SAMBAZON, a leading supplier of certified fair trade and organic Açaí, announced that its Açaí Superfruit Juice is now available with 50 % less sugar. Responding to consumer demand for lower sugar alternatives, SAMBAZON reformulated its popular juice using natural sweeteners like Agave Inulin to maintain its signature taste while significantly reducing the sugar and calories.

“Consumer feedback was clear-even loyal SAMBAZON buyers like the new product just as much as the original,” said Vicki Isip, Chief Marketing Officer at SAMBAZON. “We’ve optimised the flavour and sweetness to match our best-selling Original Açaí Juice while using natural ingredients to deliver a great-tasting product with all the nutritional benefits.” The new formulation retains all the antioxidants and vitamins of the original, but with 50 % less sugar and 29 % fewer calories. The relaunch also features a refreshed look, including the new SAMBAZON logo and transparent packaging that showcases the quality of the juice.

SAMBAZON’s revamped Açaí Superfruit Juice with less sugar is available in 32oz bottles at Whole Foods Market, Publix, and other retailers in the US in the refrigerated juice section.

About SAMBAZON^®
Founded in 2000, SAMBAZON, an acronym for Sustainable Management of the Brazilian Amazon, was the first company to introduce “Certified Açaí” to the world, supplying Organic and Fair Trade certified Açaí products such as Smoothie Packs, Ready-to-Eat Açaí Bowls, Juice, Energy drinks and Açaí Bites from a proprietary supply chain, and pioneering transparency from the “Palm of the tree to the Palm of your Hand.” SAMBAZON’s Fair Trade certification has helped to protect the Amazon Rainforest and its rich biodiversity and has helped to positively impact thousands of local growers by donating over $1 million to build or renovate healthcare centers, community centers, and schools. SAMBAZON Açaí Bowls retail concepts are available for franchising and licensing, transforming quick-serve restaurants for various segments such as Universities, Healthcare, Stadiums, Airports, and Neighborhoods.

Uncle Matt’s Organic^®, #1 selling brand of organic orange juice in the US, is bringing a new functional juice-based beverage to its portfolio. Introducing Uncle Matt’s Organic^® Superfruit Punch! With its impressive blend of real superfruits, including dark sweet cherries, blueberries, and black elderberry, this delicious beverage will captivate the taste buds of the entire family. The antioxidant boosted beverage is just 45 calories per 8 oz serving and has no cane sugar, preservatives, or added flavours. Uncle Matt’s Organic^® Superfruit Punch is available now in a 52 oz bottle as well as a shelf-stable 8-pack of 6.75 oz Juice Boxes at select retailers in the US including Whole Foods and Sprouts and at Shop.UncleMatts.com.

“We are thrilled with our newest better-for-you boosted beverage, Uncle Matt’s Organic^® Superfruit Punch,” said Susan McLean, VP of Marketing and Innovation at Uncle Matt’s Organic^®. “With 100 % Vitamin C from the acerola cherry plus polyphenols and flavonoids from the cherries, blueberries and elderberries, this antioxidant-rich beverage is a great way to increase your intake of essential nutrients and quench your thirst at the same time. I think we made a delicious no sugar added punch that is both parent and kid-approved!”

Superfruit Punch fast facts:

• 45 calories per 8 oz serving/40 calories per 6.75 oz juice box
• 100 % DV Vitamin C per serving from the acerola cherry
• Antioxidants, polyphenols and flavonoids from dark sweet cherries, blueberries, black elderberry, and acerola cherry
• USDA certified organic
• No Toxic Pesticides, GMOs or artificial junk
• Certified glyphosate residue free by The Detox Project
• Vegan, Kosher

As the battle for superfruit supremacy rages on a new product is set to return the title to the true superfruit. A product that offers an entirely new way to experience a fruit with more nutritional benefits and social mission that provides generational change.

Introducing bevCacao — a radical new beverage loaded with goodness and social responsibility. Armed with the ethos “Good for you. Good for them,” bevCacao stands behind its one-two punch of nutrition and community support.

First, what’s in it for the consumer: Cacao provides three times the antioxidants of pomegranate. Twice as many as acai. Jam-packed with prize-fighting flavanols to deliver a knockout blow to toxins and free radicals. Vegan-friendly immune system support with no added sugars to boot.

Grown in uber nutrient-rich, unfertilised soil along the equator, cacao fruit comes from small family farms. Unlike other fruits, cacao doesn’t grow on branches. It grows on the trunk, meaning farmers must carefully cut the fruit away without damaging the tree. No nutrients are fertilised away — everything says right there in the fruit.

Previously, cacao was only coveted for its seeds — yes, cacao seeds are the base of what becomes chocolate. Farmers would scoop out these seeds, but the pulp of the cacao fruit was a waste product dropped onto the plantation floor. And what a waste indeed, as the pulp makes up roughly 30 percent of the pod and holds much of the nutrients.

Beyond antioxidants, bevCacao is loaded with fiber, promotes a healthy gut and balanced mind-body connection, hydrates on a cellular level, and improves cardio health. Essential minerals like magnesium turn glucose into energy. It’s perfect for an electrolyte boost post-workout or to sip whenever users need a little boost to their day.

On top of everything, bevCacao is sustainably harvested and canned and represents a massive profit boost for farmers who cultivate it. By using this pulp in its juices, bevCacao is creating a life-changing new revenue stream for these hard-working farmers without adding much extra work.

Beyond nutritional value and social impact, another differentiator for bevCacao is the taste.

Given its close connection to cocoa, one might assume that bevCacao will have a chocolate flavour. But while cacao juice offers the same health benefits of chocolate, the taste will come as a surprise to many. Not a hint of chocolate is to be found. Instead, bevCacao is fruity, sweet, and tangy, like the tropics after a storm. Users get notes of banana, white peach, lychee, and a spritz of lemon.

bevCacao is available online at bevCacao.com, Amazon.com and Walmart.com.

Leveraging Brightseed’s artificial intelligence, Ocean Spray will unlock new compounds inside the Cranberry, powering next generation health innovation in the superfruit’s healthy product line

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., the agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 farmer families, and Brightseed, an A.I.-led biosciences company recognized as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, announced an agreement to leverage Brightseed’s A.I., Forager^®, to profile the compounds in cranberries and surface new connections between cranberries and human health. The collaboration with Brightseed puts Ocean Spray on the path to having the world’s most comprehensive nutritional profile of the cranberry — including the cranberries’ previously unknown bioactive compounds and potential health benefits.

“Similar to how different grapes produce different wine varietals, each cranberry strain can be extraordinarily diverse in their phytochemical composition, resulting in different colours, flavour nuances, size, and a trove of health-promoting bioactive compounds,” said Katy Galle, Senior Vice President of Research & Development at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. “Our agreement with Brightseed puts us on a path to profiling our cranberry varieties and understanding their health potential like never before. The insights from this agreement will support us as we continue to innovate healthy products for our consumers, in addition to informing how we grow, separate, and treat our cranberries to optimize for target health benefits and sustainability.”

Cranberries have long been considered a superfruit and are celebrated as a rich source of polyphenols with high antioxidant activity. “Some of the cranberry’s potent health benefits are well-known, including their impact on bladder and kidney function. With over 100 cranberry varieties, the vast majority of compounds in cranberries have never been explored for their impact in the human body, however, they carry enormous potential to open up new dimensions for health and wellness.”

According to Christina Khoo, Director Emerging Science, Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., leveraging the A.I Forager to deep dive into the bioactive components in cranberry varietals helped accelerate Ocean Spray’s innovation activities to evaluate exciting health benefits of cranberries including immunity and cognitive health and build the scientific evidence.

“We are thrilled at the early findings of this discovery work which is showcasing how important crop diversity and growing practices are for bioactive content and expression,” said Sofia Elizondo, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Brightseed. “The question Forager is able to answer is not just ‘what is in a cranberry?’ but also ‘what is different about all these cranberry varieties?’ With Forager’s insights, Ocean Spray’s stewardship will be taken to the next level and so will consumer comprehension of what a cranberry can do for health.”

Forager, Brightseed’s proprietary A.I. and an R&D 100 Award winning technology, illuminates what have been traditionally opaque to science – the complex, molecular structures of plant compounds – and maps their impact on human biology. In a few months of A.I.-powered analysis on Ocean Spray’s cranberry strains, Forager found 10x more bioactive phytochemicals and 4x more phytonutrients across a sample of Ocean Spray’s cranberry varieties. Moreover, multiple cranberry strains were packed with more than 350 bioactive compound classes with promise to positively impact immunity and cognition – new territories of health benefits that were previously unknown in cranberries.

Forager’s discoveries may then be evaluated through in vitro validation and potentially human clinical trials to enable clinically proven claims for Ocean Spray’s future product innovations.