At Suja Life’s 122,000 square-foot factory outside of San Diego, one and a half million bottles roll off conveyor belts every week, with colorful labels that tout cold-pressed juices and ingredients like kale and monkfruit.
Since moving in two years ago, the company has invested some $30 million in this plant. It now sells 95 drinks—from kombucha to drinking vinegars and plant-based protein milks—and moves quickly to get them to shelves from Target and Publix to Costco and Whole Foods. In fact, it can develop an entirely new product and get it to customers within eight weeks—a speed rare in the beverage industry. That agility has enabled Suja to develop more than 250 products in the six years since it was founded, and on any given day the factory is producing as many as 15 different styles. Last year Suja hit $100 million in revenue for the first time, a milestone in the perennially crowded industry, with gross margins of 40%. It’s nearly tripled in four years, when sales topped $40 million.
Dispatches From The Front 