In 2021, Erewhon introduced a smoothie with the influencer known as Tinx, marking the upscale grocer’s first beverage collaboration. In 2022 came its partnership with Marianna Hewitt, followed by its collab with Hailey Bieber: the now-infamous Strawberry Skin Glaze smoothie. The rest is history.
Beauty-driven food collaborations have since become a staple — and now, it seems, food brands are ready to adopt beauty’s marketing playbook, in return.
For 17 years, Purely Elizabeth has primarily focused on granola and oatmeal. But this week, it introduced a limited-edition beauty-focused granola — a salted vanilla pistachio flavor dubbed Purely Glow Granola. The granola is infused with collagen peptides, as well as biotin, which supports the body’s keratin production, making it widely recommended for skin, hair and nail health.
On the CPG side, beverages have historically been an easy access point for beauty, wellness and food brands wanting to mesh their worlds. And collagen — which, when taken as a supplement, may improve skin elasticity and hydration — has appeared across the health and wellness industry’s typical formats, including bottled beverages and bars.
This is not the first time Purely Elizabeth has featured wellness- and beauty-forward ingredients in its products; it began with the introduction of a probiotic-infused granola in 2017. Then, in 2019, the brand introduced collagen-infused oatmeal. “When we launched collagen in oatmeal, we were certainly ahead of [our] time. We’ve always been a little bit ahead of the times — sometimes too ahead of the times — and ahead of where the consumer really is,” said Elizabeth Stein, founder and CEO of Purely Elizabeth.
Purely Glow, however, is intentionally kicking things up a notch with the addition of biotin. And to introduce its first-ever limited-edition flavor, salted vanilla pistachio, the brand is taking a page from a very 2026 beauty marketing playbook.
Stein, who is a certified holistic health coach, views the granola as part of a broader wellness routine. “We think about beauty as a self-care ritual, and I view food the same way. This granola is an opportunity to slow down, to have a moment — whether it’s for breakfast or an afternoon snack — to make this a ritual, make it nourishing. [The idea] is not just to consume it while we’re looking at our phone and multitasking, but to really slow down as we do with [our] beauty rituals.”
At least for now, Purely Glow will not be sold through Purely Elizabeth’s retail partners, which include Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, Wegmans and Target. Instead, it is available solely through its direct e-commerce site and — a first for the brand — on TikTok Shop. Stein has wanted to launch a product this way for years, she said, but the traditional CPG retail playbook rarely allows for it. The brand began teasing the new product on February 3 and officially introduced it on February 5. From February 5-12, its marketing efforts focused on its existing community, including 285,000 Instagram followers and 140,000 TikTok followers.
From February 12-14, Purely Elizabeth is hosting a pop-up in partnership with Cha Cha Matcha in New York City’s Flatiron neighborhood. On day one, guests were offered makeup touch-ups from Tower 28. Meanwhile, each day, the first 50 guests receive the new granola, the chance to win prizes from a branded claw machine and te opportunity to purchase special pistachio matcha lattes and yogurt bowls. February 12 also marked the broader kickoff of the brand’s marketing push: The granola became available on TikTok Shop and a series of paid creator partnerships went live.
“The intent is to drive that cultural relevance, especially with a Gen-Z audience, which is why we’ve used some of these TikTok trends to inspire the product,” said Meghan Shookman, Purely Elizabeth’s vp of marketing. “That’s why we’re integrating with Cha Cha Matcha — because Gen Z loves a matcha morning — and it’s why we’re launching this on TikTok Shop, too. TikTok Shop has become a real discovery zone; it’s consumers discover new beauty products. We wanted them to discover our granola in the same way.”
According to Stein, there has recently been an “increased love” of collagen. “Sonsumers are now, finally, here and wanting this added benefit,” she said.
Purely Elizabeth’s roster of influencer and creator partnerships supporting the launch is extensive. Those posting include Bobbi Brown, a longtime friend of the brand and Stein herself; and influencer Ashley Paige — both will create content inspired by traditional beauty reviews. There’s Chelsea Parke Goles, founder of Parke; influencer Brett Chody; and stylist and creator Coco Schiffer, the last of whom made content at Thursday’s TWP runway show, where Purely Elizabeth served as the food sponsor. A collaborative post with Brooke Yoakam (@thebrandblueprint_; 114,000 Instagram followers), in which Yoakam describes the product as the “first-ever granola with added beauty benefits,” is already live. Its headline reads: “How beauty & wellness are intersecting.”
Regarding the Schiffer and TWP partnership at New York Fashion Week, Shookman said, “We weren’t originally planning to launch it during New York Fashion Week, but as we were thinking about what’s going on and how we can be a part of the buzz already emanating across New York City, we thought, ‘Wow, Fashion Week seems like a natural integration.’”
Currently, millennials are the primary consumers of granola, Shookman said. “This is an opportunity for us to bring a new generation into the joy of granola.” Granola is a $1.3 billion category, she said, citing SPINS point-of-sale data. Purely Elizabeth is the No. 1 granola brand in the natural category at retailers including Whole Foods and Sprouts, and one in three of its consumers are new to the granola category, according to a 2025 market research study by C&R. “Purely Elizabeth has driven all of those new consumers to the granola category, which is really exciting,” Shookman said.
Based on Purely Glow’s level of success, the granola could become part of the brand’s permanent assortment, Shookman said. In the days since it launched exclusively on the brand’s DTC site, 2,200 bags have sold. On Monday, Shookman projected the brand might sell out within three weeks; by Thursday, sales were outpacing expectations, and the brand now anticipates a sellout by next week.
Purely Elizabeth may also further expand into beauty-inspired recipes. “Given that this is our first limited-edition flavor, if it is successful, I see us doing further drops in the future to maintain that buzz and excitement,” Shookman said. “We’d love to be at the forefront of these types of trends — I see that as a continued opportunity in the future.”
