Just a year after its launch, Life is good coffee has been discontinued. |
ORRVILLE, OHIO — Apparently, life was not good for a coffee brand introduced last summer by J.M. Smucker Co. The Orrville-based company said during an Aug. 20 conference call with analysts that it discontinued the Life is good coffee brand during the first quarter of fiscal 2015.
Introduced last summer as Smucker’s first line with 100% certified coffee, Life is good coffee was available in Light Hearted, a light roast ground coffee; Happy Medium, a medium roast ground coffee; Dark & Daring, a dark roast ground coffee; S’more to Love, a s’more flavored ground coffee; and Banana Bread Bliss, a banana bread flavored ground coffee. All products were UTZ Certified, a program promoting sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers, their families and our planet.
Mark Smucker, president of U.S. Retail Coffee at Smucker, said during the conference call that the relationship with the Life is good Kids Foundation was “fantastic,” and commended the group on their work with their brands. However, the combination of the Life is good brand and coffee did not mesh, he said.
“What we learned, although the products were very good products, what we learned is that the relevancy of that brand was decent on the coasts … but elsewhere brand awareness was very low,” Mr. Smucker said. “We just saw good trial out of the gate, but poor repeat purchase because I think the consumer has a number of choices in that category. And that brand, unfortunately, just did not survive.”