First Juice: A New Entrant in the Juice Market Tries to Be Different

"Can I have juice? Can I have juice?" This is the sound of our two children coming to dinner. We rarely have soft drinks around the house, we've explained that beer and wine are a few years off, we suggest a glass of milk or water, but none of it works. The boys want juice.

What is truly disconcerting, however, is what is more and more frequently occurring after dinner. Something akin to repeated renditions of "Mothra vs Godzilla" (albeit with a male Mothra) involving jumping on furniture, tumbling on the floor, knocking things over, and turning the most innocuous items into weapons. These epic battles leave our living room in a condition close to that of Nagoya after its destruction. The link between the sugar in juice and the havoc wrecked on our household seems clear.

Therefore, I jumped at a recent offer of a free case of First Juice, a new organic fruit and vegetable juice that contains half the sugar of other juices. For instance, a 6.75 oz. box of Juicy Juice Apple Juice has 22 grams of sugars. In comparison, an 8 oz. bottle of First Juice Banana+Carrot contains only 12 grams. First Juice explains that the reduction is owed to two factors: the choice of fruits and vegetables that are naturally lower in sugars and the blending of the juice with purified water. Juicy Juice has 3.26 grams of sugars per ounce whereas First Juice has 1.5 grams per ounce. However, Juicy Juice is 100% juice while First Juice is 43% or 49% depending on the flavor. As a result, similar results could almost be achieved simply by watering down Juicy Juice to a comparable level. That's easy enough with the large bottles of juice, but difficult — if not impossible — with juice boxes.

A second innovative feature is the distribution of First Juice in re-usable, sippy-top bottles. The bottles are BPA-free and can be refilled from First Juice's larger 32 oz. bottles. The bottles were popular with our boys, especially 3-year-old Evan who liked to take a few sips, reseal the bottle, and put it in the refrigerator for later retrieval. However, we found the packaging of the bottles to be overly difficult to open. The bottles are shrink-wrapped in clear plastic that is perforated on one side. Tearing the perforation to remove the plastic is a lot harder than it should be, especially with a child suffering from acute juice-withdrawal symptoms at hand. A second seal is in place under the sippy top, so once the shrink wrap has been removed, you must remove the top and pull off that seal (then replace the top). This "belt and suspenders" approach may be understandable given the history of product tampering in this country, but it is frustrating nevertheless.

Of course, the real test of any juice is its taste. The diluted nature of First Juice reminded me of Gatorade and other sport drinks that I've always thought of as weak-flavored (not necessarily a bad thing). Our older son, seven-year-old MIke, is actually a fan of Gatorade and became a quick convert to First Juice. He also picked up on the health benefits of the drink and repeatedly told us he liked First Juice "because its healthy and its tastes good." His younger brother, Evan, didn't immediately take to the juice and showed a preference for CapriSun juice pouches. However, Evan didn't dislike First Juice by any means and enjoyed the sippy bottles. The kids' friends had similar reactions. Nobody disliked First Juice, but they were not wildly enthusiastic either. First Juice positions their product as a means of "training young taste buds" and nurturing a preference for less sweat drinks. Lofty goals for sure, but this is also likely an acknowledgment that kids used to sweater juices will take time to adjust to First Juice.

The bottom line for us is that we were happy with First Juice and plan on buying it in the future. If nothing else, it allowed us to enjoy a few evenings of Michael and Evan instead of Mothra and Godzila.