Moon Juice’s Next Chapter: Transformation and Tough Choices
Before Erewhon’s smoothie spotlight, there was Moon Juice. This Los Angeles–based wellness label opened its first shop in 2011, serving drinks like Strawberry Milk (which included colloidal silver, organic strawberries, and raw almond milk) and snacks such as activated cashews priced at $30 per bag. Over time it evolved into a cult favorite with venture backing, selling a range of supplement “dusts” aimed at libido and sleep to a broad audience.
Even as wellness remains central to today’s cultural conversation, Moon Juice is navigating a shift. The brand recently closed its Venice Beach store, a move that followed the May shuttering of its Silver Lake location and the Melrose Place shop’s earlier exit two years prior. Compounding the challenge, Moon Juice lost a major retail ally when Sephora announced it would discontinue its supplements line.
Founder Amanda Chantal Bacon described the decision to close the store as difficult but necessary, noting that daily food and juice production demanded a level of ongoing resources that did not align with Moon Juice’s larger objectives. Those objectives include expanding retail presence in the U.S. and abroad, while growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) and Amazon channels. In August, the company appointed Federico Troiani, formerly of Ritual and Bulletproof 360, as CEO to steer DTC and wholesale growth. As Moon Juice enters 2026 with new leadership, it faces a wellness market where trends rise and fall with the same intensity as beauty or fashion, driven by hype cycles and consumer skepticism alike.
The Millennial Visionary Behind Moon Juice
Amanda Bacon, a former fine-dining chef with a passion for mushrooms, became one of the era’s most recognizable wellness figures. She helped popularize adaptogens and functional beverages, presenting a highly curated, aspirational lifestyle through cookbooks, blogs, and social media. Yet her visibility also sparked controversy. A 2015 Elle piece detailing her unusual breakfast lineup—featuring cordyceps, reishi, ho shou wu, and quinton shots—went viral, while a 2016 profile in The Cut suggested her regimen was so esoteric it made Gwyneth Paltrow look mainstream. The brand attracted both devoted fans and skeptical critics who questioned the scientific basis of its claims.
“This has always been polarizing,” Bacon acknowledged. “There was a charming five minutes when people were won over. But online, it quickly became, ‘I hate what you’re saying about wellness.’” Still, controversy often translated into attention, boosting sales and attracting investors. Moon Juice has raised about $10 million in total, including a $7 million Series C led by True Beauty Ventures in 2022. Its products are carried by Ulta Beauty, Revolve, Free People, Nordstrom, and Erewhon. While Bacon says she remains skeptical about certain wellness claims, she also emphasizes discerning judgment in the space.
“People swing between Extreme skepticism—‘Wellness is nonsense, supplements don’t work, everyone’s selling snake oil’—and the opposite, where there’s no discernment at all and consumers buy formulas that aren’t clean or effective,” she said.
A New Trajectory for Wellness Brands
Today the wellness field faces new dynamics. Movements like MAHA and vaccine skepticism have polarized parts of the community and cooled some connections with retailers. Sephora’s withdrawal from supplements mirrors a broader shift, and even Goop has pivoted more toward beauty and fashion in recent years. Bacon suggested that cultural differences in how wellness is perceived in Europe versus the United States might influence retail decisions, including Sephora’s move away from supplements. She notes that breaking into a new category requires sustained investment and time for customers to trust a brand as a reliable source for those products.
Moon Juice now relies primarily on DTC and Amazon for sales. Its Amazon popularity surged after the company’s “sleepy girl mocktails” went viral on TikTok; the brand’s Magnesi-Om powder is among its bestsellers on that platform. Bacon says she helped seed this trend with a recipe and influencer partnerships, and that the term “sleepy girl” was trademarked in 2023 (though this registration appears to have been abandoned as of May 2025).
Looking ahead, Bacon says she isn’t chasing every new fad. She has deliberately avoided past booms and busts—such as the CBD craze—and she isn’t joining the current wave of animal-based wellness powders. Instead, she plans to double down on Moon Juice’s brain-boosting line, following a personal traumatic brain injury she experienced earlier this year.
Despite rumors of a potential exit, Bacon confirms Moon Juice is not currently in any M&A talks. Her objective is longevity: to nurture Moon Juice into a “100-year-old brand.” She emphasizes a steady, trend-resistant approach rather than rapid-fire pivots driven by market hype.
“People want quick moves and lower costs with aggressive marketing and a rush to beat competitors,” she said. “Moon Juice has never operated that way.”
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