At eye level, one kombucha brand triples its shelf share
Eye level is the shelf's most valuable position, and it is distributed nothing like the shelf overall. We measured 1,668 branded facings in-store, 447 of them at eye level, and compared each brand's share of that band against its share of the whole shelf.
- Health-Ade, the kombucha brand, holds 6.3% of measured eye-level facings on a 2.2% overall share: 28 of its 36 facings sit in the eye band.
- Evolution, the cold-pressed juice line, places every one of its 14 facings at eye level. Placement that consistent is a merchandising decision, and it is visible only in the physical record.
- The inverse pattern is just as real: prebiotic-soda maker Olipop carries 4.0% of all facings but 2.7% of eye level, and Chobani 2.6% against 1.6%. Large assortments, lower shelves.
- None of this appears in point-of-sale data. Scanners record what sold and say nothing about where it stood.
The premium cases read like a merchandising ledger. Health-Ade holds almost three times more of the eye band than its footprint would predict. Evolution runs a smaller line and placed all of it at eye height. Recess and Ritual, both modern functional brands, hold roughly double their fair share of the band. Whether that position was negotiated, paid for, or earned through velocity, the shelf shows the outcome.
The brands below their fair share are not failing; they are playing a different game. Olipop's presence is broad, with 66 facings across the fixtures we measured, and much of it sits in mid and lower bands where multi-facing blocks live. Chobani's assortment depth works the same way. Breadth and height are different investments, and a category manager reading this chart can tell which one each competitor made.
This part of the record exists only because someone stood in front of the fixture. Distribution data says a product is stocked. Sales data says it moved. Neither says it sat at the height where shoppers actually look, next to whom, in how many facings. For a brand negotiating a reset, or an investor checking whether a challenger's velocity is placement-driven, that position is the missing variable.