DENVER – Frescos Naturales, a traditional Latin American drink made in Colorado is now on King Soopers shelves.
"This is something that Latinos particularly from Mexico, Central America make at home all the time,” Frescos Naturales Founder Juan Ignacio Stewart said. "It's made with hibiscus flowers which is really good for you. And simple to make. You can keep the flowers in your fridge, in your cupboard for a long time. It's really refreshing and healthy. I would make it for my son all the time. And he comes back from skateboarding one summer...he said that all the kids skateboarding like it better than the Arizona iced tea, you know, and he's like, you know, you should try to bottle this and sell it."
Stewart said he began bottling Frescos Naturales in a glass bottle but that wasn’t cost effect.
“So we moved to cans and then when we moved to cans, I decided to add a little carbonation,” Stewart said.
Stewart said customers won’t typically find aguas frescas on store shelves, especially with the added twist of carbonation.
“To have them with bubbles is not, it's not a usual thing. So here in the States, we bring our traditions, our culture from Latin America and we also adapt from what we have here,” Stewart said.
Stewart appeared on the ABC show Shark Tank in early 2023. Shark Tank Judge Danil Lubetzky said he would help Stewart scale up his business.
With help from many businesses and people, Stewart said he was finally able to get Frescos Naturales on big box store shelves.
“There's an organization there called Naturally Boulder that really helps foster the natural food industry in Boulder. Boulder is like a hub for the natural food industry for the whole country… through Naturally Boulder, I was able to go to the Naturally Boulder Pitch Slam, which I won in 2021. And s buyers were there, they were able to sample, they were able to see the product, and they understood the concept. It’s been promoted from King Soopers, all the way to Kroger, and we're already in Los Angeles and at Ralph's,” Stewart said.
Stewart has been hosting tastings at Denver-area King Soopers.
“Carrying local and diverse products is really important to us because we know it's important to our customers and we know it has an impact on our local communities. Take Juan for example. It's been a really great opportunity for us to work with him and grow that relationship. Because not only are we bringing in diverse products into our store, but we're also sourcing a product that's not coming from across the nation,” Jessica Trowbridge, King Soopers / City Market Corporate Affairs representative said.
But Stewart said getting on store shelves is the first of many challenges.
“There's a lot of products here. I shop at King Soopers all the time. You have to give discounts. So for emerging brands, it's hard, because that falls on us. But it's very important because it's part of how it works. I've shopped at King Soopers for 20 years. And I’m always like, 'Which salsa is on sale?' And I grabbed the ones on sale,” Stewart said.
Stewart said he’s up for the challenge of attracting new customers and for those who know all about this crisp, refreshing drink, he hopes finally seeing Frescos Naturales in their local store will be a nice surprise.
