Erewhon's smoothies: when hype meets wellness

Supermarkets are generally a nice place, especially for someone like me who loves grocery shopping, noticing the differences between various chains, finding new items and good deals. Sometimes, when I'm in a neighborhood with a supermarket I don't have in my area, I take a tour as if I were vacationing on another planet. Abroad or on holiday, a local grocery trip is a must, between a monument and a museum visit. I have strong opinions about the battles between discount stores, I love Lidl's bakery section, I buy pasta at Esselunga and dark chocolate-covered almonds from NaturaSì. In short, I'm a somewhat knowledgeable person, and my expertise comes from field experience and a genuine interest in this world.

Grocery trends meet the world of wellness, beauty, and skincare

Evidently, I'm not the only one. TikTok Italy seems to have rediscovered the wonders of Lidl, Esselunga socks are indispensable, and memes about Whole Foods - a supermarket chain founded in Austin and owned by Amazon that focuses on organic food and has a wide selection of fruits and vegetables and generally healthy food - have been flooding online spaces since the days of vegan YouTube vloggers. Supermarkets are cool, but only certain ones, and on various levels of irony. Grocery shopping is an adventure to be documented, with fridge and freezer restocks all on camera. Even water has become a status symbol! If we add to this equation the growing attention to dietary supplements, wellness, and foods that benefit the skin "from the inside," then we get Erewhon's $27 smoothies, a true social media craze and a symbol of the times (and of the new ways in which the beauty industry has embraced hype culture).

Erewhon and its smoothies: the involvement of Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner

While this phenomenon was already present, it was Erewhon Market, a luxury supermarket and deli chain re-founded in Los Angeles in 2011, that brought it all together, becoming a cultural phenomenon discussed even overseas, even by those of us who don’t and probably never will have the chance to taste one of these smoothies. They did it cleverly, leveraging new wellness trends and linking their name to the it-girls of the moment, selling dietary supplements at outrageous prices and drawing us in like flies (or butterflies) with their super smoothies "created" by Hailey Bieber (Strawberry Glaze Skin, with collagen and sea moss), Kendall Jenner (Peaches and Cream, with kombucha and lucuma), Sofia Richie (Sweet Cherry, with colostrum), Winnie Harlow (with spirulina powder and Barcode water), which are colorful, good for the skin, and cost from $13 per glass onward.

The sunscreen-inspired smoothie

The summer hit? The sunscreen-inspired smoothie, in collaboration with the brand Vacation. It contains coconut, banana, vanilla syrup, aloe, and sea salt. "Although inspired by the fragrance of the world's best-smelling sunscreen, Vacation, this smoothie does not protect the skin from the sun," a press release cheekily specifies. To protect your skin, you’ll need to buy a tube of sunscreen, also sold by Erewhon, along with the $23 smoothie. What a surprise!

Are we victims of the hype?

We want to be cool, never age, have skin that glows in the sun like a glazed donut, and feel beautiful while running around the big city. If an expensive smoothie promises to make us exactly that, who are we not to buy it? Try everything, venture to Erewhon, go bankrupt. Everything is allowed, but be careful to remain rational and aware. Keep an eye on the beauty industry's strategies, as they expand more and more into other worlds, from food to technology.