Sh’nnong Beverage debuts Má Functional Iced Teas
New company Sh’nnong Beverage is unveiling its first product line, Má Functional Iced Teas. The line of three ready-to-drink teas, which contain CBD and natural botanicals, has launched at 500 Vitamin Shoppe stores.
The teas are rooted in the tea made by Emperor Shennong of China, who combined tea with organic hemp and botanicals for his original Má brews. The Sh’nnong Beverage drink varieties start with green, oolong or bai mudan teas and are available in Detox: Emperor Spice Cleanse, Focus: Oolong Peach Spark and Relax: Lavender Berry Chill varieties.
Focus: Oolong Peach Spark contains ginkgo biloba, gotu kola and rhodiola rosea, as well as 40 mg of caffeine; Relax Lavender Berry Chill includes blueberry-infused, caffeine-free bai mudan tea, chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, elderflower and passionflower; and Detox: Emperor Spice Cleanse is a caffeine-free brew meant to help purify the body with green tea, lemon, chamomile, schisandra berry and dandelion root. All of the varieties also contain CBD.
"We founded Sh'nnong Beverage on the principle of creating plant-based, better-for-you beverages leveraging not only the benefits of CBD, but also those of natural botanicals, adaptogens, herbs and spices,” said co-founder and CEO Jill Beraud. “This is CBD-plus. CBD-plus is about the combined benefits of tea, hemp CBD and carefully chosen botanicals for an overall more powerful effect. Our mission is to help everyone live their life in balance and achieve total Má."
Beraud previously was president of Starbucks and Lipton joint ventures at PepsiCo, where she oversaw the company’s global tea portfolio and reinvention of the Lipton Pure Leaf Teas. Beraud said she sees big potential for the new line of products in the growing CBD category, particularly given its placement in Vitamin Shop stores.
"When my business partner Charlie Herbstreith and I originally discussed this idea, it reminded me of my time at PepsiCo when kombucha and coconut water were just emerging. However, given the far-reaching benefits of CBD, this is a much bigger white space," Beraud said. "The Vitamin Shoppe is the perfect launch partner for us. They are establishing themselves as CBD central across multiple categories and have tremendous in-store expertise in health, wellness and nutrition."