Beverage company Dyla Brands is expanding into a new category with the launch of Happy Viking, a line of plant-based protein drinks developed by tennis superstar Venus Williams.
New York-based Dyla is the parent company of the Stur brand of liquid drink mixes, as well as FORTO organic cold brew energy shots. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a minority stakeholder in Dyla and is the distributor for FORTO.
Though the company is new, Williams developed the basic formula for Happy Viking’s protein drinks nearly a decade ago when she was diagnosed with Sjögren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that can cause fatigue and joint pain, swelling and stiffness, among other symptoms. Williams was forced to pull out of the 2011 US Open mid-tournament, and her struggles with the disorder limited the tennis star to non-competitive play for the remainder of that year.
According to Williams, her triumphant return to the court less than a year later — she won the gold medal for women’s doubles alongside sister Serena at the 2012 Summer Olympics at the All England Club in Wimbledon — was fueled by making the switch to a vegan, plant-based diet, as recommended by her nutritionists. With its debut product, a two-SKU line of protein drinks launching early next year, Happy Viking is adapting a formulation developed by Williams during her recovery.
“After being diagnosed with Sjögren’s Syndrome, I needed to find a way to fuel my body in a way that would mitigate symptoms of the disease and help me to return to the top of my game both on and off the court,” said Williams in a press release. I created Happy Viking because I want other people to have healthy, effective, and delicious options to fuel their bodies so they can strive towards being their best self in every aspect of their life.”
Available in Triple Chocolate and Vanilla Bean flavors, Happy Viking is available now online, through the brand’s website and on Amazon, in 11 oz. single-serve TetraPak cartons and 1-liter multi-serve. The line will launch at Kroger stores chainwide in Spring 2021, and a powdered version is set to follow later in the year.
Beyond the inclusion of 20 grams of plant-based protein, the product is also marketed as containing “brain-boosting ingredients such as DHA-Omega 3, sunflower oil and fiber” through Complete Body Mind Macronutrients (CBMM). Both varieties also include nine essential amino acids and branched-chain amino acids.
“We figured out how to make a product taste as good as a dairy-based product with plant-based ingredients,” Premkumar said, noting that product formulation took about a year. “The other thing that sets it apart is the nutritional profile that she really pioneered over the last ten years: it helps build lean muscle, it boosts collagen production, it has amino acids and BCAAs, and it has immune benefits and digestive benefits.”
As a company, Happy Viking is a subsidiary of Dyla, and Williams is a stakeholder and chief creative officer for the brand. The tennis star, a five-time Wimbledon winner, will also be involved in marketing and content development around the product, including a video series that will begin rolling out soon. As with Dyla’s other brands, all finance, sales, marketing, operations and supply chain logistics will be shared across a single team. The product will be distributed through wholesalers.
Speaking about Dyla’s performance overall in 2020, Premkumar noted the pandemic created contrasting conditions for the Stur and FORTO brands. The former experienced a spike in sales as consumption habits shifted to at-home occasions, while the latter saw its online sales soar into the triple-digits even as the retail business suffered category-wide declines. While the business grew overall, however, the company made the decision to phase out its 11 oz. line of ready-to-drink energy coffees, originally launched in 2018, next year.
“The profit on the full-size business was so low and the amount of money required to invest behind it just didn’t make sense,” he said. “The unit velocities for the category just never really go to the place that everyone expected it to like energy drinks. We realized the shot business was driving all the rapid growth so we made the decision in 2021 to just focus on shots.”