It’s not every day that you see celebrities wearing grocery store merch, but Los Angeles-based Erewhon is not your everyday grocery store.
With a line of casualwear that’s been spotted on Kendall Jenner and Sophie Turner and $20-plus smoothies that have become one of the hottest status symbols for influencers on social media, Erewhon is in a league of its own when it comes to upscale branding.
The mastermind behind Erewhon’s growing cachet in recent years is Vito Antoci, the chain’s evp. Antoci is the brother of Tony Antoci, who acquired Erewhon with his wife Josephine in 2011.
A major factor in Erewhon’s success has been its wellness offerings of supplements, new-age beverages and iconic smoothies, with beauty becoming a growing part of the equation. The retailer has been upping its roster of beauty brands with a focus on labels that you’d be more likely to find at an upscale boutique than at the grocery store. Antoci described the brand’s clean standards as “rigorous.”
“We incorporate our wellness and beauty products into our marketing strategy, as part of our belief that living well is a holistic choice – not compartmental to only the produce we sell or the foods we eat,” said Antoci.
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Driven by multiple influencer and celebrity collabs heavily focused on beauty, the smoothies have truly taken on a life of their own.
Case in point: Erewhon sold 215,000 of its Hailey Bieber Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothies launched in June 2022 with ingredients including collagen, hyaluronic acid and sea moss gel. Launched the same month as her skin-care brand Rhode, partial proceeds of the $17 smoothie went to the brand’s Rhode Foundation. Recently relaunched, the Bieber smoothie has seen an additional 39,000 sales.
These collabs mean big social engagement for Erewhon, as the photogenic and expensive smoothies have been huge on Instagram and TikTok: The Hailey Bieber smoothie received 3.5 million Instagram views in 30 days, while the Bella Hadid smoothie received 1.8 million TikTok views. Other collab partners have included Summer Fridays founder Marianna Hewitt and Kardashian hairstylist Chris Appleton.
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But Antoci said Erewhon doesn’t engage in traditional sponcon marketing, instead focusing on influencer product collabs and donating a portion to the influencer’s charity of choice.
The next big influencer on his radar? Alix Earle. The breakout TikTok star “has come in a few times, and we are so pleased that she loves what we do,” said Antoci. “We would love to work with her one day. Who knows?”
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