It might not be too surprising that a lifestyle company built around water bottles and travel mugs is extending itself into hydration beverages… it’s a tale we know all too well. Simple Modern joined the fray this week, entering into the stick pack electrolyte drink category with the launch of Trevi Enhanced Hydration.
Taking its name from the famous Roman fountain, Trevi comes in four flavors – Lemon Lime, Orange, Raspberry and Berry Lemonade – which are sold in 10- or 28-count bags. The stick packs launched on the company’s website as well as on Walmart.com and Amazon.
Although the synergy between drinkware and hydration powders might seem obvious, getting Simple Modern consumers to buy into the parent company’s new powdered beverage is not a sure thing, especially considering it will be competing in a category that is already quite crowded.
As opposed to insurgent brands like LMNT, Skratch Labs or Nooma (which were launched by former professional and collegiate athletes), Trevi is taking an every-person approach to marketing. It hopes it can differentiate from other electrolyte and recovery mixes that target the fitness community or active lifestyle consumers by being a product for “everyday life,” said Trevi CEO (and former Simple Modern chief growth officer) Corbin Wallace in a recent interview with Modern Retail.
In this year alone, we have seen various lifestyle brands move into the hydration space. In August, Instant Hydration launched under the leadership of Diff Eyewear and Motif Digital’s founder teams. Magnesium-enriched powder brand Magna hit the market in July as the brainchild of Everlane’s founder Michael Preysman.
Coming from Europe with an innovative tablet format, waterdrop splashed into the U.S. market with a lifestyle branding strategy complete with retail stores selling bottles and accessories accompanied by a premium price tag. While we are at it, its worth mentioning that incumbent brands like CURE Hydration, NUUN and Hydrant have also been jostling to compete with category leader Liquid I.V.
Is there room for one more? According to Circana data, dollar sales in the single-serve sports drink mix category notched up 28.1% to $1.4 billion in the 52-week period ending November 11. Unit sales were also up in the period 20.4%.