Call it something “gnu” from an old beverage hand.
Gnusante Creations, the maker of a better-for-you kids drink in a pouch, is heading into the U.S. after growing up in the Canadian innovation company of Ron Kendrick, one of the original links to 90s fruit-flavored drink Orbitz, a signature beverage for its era. This time, though, Kendrick’s family is on board as well.
While the iconic – and infamous – Orbitz, with its gellan gum-derived signature floating balls, was considered a commercial failure, it remains one of the most discussed products in the early stages of the so-called “new age beverage” era and old, unopened bottles still sell in the online collectors market.
Since then, Kendrick, who had been working for Orbitz’ parent company Clearly Canadian at the time, has made a name for himself with a beverage formulation and solutions firm called Catalyst Development. Catalyst has worked on brands like Essentia, Good Drink and Rvitta – but Gnusante, with its flagship line Gnubees, is the first full-fledged brand wholly owned by the innovation shop.
As such, the company is turning into a family affair. Kendrick and one of his daughters, Sarah Kendrick Wall, run Catalyst, while his other daughter, former model/actress and scuba instructor Autumn Kendrick, joined in 2020 to spearhead marketing and brand operations. Of course, true to form, Autumn’s arrival meant even more innovation in the Catalyst lab, especially as Ron is starting to ease toward retirement.
While joining at the beginning of the pandemic was tough, Autumn said, she used the unexpected downtime to focus on developing a second, functional product line, Gnubees+, which launched this year. Available in in four flavors – Grape Aspiration, Lemon Limelight, Tropical Unstoppable and Strawberry Wise – the plus line comes in 250 mL pouches (8.4 oz.) and features 8 grams of whey protein, 4 grams of fiber and 30% daily dose of vitamins C and D. The line also features brighter, more minimalist packaging design without the brand’s gnu mascot.
“When I came in, I was like ‘I love Gnubees, but I think we need to expand the line and make it a little bit more fun and aged up a little bit and have some playful flavors,’” she said. “So that started the Gnubees+ voyage in my time with Gnusante … and then with the challenges of COVID I had the opportunity to start hopping in the lab.”
The flagship Gnubees line is available in 130 mL (4.3 oz.) pouches. The drinks are currently available in Go Banana, Mango Tango and Rockin’ Raspberry flavors and each pouch contains 3 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein, calcium and magnesium. They retail for $33.49 per 12-pack and are currently available in about 130 stores in Canada and are available online direct-to-consumer.
For his part, Ron Kendrick told BevNET that he felt like children were underserved in the marketplace.
“Sugar drinks and simple juices with fancy graphics overwhelmed nutritional value combined with great taste,” Ron said. “As my company Catalyst Development Inc. is a vertically integrated beverage development company, I had the opportunity to develop and produce something to fill this void and address the need for delicious and convenient nutrition for this category.”
Now, Gnusante is preparing to expand into the U.S. market and growing its presence in Canada. As a division of Catalyst, Gnusante is driving expansion, Autumn said, noting the combined companies have a total of 11 employees, up from four last year, and it is in the process of hiring a first director of sales. An additional product launch is also slated for the end of Q1.
Looking ahead, the brand is set to enter several big box retailers in Canada this year and is targeting the grocery channel, she said, as well as growing its ecommerce business. Another early visibility target, she added, is U.S. climbing gyms, noting that gyms in Canada have been some of Gnubees strongest accounts for discovery.
“[Climbing gyms] have been the greatest place that we found trial and then driving that trial into grocery and ecomm sales has been our greatest success,” she said. “We’re finding those opportunities where parents are willing to invest a little bit more in that snack on-the-go, and then they realize it’s a great product, a quality product and their kids are asking for it, so they go pick it up at the store.”
The kids drink category, however, has been a historically difficult space for startup brands to gain traction. Autumn noted that while many parents may want healthier products for their children, the higher price point can still be a difficult barrier to overcome. Gnusante is also entering the market as demand for better-for-you kids beverages is rising, and new low sugar, functional products from both startups and conglomerates are beginning to reshape the category, but a decline in sugary, artificial beverages has also prompted some retailers to reduce shelf space for kids drinks making placement in mainstream retailers harder to procure.
According to Autumn, Gnusante believes it can sell parents via its health benefits, strong flavor and its eco-friendly, durable pouch packaging.
“Parents love the convenience of being able to throw Gnubees in their bag and not stress about it taking up space,” she said. “They don’t have to worry about breaking or anything like that. It’s fun, we actually see kids using it as a hacky sack, passing it back and forth to each other and having fun. So those two factors together really drive home why we love our pouch packaging.”