Michelle Obama Launches Health-Conscious Brand PLEZi Nutrition

In the United States, nearly 20% of children face obesity according to the CDC National Center for Health Statistics. Sugar is the number one culprit, with the average American consuming 17 teaspoons of sugar per day, mostly due to added sugars present in processed and ready-to-eat foods.

To tackle the sugar problem and inspire change within the food industry, former first lady Michelle Obama joined PLEZi Nutrition as co-founder and strategic partner. Announcing the company’s launch during the Wall Street Journal “Future of Everything Festival”, she spoke about her past frustration when looking for healthy food options for her kids and her commitment to addressing the health crisis, which influenced her to get involved by starting a food company. “Our call isn’t just to provide healthy drinks and snacks for kids, but to jumpstart a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry,” highlighted Obama in her speech. Recognizing the current gap for healthy, tasty and affordable products in the food and beverage industry, she wants her brand to make it easier for parents to select healthier products that kids will enjoy.

This venture marks a continuation of her commitment to health, which started when she was first lady and launched the “Let’s Move” initiative, which aimed to encourage healthy eating and lifestyle for kids by improving the federal school nutrition standards and influencing food manufacturers and restaurant chains to reduce sugar and saturated fats in their foods.

The company’s first launch is a line of four fruit drinks, a strategic decision made after realizing that added sugar beverages represent the main source of sugar intake for kids. Compared to the leading fruit juices that average 30g of sugar per 8 ounces, PLEZi offers four different flavors that contain only 6g of sugar per serving and no added sugar.

With a mission to help raise healthier kids, the brand is focused on optimizing its distribution in order to be both accessible and affordable, thus facilitating the transition to children eating healthier diets regardless of their families’ income and background. Currently available at Target
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, Sprouts and Walmart.com (on which a 4-bottle pack is priced at $3.98), PLEZi plans to grow its reach by expanding its retail footprint and product line to offer a variety of healthy, tasty drinks and snacks for children.

While this is definitely an improvement from soft drinks and sugary fruit beverages, the brand’s drinks contain stevia leaf extract and monk fruit extract, two popular sweeteners that spark controversy when debating whether or not they actually represent healthy alternatives. The rationale behind this formula choice was to slowly “win kids off their reliance on sugar” and “gradually adjust their palates to crave less sugar overall,” according to Obama. In addition, potassium and fiber were added to the formula in order to provide kids with valuable nutrients.

Overall, there is still a long way to go for consumers to make better food choices, with education expected to play a prevalent role: reading nutrition labels or learning to properly identify sources of hidden sugar will surely help shift consumption choices. Sugar consumption has been a consumer focus for a few years now, with conscious eating accelerating since the pandemic. A study by McKinsey showed that 70% of consumers want to be healthier, with 44% of US respondents claiming to have reduced their consumption of sugar in 2022.

This evolution towards healthy eating is driving grocery retailers to slowly embrace new shopper preferences by welcoming brands that can showcase products with healthier formulas and claims on their shelves. It seems PLEZi’s objective is not so different: “I want other companies to know that PLEZi is coming and I want to challenge all companies to do better than us. Out-innovate us,” Obama revealed in her speech. Given how the pandemic has accelerated consciousness around health and wellness, food and beverage manufacturers should need no further convincing to get on board.