One hardcover book. Two burgers from ShakeShack. Three pairs of socks. All of these items, respectively, cost as much as one Hailey Bieber Strawberry Glaze Smoothie, a $19.00 smoothie available at Erewhon—a luxury grocery store located all over Los Angeles. Erewhon stocks a variety of ingredients and products, from organic produce like seedless watermelon for $20 to supplements like sea moss gel for $90. Despite its exorbitant prices, it remains a popular grocery store with many customers and even tourists going to purchase and try their foods.
Erewhon is meant to appeal to an upscale demographic of health-conscious people rather than the average consumer. In the 1960s, owners Aveline and Michio Kushi decided to introduce high-quality, nutritious foods into the American diet and opened Erewhon in Boston, the first natural foods store in the country. Coined after their favorite book by Samuel Butler, Erewhon happens to spell “Nowhere” backward; the founders intended for the grocery store to emphasize the value of wellness, paralleling Butler’s critique of the lack of a health-focused society in his 1872 novel. In 2017, Erewhon moved to Los Angeles, and the rest is history. Erewhon typically makes headlines every few months due to their brand celebrity smoothie collaborations, with the most recent being their electric juice with Chevrolet and their spirulina and pineapple smoothie with popstar Sabrina Carpenter.
Erewhon’s demand can be attributed to two main factors. First, Erewhon located a niche of consumers who are willing to pay their prices. By moving to Los Angeles and operating in urban areas and luxury malls, such as The Grove, Erewhon is in the heart of affluent consumers and those willing to pay for the social influence and brand name of Erewhon. Los Angeles has tens of thousands of social media influencers, all vying for the next trending video. With viral content from YouTube channels like “Good Mythical Morning” or TikTokers taste-testing these celebrity smoothies and items from the hot bar, like their buffalo cauliflower and sushi sandwiches, this video idea has amassed millions of views and ended up benefitting Erewhon.
Additionally, with the high-income level of consumers in Los Angeles, the locations of the grocery stores tap into the correlation between highly health-conscious individuals and those with high incomes. The market’s success is evident—Erewhon has been growing in sales by 35% annually since 2016. Second, a psychological phenomenon known as the information gap theory can explain why so many consumers, like myself, are eager to try Erewhon. The information gap theory defines an individual’s tendency to take action to fill “gaps” in their knowledge on a topic important to them. Contrary to its unreasonable pricing, there is a part of me that just wants to know: are the smoothies worth it? Despite every review I’ve read, I still genuinely want to try a smoothie for myself and satisfy my curiosity. Ultimately, the price point serves as a marketing tactic. A sizable portion of customers are effectively one-time purchasers rather than weekly regulars getting their groceries. They want to know if the smoothies and hot bar are worth it and buy to just try them out. Thus, Erewhon gains another sale from this sector of the market.
As Erewhon continues to be successful by blending luxury and wellness, it begs the question: are we truly investing in health like Aveline and Michio Kushi’s vision or simply paying for the privilege of exclusivity like influencers are? And by giving into our skepticism about the brand through becoming paying customers to just “try it out,” are we reinforcing a cycle that perpetuates this exclusivity?
