Barvida hits the jackpot with a new group of customers: The Greenwich Teenager

Empty Barvida cups, takeout bags, and receipts are littering Greenwich’s various High School campuses. Why are High School students married to this new juice bar? Read on to learn why.

Barvida was founded by Brennan Branca— a native of Darien, CT who, as an athlete and personal trainer, was inspired by his passion for fitness and health and his love for juicing. The minds behind Barvida say “we know the frustration of going to a “healthy” café, only to be disappointed with the quasi-healthy menu options that are laden with sugar. OR the annoyance of finding what looks like the cleanest option on the menu, only to realize it tastes like dirty sand wrapped up in old cardboard.” From there, Barvida opened its first location in Darien in 2019, one in New Canaan later on, and most recently in August, the Greenwich location. All of these locations follow suit to the same mantra: “The only chemical allowed past our door is Botox.”

In order to understand why Barvida is so popular with teenagers, we need to understand the context of smoothie/juice culture, which— thanks to social media’s influencers— started on the other side of the country at Erewhon.

In June of 2022, California’s Erewhon (CA-based organic food and drink market) launched The Hailey Bieber Erewhon Smoothie which quickly became a viral sensation thanks to influencers: “Today, Erewhon reportedly sells 40,000 Hailey Bieber smoothies each month,” says Isabelle Truman of Vogue Business. The smoothie, however, would not have become so popular if it weren’t for the teenagers that follow celebrity and influencer culture online. These high sales are driven by fan girls looking for a way to emulate Erewhon’s organic, healthy lifestyle, one $20 smoothie at a time. From a teens perspective, it is all the rage nowadays to eat healthy, something social media and the influencer culture has only promoted. The problem is, Erewhon is only based in California.

Barvida's Mood Manager Smoothie ($15.99) vs. Erewhon's Hailey Bieber Smoothie ($19.00)

This is where Barvida comes in. Barvida’s smoothies are what is sold at Erewhon’s juice bar, just in Connecticut: visually exciting, colorful, organic, cold-pressed, and nutrient-rich. The only difference is the label and the color of the straw. That is why, to the CT teenagers who have been eyeing The Hailer Bieber Erewhon Smoothie online but have been unable to try it because it is, well, across the country, Barvida comes into play. Here, it is a 5 minute drive to Greenwich’s mainstreet which sells virtually the same kind of smoothie, and is an influencer hot-spot.

In fact, multiple local influencers have endorsed Barvida’s food and drink: Gabrielle Carruthers storied “Finally made it to @barvidajuicebar after living in Darien for 2 years and I do understand the hype,” and Zac Mathias storied “when I walked into @barvidajuicebar they immediately said ‘your usual.’ I’ve been to the Greenwich location only thrice… this is the gold standard of customer service… the other smoothie places could only dream.” Thus, teens supplement their luxury-influencer-supported-smoothie need through Barvida.

Tara Rose Schreiber and Brennan Branca outside of Barvida's location on Greenwich Avenue before opening (left, photo credits— Greenwich Time magazine) and Barvida's juice selection (right)

Out of curiosity, I surveyed my high school, Greenwich Academy, to see how popular the new juice bar really was, or if all the empty smoothie cups around campus were making me think it is more popular than it really is. To my surprise, only 34% of the 140 sampled students said they had tried Barvida before, leaving 66% of the students reporting they have yet to try Barvida. The majority of those who had tried it checked the “I am obsessed and will always pay the money for it” button, However, one thing that did seem promising was the fact that the majority of those who had not been to Barvida yet checked the “I really really want to go because I have heard how good it seems” button.

At the end of the survey, many students chose to leave their additional opinion about Barvida. Some people said something like “I have literally never heard of Barvida before,” or “I have never tried it.” Others said “Die Hard fan absolutely obsessed want to eat it everyday,” “die hard, my favs are the barbie, berry best, cure, and tropical,” “Obsessed I literally want to eat it everyday,” and “BARVIDAAA.” One person said it was an “Erewhon dupe,” and another talked about how "I've seen people come to class with is so I want to try it.”

But some left some honest reviews, which shows how Barvida may not actually be everyone’s dream meal location. A girl said she is a “big hater 😔” because it is “so gross and so expensive.” And some others reported “yes I love but for the price some smoothies aren't entirely worth it,” “I like the açaí bowl not the smoothies lowkey,” and finally, my favorite, “Lol in this economy, no room for Barvida in my life.”

So, Barvida may not be a desperate want from every teenage girl in Greenwich (especially because of how expensive it is). But for some girls, Barvida is a step to having the mainstream-influencer-health lifestyle that is promoted online. These drinks allow teens to stay pop-culturally up to date and healthy through one ($20) smoothie.