Snapple, the quirky little multi-million dollar beverage company out of Rye Brook, New York, famous for its line of creatively flavored fruit drinks and teas, has now introduced a new way for you to get your antioxidants.
Snapple Antioxidant Water contains vitamins, electrolytes and antioxidants that the company says, in typical Snapple style, will ‘protectify’ you.
Antioxidants have been much discussed in recent years. They’re substances in plants that help maintain health. Research suggests that consuming plenty of foods or beverages that contain antioxidants helps slow the processes associated with aging and protects against many chronic diseases. Antioxidants are found naturally in foods such as blueberries, raisins, spinach, prunes and garlic.
Enhanced Waters: Flowing and Growing
The fortified bottled water category has grown exponentially in recent years with beverage giants such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Gatorade and others entering the fray with vitamin waters and other enhanced H2O beverages geared to fitness and sports enthusiasts. Now along comes comparatively small Snapple, rolling out antioxidant water in seven unique fruit flavors.
Snapple’s Antioxidant Water could be considered clear evidence of a product geared toward people who are ‘shielding,’ according to Andy Ford, of CultureWavesâ„¢. Shielding, according to Ford, is a trend (or ‘wave’) that is rich in evidence because the world just isn’t safe anymore—or at least many of us don’t think it is. ‘Products like these that provide us with an ‘anxiety safety net’ will have great appeal to people interested in Shielding,’ Ford says.
Taste Is Still a Key Factor
The fact remains, the American consumer is not going to buy a product, no matter how healthy, if it doesn’t deliver on flavor, even a so-called ‘water’ product. So, we put Snapple’s new Antioxidant Water to the test in The Food Channel test kitchens.
We sampled three of the seven flavors: Tropical Mango, Raspberry Acerola, and Orange Starfruit. Of the three, the favorite among our panel was the Tropical Mango, with one person preferring the Raspberry Acerola. The Tropical Mango had a clean taste, very refreshing and gulpable, with a light fresh aroma.
The Orange-Starfruit had a bit of a ‘bite’ to it. ‘It would wake you up in the morning,’ one person commented. The Raspberry Acerola reminded us a bit of Kool-Aid, according to one taster, but all agreed it didn’t leave an aftertaste.
Overall, Snapple’s new entry drinks more like a fruit juice than a flavored water. In fact, we found it to be a really satisfying, refreshing sports type drink. Light and clean tasting, but with a very natural fruit flavor.
What About Calories?
You may wonder about calories and sugar. Snapple Antioxidant Water definitely has more of those than water, ranging from 120 to 150 calories per 20-ounce bottle in the three we tested, and 27 to 31 grams of sugar per bottle. (Snapple also offers a zero-calorie ‘nutrient-packed’ alternative, LYTeWater, which was not available for testing.) To be fair, 20 ounces is a pretty large serving. The Nutrition Facts listed on the label are for an 8-ounce serving—but it also provides per-bottle facts.
Bottom line: we found the product to be a simple, refreshing way to get some disease-fighting antioxidants into your system—as part of an overall well-balanced diet, of course. Try it, and let us know what YOU think.
