In New York City, we often unknowingly take for granted the wide-ranging availability of health-conscious products. The abundance of farmers markets, organic food stores, and fitness centers and classes has spoiled us, according to Ezra Hamway, an entrepreneur who recently debuted a beverage that purports to offer a “whole day’s worth of fruits or vegetables.”
But IMAGINE THAT, Hamway’s non-perishable, shelf-stable beverage that will retail starting in 2015 for under $4.00, takes taste very seriously. Hamway, a Manhattan resident and father of four, envisions IMAGINE THAT as being as much about convenience as it is flavor, and is as much about nutrition as it is about commercialization.
IMAGINE THAT–which will become available in free one ounce sample shots via drinkimagine.com on November 1–will hold court alongside Vitamin Water and not too far from the soda on supermarket shelves across the nation.
Before developing the idea of the innovative beverage, Hamway did his homework. After traveling around the country for four months, what he found was quite simple: The American people—including everyone between NY and LA—know what they need health-wise, but they don’t always know how to get it. Hamway admits that he loves the taste of junk food and says that if he could sit back with a can of soda and a bag of chips every night, he would — if it wouldn’t mean a shortened life span.
So, it was after speaking to moms, dads, teenagers, boys, and girls in the nation’s Krogers and Wal-Marts that Hamway concluded IMAGINE THAT had a market.
The people he spoke with, Hamway says “want to be able to make better choices.” They want to pay attention to health and wellness. They want to put better things in their bodies. Unfortunately, a lot of them can’t just walk a few blocks to the nearest greenmarket and pick up a week’s worth of fruits and vegetables. With IMAGINE THAT, Hamway is making health and wellness accessible.
Hamway’s approach is honest and intentional, and he paints a good picture, but as someone who sits on the opposite end of the spectrum (I do not like soda and rarely eat junk food), I wondered if he’d be able to impress me with the drinks. He calls the product “high-end,” but is marketing it as “light, airy, and fun,” because that’s how he views the highly successful junk food marketing. Working with nutritionists and scientists to develop the drink, Hamway is undoubtedly pleased with the resulting product.
“I’m going to blow you away,” he claims before our tasting. I smile politely, but remain skeptical. My non-alcoholic drink of choice is water. Iced coffee is a close second when I need an afternoon pick-me-up.
First up is chocolate cherry — made from sweet potato, carrot, spinach, beet and kale. Remembering the company’s motto, “a whole day’s worth of veggies,” I sip gingerly alongside the eager Hamway.
It goes down easily and smoothly. The chalky texture that I’d been worried about never surfaced; instead, I’m left with a rich-tasting (though not too thick) chocolate-like drink that contained zero chocolate — or cherry, for that matter! When Hamway likens it to a tootsie roll, I nod in surprised agreement. Still, I wonder if Hamway really believed this drink could compare to soda.
He seems ready for that question, and he admitted that he’s not trying to replace soda; his is an alternative. Parents got kids that won’t eat their greens? Bingo. He’s got a tasty drink for that, one containing just enough sugar to get it to go down easily.
“I think we can beat them at their own game,” he says.
I’ll drink to that.
