If you’re looking for a drink to cool down during this summer, look no further than Erewhon. The trending Los Angeles County-based grocery chain made headlines after announcing on July 3 that their in-store tonic bars would be offering up a new Erewhon Sacred Water for the astonishing price of $12, available at all Erewhon locations in Los Angeles until the end of September.
The high-priced drink is described on the Erewhon website as a “clarified herbal tonic” that is “served as a refreshing elixir poured over ice.” The 12-ounce Sacred Water — making the drink a dollar per ounce — is made with eight different ingredients, all of them completely organic: white grape juice, coconut milk, coconut water, jasmine tea, holy basil, anise hyssop, green cardamom, and raw honey.
Dieticians have long been concerned about the effects of Erewhon-like marketing and social media on the general public’s perception of nutrition and health culture.
“Detox and so-called ‘cleanse’ trends are common on social media and are buzz words used in marketing in what I refer to as toxic diet culture,” Jody Margolis, a registered dietitian nutritionist, says to Spoon University. “Using words like ‘sacred’ or ‘clarifying’ is trying to impart a health halo effect to the consumer.”
The nonspecific amount of each ingredient in the Sacred Water poses another issue: without proof of uniformity in each product listed on a nutritional facts panel, it is impossible to say whether or not this beverage offers any sort of health benefits at all. “Even if there was some medicinal or health-like benefit to some of the herbs,” Margolis says, referring to the Sacred Water’s inclusion of holy basil, “the amount used may be negligible.”
Sacred Water lists grape juice and coconut milk as its first two ingredients, which contain natural sugar and saturated fat, respectively. Advertising the drink as water is misleading, Margolis added, as the Sacred Water is closer in content to juice.
Misleading marketing isn’t the only factor of Erewhon’s simulation of health culture. By hiking up the price of grocery items and collaborating with celebrities on promotional drinks, Erewhon has launched itself into a world where luxury is correlated with being healthy.
Erewhon has long been notorious for its high-end prices, with many consumers questioning whether or not the food sold there is actually worth the cost. Internet-famous offerings from Erewhon include a $44 Neptune blue sea moss gel, which had influencers eating a spoonful of vibrant blue goo every morning, and a single giant strawberry from Japan selling for $20, which some social media enthusiasts called the best strawberry they’d ever tasted. The grocery store also frequently serves up smoothies in partnership with celebrities, such as the viral Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, made in collaboration with Hailey Bieber, and each smoothie on the menu costs an average of $20 — over double the price of a Jamba Juice smoothie.
Through the tonic bar, Erewhon has gone from a trending store to a luxury brand. The Tonic Bar doesn’t just serve up drinks: it serves up status, since the menu offers collaboration drinks with currently-popular celebrities. With the store positioning itself as serving up something “premium” based on its social media status, it seems that the branding of Erewhon has begun to correlate wellness with costliness: the more you spend, the healthier and better quality the things you purchase.
Some customers can’t get past the price point of $12 for a cup of water, like influencer Alexandra Nikolajev (@lexniko on Instagram), who said, “It doesn’t taste like much, like, sweet water…Yeah, I wouldn’t pay twelve dollars for it again.”
Margolis pointed out that grocery stores like Erewhon cater to a specific consumer demographic who are willing and able to spend the money on the expensive products. Collaborating with attractive spokespeople and celebrities to promote smoothies (or any nutrition-centered product in general) is a marketing gimmick that uses a beauty standard or unachievable ideal to sell products.
“Social media’s algorithms often prey on consumers who are looking to improve their health and can lead them to become overly preoccupied with health and nutrition and fooled by products that make false health claims,” she says.
Alternatively, Margolis emphasized the value in balance, moderation, and variety in a truly healthy diet.
“My advice is to spend money on real food – consuming a variety of colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts/seeds and cooking with a variety of herbs and spices instead,” Margolis states as an alternative to the trending “health-centered” foods and beverages. “[Drink] plenty of water to support health and hydration.”