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UVA-QA-0835
Apr. 30, 2015

Lumi Juice: From Concept to Store

Lumi Juice was founded in April 2013 in Charlottesville, Virginia, by Hillary Lewis, a second-year MBA
student who was one month shy of graduating from the Darden School of Business.1 Lumi, which stood for
“Love U, Mean It,” was to be a new brand of 100% organic juice. To preserve the juices’ nutrients and flavor,
Lumi would be produced using high-pressure processing (HPP) instead of heat pasteurization.2

Lewis’s vision was to build a fully functioning manufacturing facility complete with an HPP machine and
to design and bring to market a new line of cold-pressed juices. The goal was ambitious: Lewis wanted to put
a product on the shelves of a major national retailer as soon as possible, using a limited initial investment of
$500,000 and only two full-time employees.3

High-Pressure Processing

Without processing, cold-pressed juices could safely be consumed within 72 to 96 hours. The HPP
pasteurization method applied pressure, rather than heat, to kill microorganisms.4 HPP used 43,500 to 116,000
pounds per square inch of water to neutralize any potentially harmful bacteria. By undergoing HPP, a cold-
pressed juice’s shelf life was extended by up to a multiple of eight. Another benefit of the HPP procedure was
that it did not add any chemical preservatives and therefore maintained the flavor and integrity of the juice. The
process was commercialized in the late 1990s and could be used for a wide range of applications: juices, ready-
to-eat meals, salsas and dressings, soups, salads, meats, dairy products, and more.5 The HPP products market
was projected to reach $12 billion in 2018 and the HPP equipment market was valued at $600 million.6 Two
major HPP suppliers operated in the United States in 2013: Avure Technologies and Hiperbaric USA.

1 See Lumi Juice’s website, http://www.lumijuice.com (accessed Apr. 28, 2015).

2 Lauren Jones and Erik Duda, “Darden Entrepreneur Hillary Lewis Is Shaking Up the Juice Business,” UVA Today, April 1, 2015,
https://news.virginia.edu/content/darden-entrepreneur-hillary-lewis-shaking-juice-business-video (accessed Apr. 28, 2015).
3 Some figures have been disguised for confidentiality purposes.
4 National Food Lab, “High Pressure Processing: Insights on Technology and Regulatory Requirements,” NFL white paper series vol. 10 (July 2013),

http://www.thenfl.com/wp-content/uploads/High-Pressure-Processing-Insights_20131.pdf (accessed Apr. 28, 2015).

5 Food and Drug Administration, “Kinetics of Microbial Inactivation for Alternative Food Processing Technologies—High Pressure Processing,”

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodScienceResearch/SafePracticesforFoodProcesses/ucm101456.htm (accessed Apr. 28, 2015).

6 Markets and Markets, “HPP Equipment Market Worth $600 Million and HPP Products Market Worth $12 Billion by 2018,” press release,

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/hpp.asp (accessed Apr. 28, 2015).

This field-based case was prepared by Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, and Hillary Lewis (MBA ’13), Founder
of Lumi Juice. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.
Copyright © 2015 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to
[email protected]. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation.

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Page 2 UVA-QA-0835

The Organic Juice Market

The market size of the super-premium juice category (which included HPP juices, juice bars, and juice
cleanses) was estimated at $1.9 billion. According to the Organic Trade Association, the organic health-food
market represented a $32 billion industry. U.S. sales of organic products were estimated at $28.4 billion in
2012—more than 4% of total food sales—and would reach an estimated $35 billion in 2014.7

The organic juice market consisted of well-known national brands such as Naked, Odwalla, Simply, and
Tropicana. These brands, however, used heat pasteurization. In the United States, Evolution Fresh, BluePrint,
and Suja were newcomers to the organic juice market. They all used HPP technology and were distributed
wholesale. Although all brands were experiencing growth, a clear market leader had not yet been established.8

In 2011, Starbucks bought Evolution Fresh, and in January 2014 it began carrying the brand in all its stores.9
In December 2012, Hain Celestial Group acquired BluePrint for $109 million. Four months after the
acquisition, BluePrint had grossed more than $20 million. The San Diego–based Suja generated $18 million in
revenues in 2013 and was forecasting revenues of $70 million to $80 million by 2015.

The “From Concept to Store” Project

On June 28, 2013, Lewis set out to make her dream a reality. She began by laying out the scope of the
project and identifying the key activities required to put a product on the shelves of a major retailer. Activities
were grouped into the following categories: (1) facility identification, outfitting, and equipment preparation, (2)
process design, (3) finances, (4) information technology, (5) HACCP training and certification,10 (6) packaging
(labels, bottles, and closures), (7) developing liquid recipes (8) human resources, (9) marketing and sales, and
(10) produce sourcing. See Exhibit 1 for a high-level work breakdown structure. See Exhibit 2 for a detailed
work breakdown structure.

The facility activities would involve scouting a location, signing the lease, and preparing the facility for
manufacturing, including setting up all the necessary utilities (electrics, water, Internet, and compressed air for
the HPP machine) and ordering all the equipment (the HPP machine, cold storage, juicers, batch tanks, fillers,
cappers and labelers, fork lift, drying racks, and soaking bins). Activities associated with the process design
would include researching the design and finalizing the process. Finance activities would include securing a
lease on the HPP machine and insurance for the plant and equipment. Information technology would involve
setting up Quickbooks.

Where HACCP certification was concerned, a consultant would need to be hired, Lewis herself would need
to be trained and certified, and finally Lumi would need to file for approval from both the Virginia Department
of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

7 U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, “Organic Market Overview,” April 7, 2014,
http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/natural-resources-environment/organic-agriculture/organic-market-overview.aspx
(accessed Apr. 28, 2015).
8 Elaine Watson, “Suja Juice Predicts Revenues of $70–80m in 2015 as Super-Premium Juice Category Explodes,” FoodNavigator-USA.com, January

22, 2015, http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Manufacturers/HPP-cold-pressed-Suja-Juice-predicts-2015-revenues-of-70-80m (accessed Apr. 28,

2015).
9 Starbucks Newsroom, “Evolution Fresh Brings More Cold-Pressed Juice to Midwest,” February 25, 2014,
https://news.starbucks.com/news/evolution-fresh-brings-more-cold-pressed-juice-to-the-u.s.-midwest-wit (accessed Apr. 28, 2015).
10 HACCP stood for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and was a formal certificate awarded by the FDA.

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Page 3 UVA-QA-0835

The packaging tasks would revolve around designing, finalizing, and ordering labels; ordering bottles and
closures; and identifying any secondary packaging required for shipping. The liquid step involved defining a
product line of delicious juices, including nutritional content, drink names, and narratives. In terms of HR,
Lewis knew she would need to hire a production crew and an operations manager. Marketing and sales would
require her to estimate demand and, following an analysis of the costs, determine a sale price. Finally, produce
sourcing would require obtaining prices from suppliers and ordering the produce from which the juices would
be made.

After laying out the dependencies and the expected durations of all the tasks, Lewis estimated that the
project would take a total of 49 days to implement, suggesting a launch date of September 4, 2013. Exhibit 3
presents the network diagram of the entire project. Exhibit 4 offers a view of the complete Gantt chart, and
Exhibit 5 highlights critical tasks. Much to Lewis’s surprise, only four tasks turned out to be critical: (1) leasing
the HPP machine, (2) obtaining insurance, (3) delivery of the HPP machine, and (4) HPP machine installation,
commissioning, and training.

Discussion Questions

1. Identify five key risks in this project.

2. Prioritize the list of risks.
3. How would you suggest Lewis plan for these risks?

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Exhibit 1
Lumi Juice: From Concept to Store
Summary Work Breakdown Structure

Lumi Project

Facility Design Process Finance IT HACCP Packaging Liquid HR Marketing & Sales Produce Sourcing

Plant Equipment Labeling Bottles Closure Secondary Packaging

Source: All exhibits created by case writer.

Exhibit 2
Lumi Juice: From Concept to Store
Detailed Work Breakdown Structure

Lumi Project

Start
Packaging

Facility

Labeling Bottles Closure Secondary Packaging

Scout location Plant operational
Plant Equipment
Find labs for Order bottles Order closures Choose shipping
Decide location & analysis box supplier
sign lease
HPP delivery
Buy Prep tables and Lab Analysis Order shipping
Prep for build out Utilities HPP Installation, boxes
sinks File & pay for UPC
commissioning and
training Choose distributor
Compressed air Find label supplier (check with
Electrical Cold Storage Label redesign wholefoods)
purchase
Water Finalize design
Cold Storage install
Internet (for HPP) Order labels
Press Right Juicers
delivery and
installation
Liquid
Batch tank
Filler, capper, labeler Define product line
Fork lift
Drying racks
HR
Soaking bins
Hire work crew
Hire Ops Mgr.
Design Process

Research designs
Marketing & Sales
SOP
Finalize process Estimate demand
(juice sales at
wholefoods,
wholefoods store
Finance counts)

COGS analysis
Lease HPP machine
Set price
Insurance on plant
prop and equip

Produce Sourcing

IT
Get price schedule
from produce
Set up Quickbooks suppliers
online
Order produce
Set up MS Project
Product Rolling off
HPP/Ready for
wholesale
HACCP

Hire Consultant
File for approval

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Exhibit 3
Lumi Juice: From Concept to Store
Network Diagram

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Exhibit 4
Lumi Juice: From Concept to Store
Gantt Chart

Exhibit 5
Lumi Juice: From Concept to Store
Critical Path Gantt Chart

Note: Bolded task names are summary tasks; nonbolded tasks are individual tasks on the critical path.

Yael Grushka-Cockayne’s Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management, Spring 2015