Genius Juice

Before introducing you to our story of how Genius Juice was created and our growth as a brand:  We are proud to announce Genius Juice was featured on SHARK TANK on January 19th, 2020 nationally on ABC and achieved over $120,000 in online sales in under 24 hours from the airing.  We were also offered a deal from 2 Sharks: Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran for $500,000 and we accepted! We ultimately decided NOT to do the deal.  So, instead we are turning to you - our friends, fans, customers to invest in Genius.  Airing on Shark Tank and the exposure has been a HUGE game-changer for us as a company.

UPDATE OF REVENUE GROWTH IN Q1 JAN-MARCH 2020

Updated through March 2020, we have posted ENORMOUS numbers in Q1 of 2020, hitting a record high of $681,000 for the quarter, which is over a 200 % quarter over quarter increase.  This was driven by higher in store sales (same store growth) and also an enormous boost in online sales (over 10,000 % increase year over year)

Out of college, Alex Bayer, who eventually became Founder and CEO of Genius Juice, worked as an everyday insurance agent salesman for 7 years, going out to business parks and knocking on doors to sell customers policies for accident, sickness, and life insurance.

Alex then decided to start a non-profit company called 'Karaoke For A Cure.' The cause was centered around raising money and awareness for research and support to treat leukemia and rare blood disorders in children.  

Karaoke For a Cure donated funds to CHLA and CHOA (Childrens' Hospital of Los Angeles and Atlanta) Alex even performed live at the 'Karaoke For A Cure' yearly Gala event since music is a passion of his!

After his stint in non-profit, Alex craved to start and embrace something more that reflected his active and clean lifestyle.  He thought about what inspired him most.  A daily activity he loved doing was making plant-based organic smoothies for breakfast or for a snack.

Every morning, he made make a creamy, thick smoothie that would give him the energy and boost he needed while on the go.  His big inspiration for creating Genius Whole Coconut Smoothies was a lack of real authentic & filling smoothies in the market.  

Also, why leave out half the coconut when you can blend the entire coconut together?  Alex first discovered the combination of coconut water and coconut meat and knew it was a special combination, providing hydration, good fats, calories, and meal replacement value all-in-one.  He even said "This is Genius!!" when first trying a whole coconut smoothie blended.

The team (being just Alex and his then business partner and close friend Keith) quickly went into a local commissary and started cracking open young thai coconuts and making the smoothies themselves, scraping out the coconut meat with a spoon and pouring the coconut water into blenders. They did whatever it took to make the coconut smoothies and start selling them to anyone and everyone, even to other units in the condo complex where Alex lived!!

They first began selling our whole coconut smoothies at local events.  Even though they had no label or branding yet,  the small Genius team knew they were onto something and the demand began to grow exponentially.  Alex and his founding partner, Keith, began working around the clock in our small commissary to make coconut smoothies, sometimes through the night!  This is why their eyes look bloodshot in this photo!

In late 2014, they finally had a BIG opportunity to present to Whole Foods, they brought samples of our product to local buyers and 'foragers' that provided local support to eventually present the brand to the Whole Foods Regional Office for the Southern Pacific Region.  But FIRST, they needed to develop a brand and label.  After consulting with top industry veterans, they developed our now famous Genius Coconut Head (original line and branding from 2014  pictured below)

After presenting the coconut smoothie concept to their local Whole Foods buyers, the Whole Foods local team immediately fell in love with the concept and LOVED how unique and healthy the product was.  The creaminess and thickness of our smoothies with whole coconut were a BIG selling point to them.  In March 2015, 9 months after opening their doors, we officially launched in all 55 Whole Foods stores across Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada

The small and mighty Genius team continued growing the business in Southern California, scaling and eventually needing to transition from our own commissary, and began making our product at a local co-manufacturing partner.  The team was still very small, they still drove the trucks, carried ingredients to the facility, picked up coconuts when needed for production runs, and more.

In 2017, Genius made an epic change for the better and partnered up with a great supplier and began sourcing the coconuts directly versus through a 3rd party broker, gaining more control and better pricing from a direct supplier.  Alex Bayer, Founder and CEO, personally visited the farms and the plant where the coconuts were harvested, cracked open, and extracted.  It was a powerful experience

Also in 2017, our partners pledged to up-cycle all the coconut husks once we extracted the coconut water and coconut meat.  The up-cycled coconut husk is then processed into coconut charcoal and can also be utilized for renewable energy initiatives in Thailand including powering local cities with electricity!

Fast forward to early 2019, Genius released two new flavors, The Coffee Coconut Smoothie (which is now Mocha), and the Turmeric coconut smoothie.  The 1 hit wonder now became a trio with 3 delicious, whole coconut plant-based smoothies

With 3 flavors now on shelf, the team then decided to really market hard and get the word out on how 'Genius' the product is.  They did trade shows such as Fancy Foods Show, Natural Products Expo West, Green Festival, VegFest, Vegan Events, and so many more.  Worked like a charm and we enjoyed enormous sales growth in 2019

What also works well are IN-STORE promotions.  The Genius team went ALL-OUT, with enticing discounts in stores with partners such as Whole Foods across the country:

And even put in Genius Juice custom-branded fridges in select high volume stores:

What started as a small brand in Southern California grew into a national brand in now over 1,400 doors across the country including Whole Foods (4 regions), Natural Grocers, Albertson's/Safeway, Publix, and many more.  In 2020, we have commitments for several hundred more retail locations which is truly and excited and the next evolvement for the brand as a whole.

What the team LOVES most is seeing the smiles on the customers' faces once they experience Genius and how tasty AND healthy it is.  It's pretty obvious, people love their coconut smoothies and incorporate them into their daily lives for better health and energy

Welcome to Genius, the world's first whole coconut smoothie blending the ENTIRE coconut into a bottle!

-Alex Bayer