What’s the Point of a $20 Smoothie?

It is easy to dunk on Erewhon. The LA-based grocery store feels like a parody of rich-white-lady-in-a-big-hat wellness culture, where you can run into celebrities buying raw milk and bespoke strawberries. Nothing is more emblematic of its vibe than the smoothie bar, where these half-fruit, half-supplement concoctions are nearly worshiped. It’s here that you can order a smoothie with beef organs, or a $20 Smashing Pumpkins-branded smoothie that includes ingredients like mushrooms and algae called the “OG Goth.”

The smoothie is of course not just a smoothie. It’s a status symbol. Which is why, when Erewhon decided to open its first New York smoothie bar (sorry, “tonic bar”), it did so inside the private members club Kith Ivy, where presumably members wouldn’t bat an eye at the prices. But adherents are also quick to defend the expense; “The fact that it’s healthy means you can justify the price,” one Erewhon member told Vogue Business. The pursuit of health, or really of something like body optimization, is the whole promise.