Students are not just drinking juice for breakfast anymore, thanks to FUZE Beverages’ new line of drinks.
“It’s the greatest thing ever,” said P.J. James, a biology freshman. “The orange FUZE with the mango taste is really good.”
Since the company’s creation in 2001, FUZE is a pioneer in what creator Lance Collins has called the “Smart Age” of beverages, according to the brand overview on bevnet.com.
Howard Wishner, the executive vice-president of corporate communications for FUZE, said people are now more interested in what they are drinking.
“We call it the Smart Age because people read labels more than they ever have,” Wishner said. “Basically [we] tell you anything in the product. We want to tell you.”
The company has been growing at an impressive rate of 387% a year based on distribution, and is now available in all 50 states.
The drinks are sold on campus in the Pentagon Mini-Mart as well as in the LSU Union bookstore.
Patrice Richardson, an English freshman who works in the Pentagon Mini-Mart, said the drinks have been selling well.
“It starts at 8 a.m. and they sell all day long,” Richardson said. “It is definitely the most popular juice drink.”
Richardson herself has tried two varieties, the Banana Colada and the Slenderize, and said both were pretty good.
The drinks have been available in the LSU Union Bookstore for about a month, according to Victoria Robinson, a elementary education sophomore who works at the bookstore.
Nargiz Yusupova a first year master’s student in finance and a worker at the Union Bookstore said the price has increased with the demand for the product.
“It used to be $1.69 without tax and now it is $1.89,” Yusupova said.
Part of the draw to the FUZE line is the unique bottle.
The bottles are made of glass and wrapped in a large colorful label that illustrates the content of the juice and explains each vitamin the specific variety contains.
“Packaging is, overall, part of any success story, certainly in the beverage industry,” Wishner said. “Taste and ingredients and great packaging equal success.”
Some students, however, were turned off by the packaging of FUZE.
“I was hesitant because of the shape of the bottle,” said John Starr, an English sophomore. “It does not look like a normal shape, and I like to stick to things that are normal.”
But Starr did say he liked the taste.
“It’s actually good,” Starr said.
The drinks each tout a specific characteristic to draw in consumers. Names such as Refresh, Engerize, Focus, and Slenderize each promise those who drink FUZE a specific affect.
“The names come from a flavor profile, combination of vitamins, different markets, and time of day or evening when you feel like drinking it,” Wishner said.
The drinks, according to Wishner, are a vitamin-based infused tea and juice without high-fructose corn syrup.
The Banana Colada drink, which, according to Richardson, is selling best in the Pentagon, supplies 25 percent of the daily requirements of vitamins A and E, as well as 25 percent of daily calcium intake. The drink also provides 50 percent of daily requirements of vitamin C, B5, B12 and niacin. But the drink is only five percent juice and contains 22 grams of sugar in one serving.
The lack of real juice in the beverages is turning away some juice loyalists.
Erin DeRosa, a freshman in pre-nursing, said she prefers orange and apple juices and fruit punches. DeRosa said FUZE looked suspicious.
“I don’t know that I would ever try that,” DeRosa said and opted for Minute Maid instead from the LSU Union bookstore.