Michelle Obama launches kids’ nutrition firm

Former first lady Michelle Obama has co-founded a new kids’ nutrition company geared at improving access to healthier foods, rolling out a low-sugar drink as its first product. 

Obama on Wednesday announced the launch of PLEZi Nutrition, a public benefit company, and the fruit-juice drink PLEZi, with plans to expand into other drinks and snacks in the coming years.  

“I’ve learned that on this issue, if you want to change the game, you can’t just work from the outside. You’ve got to get inside — you’ve got to find ways to change the food and beverage industry itself,” Obama said at the Wall Street Journal’s “Future Of Everything Festival.”

A release noted that PLEZi Nutrition builds on Obama’s “Let’s Move!” effort, an initiative she started while in the White House to encourage physical exercise and better nutrition among children, with the overall goal of addressing childhood obesity in the U.S.

“I’m proud to announce the national launch of a company designed not just to provide better products, but to jumpstart a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry,” Obama said Wednesday. 

The company’s first product will be available in Target and Sprouts stores, and online at Walmart, according to the release. As a public benefit company, PLEZi Nutrition plans to invest 10 percent of profits into initiatives aimed at improving kids’ health.