Suja’s product line is a slate of fruit-and-vegetable juices meant to dose the body with a palatable concentration of nutrients from organic produce. Now, more consumers are drinking juice as a meal replacement, a quick infusion of vegetables or to convey the impression of superior health and discipline. Initially, the juicing market was supported mostly by people doing liquid-only cleanses, marketed as a way to rid the body of toxins and bloat. Just as carrying a Starbucks SBUX -0.26% coffee cup has become a celebrity fashion accessory and a slung-over-the-shoulder yoga mat can signify a certain devotion to spiritual fitness, porting a clear bottle of green vegetable juice has evolved into a status symbol. The company says it generated $20 million in revenue in its first year. Lawless, a 26-year-old former law student and yoga instructor. “When you buy a bottle, you’re getting all the goodness without any of the effort,” says Ms. Suja co-founder Annie Lawless says customers understand the high cost of what goes into the bottle, including organic produce that is cold pressed and then preserved using a process that leaves most of the nutrients intact. And Whole Foods customers are paying $9 for a bottle of celery-based Twelve Essentials vegetable juice, one of the top-sellers from Suja, an 18-month-old juice brand based in San Diego. At least that’s the belief of high-end grocers like Whole Foods Market WFM -1.28% and a spurt of small juice companies trying to move the cold-pressed-juice craze from small-batch to mass-produced. A 16-ounce bottle of BluePrint Red, containing beets, carrots and ginger, among other ingredients, goes for $10 at some retailers.

How much will consumers pay for healthy-in-a-bottle? As much as $10 and sometimes more. Katie Rosman joins Lunch Break with a look at the growing market for premium juice, and whether the health claims hold up.

The price of vegetable, fruit and superfood juice is beginning to approach that of expensive liquor. Suja’s Annie Lawless, co-founder, and Jeff Church, CEO, at the cold-pressed juice company’s San Diego operation Sandy Huffaker for The Wall Street Journal

Carrying a bottle of vegetable juice has become a status symbol

Blueprint juice price whole foods