development work, first to see if we could really develop a product that would continue to maintain what has characterized us throughout our lives, which is quality and taste,” said Kovacs.
They identified new suppliers of natural products for the elaboration of fresh drinks, carried out commercial studies, renewed their image and tested their natural fresh beverages with groups of consumers to ensure that their powdered drinks continued to offer quality and flavor what Hispanics like so much.
Carlos Hernandez, Director of National Sales, told Abasto that the comments received from the survey groups and the buyers at the points of sale proved them right.
“With KLASS, you do not see the glasses stained when you finish it, that tells me they do not have artificial colors”; “That flavor at the end of the other products, you know it’s not good for your health. You feel the natural sugar! “;” How delicious is the fresh drink of Limón! It tastes the same as if I had cut a lemon from my garden and prepared it in water”, are some of the opinions given by Hispanics who had the opportunity to taste the fresh waters of KLASS Natural during their trial period.
“Today we know that the Hispanic is someone who goes to the point of sale, takes the product from the shelf, turns the package to read the label, the nutritional table and the ingredients. We felt very responsible to be the ones who offered the best product with ingredients that would benefit their health,” Pamela Díaz, marketing manager of KLASS in the United States, told Abasto.
In this way, the 21 flavors that are part of the line of KLASS Aguas Frescas evolved in all its presentations eliminating the sweeteners, colors and artificial flavors of its ingredients.
Preparing for the summer, a high season for the consumption of fresh drinks, KLASS allocated an execution team of more than 100 people nationwide who visit the main sales points day by day, making sure to give the best service to the store and the excellence in the presentation of their brands.
In this way, KLASS makes sure that their 100% natural fresh drinks for your health refreshes all Hispanics in this time of great heat and emotions for the Soccer World Cup in Russia.