Michelle Obama unveiled her latest project on Wednesday, announcing the start of her food and drink company PLEZi.
This is a continuation of her platform as first lady known as “Let’s Move,” an initiative to help children become more active and eat healthier. Obama has a passion for combating childhood obesity, while recognizing her own family’s experience of hiring a professional chef to make her children healthy meals, per her book Becoming.
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Obama’s newest venture, however, is seemingly meant to benefit families who struggle financially as she discussed the plight of parents today during the Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival. The former first lady acknowledged that the pandemic and subsequent inflation has affected the affordability of healthy food.
“Our goal: to make products with real nutrition, to be an ally that parents can trust,” Obama said of PLEZi.
PLEZi only has a no-sugar-added drink so far to offer, in flavors its calling Tropical Punch, Orange Smash, Sour Apple, and Blueberry Blast. Obama herself writes in a statement on the website that the drinks are made for kids ages 6-12, as “kids shouldn’t regularly be drinking anything other than water or milk until they’re at least five years old.” These drinks are already for sale in Target, Sprouts, and Walmart at around $5 for a four pack.
Obama is listed as a co-founder and strategic partner on the website but it remains unclear if she will receive a paycheck from the for-profit company. PLEZi is a public benefit company based in Washington, D.C., meaning it will balance its profit in proportion to its needs.
Already, it has committed 10% of its profits to organizations promoting childhood health and an additional $1 million to an initiative by FoodCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring 50 million students in the United States receive education about nutrition and free school meals by 2030.
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This announcement comes at a WSJ event more than a month in advance of the outlet’s Global Food Forum, which it will host in Obama’s hometown of Chicago in late June. PLEZi is not currently listed as a sponsor for the event.
Some 61% of U.S. children and youth consume sugary drinks every day, according to a report out of The State of Childhood Obesity initiative.
