A SHOC Gets Vivid New Look
Fitness energy brand A SHOC is reworking its entire lineup of energy drink cans into a vivid tableau of neo-psychedelia after finding success through a collaboration with L.A.-based street artist O.G. Slick.
Following the brand’s initial Tropical Punch launch (see below), the rest of its A SHOC line – Swirl Pop, Watermelon, Fruit Punch, Blue Raspberry and Orange Freeze – will each feature stylized swirls, whorls, stripes and geometric shapes. The new cans – still 16 oz., with a caffeine-and-amino-acid blend – are expected to be available in the new year.
The KDP-aligned creation of Lance Collins and ex-Monster exec Scot De Lorme is also leaning into an endorsement arrangement with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. In the midst of a record-setting year, the newly crowned home run record holder was prominently featured in displays for the company’s Accelerator line, a thermogenic 12 oz. slimcan that’s designed to compete with CELSIUS. Judge is also an ambassador for and equity partner in Hawaiian volcanic water brand Waiakea.
MyMuse Rebrands, Launches Soda Line
A SHOC wasn’t the only Lance Collins joint debuting a fresh look at the show. Organic enhanced water brand MyMuse showed off colorful new 16.9 oz. bottles for its core line, introducing a new logo and doing away with the excessive white space of its old design.
Founded by Collins in partnership with social media stars the D’Amelio family, MyMuse launched last year and is primarily focused on West Coast sales, working with Molson Coors on distribution and selling into c-store accounts like Sheetz.
The brand has also discontinued its iced tea line, which launched alongside the waters last year, and instead is moving into the better-for-you soda space. The “Happy Healthy Soda” line – per the tagline on each 12 oz. can – contains 5 grams of sugar and 25 calories with functional ingredients like coconut water, ashwagandha, guarana, ginkgo and A, B, C and E vitamins. The sodas will be available in Strawberry Guava, Peach Mango, Watermelon, Blue Raspberry and Tropical Citrus flavors.
Flavor Innovations Experience a Tropical Wave
Judging from the slate of new flavor innovations on display at this year’s NACS Show, consumers are looking for a little taste of paradise as Tropical SKUs debuted across beverage categories.
Aside from the aforementioned A SHOC and MyMuse offerings, Monster’s fitness energy brand Reign Total Body Fuel debuted a new “Tropical Storm” flavor, the line’s sole innovation at the show, which is set to launch on Amazon next month with plans to be fully available in retail by February. Meanwhile, Sparkling Ice is expanding its +Caffeine line with a new Tropical Punch variety, which a team member at the booth said was selected as the latest innovation thanks to strong consumer testing feedback.
Meanwhile, “Tropical” proved its versatility as a flavor call out for brands like 5-Hour Energy, which introduced Tropical Burst alongside Orangesicle and Pineapple Splash flavors for its 16 oz. carbonated energy drink line, which launched last year. At the booth, the company noted that its full-sized line has performed well in California where it is utilizing craft beer distributors like Morris Distributing in San Francisco, among others, and has resonated most with working class consumers. One brand representative said the addition of flavors like Tropical Burst and Pineapple Splash suggests that while consumers are “not in paradise” it allows them a moment “to escape to there.”
UPTIME Energy, which is in the process of transitioning its packaging from tall 12 oz. slim bottles to rounder, squat bottles, added Tropical Passionfruit – currently sold in Lucky’s – alongside Ruby Red Grapefruit and Green Mandarin flavors (both H-E-B exclusives until April) to its line. As well, Nutrabolt’s C4 included its own Tropical Passionfruit flavor for its functional Smart Energy extension, joining the line with Blood Orange Yuzu and Strawberry Guava.
While ‘Tropical’ innovations may have been most prominent in the energy category, they weren’t exclusive. Antioxidant sparkling water brand BUBBL’R launched Tropical Dream in May, which brand development manager Zach Lastrilla said was timed for the summer and has performed well thus far. The brand is distributed through PepsiCo bottlers and Anheuser-Busch InBev DSD houses and intends to expand the flavor’s footprint in 2023.
Finally, The Coca-Cola Company wasn’t immune to the trend either. The soda giant was sampling new flavors on the trademark Coke and Sprite lines via its Freestyle machines, although whether those innovations will one day make it into cans and bottles remains to be seen.
Premium Waters Experience Sales Boom
The biggest change at Eternal Water wasn’t a new product, but rather new hires. Company founder Karim Mashouf has taken advantage of turnover traced back to the Nestle acquisition of competitor Essentia to hire a significant fraction of that company’s executive and sales team: 41 to be exact, including CMO Tahne Davis along with sales VPs Chris Schons and Craig Miller.
With plants in both California and Tennessee, Davis said the brand is differentiated from Essentia as a brand that has natural sourcing, rather than as an enhanced water that took off as a sports hydration product.
The brand has grown 36% since April based on simple block-and-tackle improvement from the new hires, Mashouf told BevNET, and is eagerly awaiting next year’s reset schedule to truly flex on a national level.
After watching the growth and sale of Essentia, a brand that like Eternal initially relied on increased interest in alkaline waters, Mashouf likened the hiring spree to a game of Texas Hold ‘Em – with the big entrepreneur pushing all of his chips into the pot.
“These were my competitors,” he said. “We’re natural-born enemies, and I realized I’ve got to get those guys on board.”
Eternal has added 30 new DSD accounts, he said, and Mashouf expects the company to cross $70 million in sales by the end of this year.
“I’m having the time of my life,” he said. “I just want to build a good company, a good brand. Whatever the future holds will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
But Eternal isn’t the only bottled water building momentum. Icelandic Glacial CEO Reza Mirza said the 18-year old brand is up 68% overall and is projecting 70% growth next year buoyed by booming on-premise sales, an 80% repeat online purchase rate and expansion into over 57,000 doors nationwide including accounts like Circle K and Quik Trip.
Mirza suggested premium waters are continuing to grow despite consumers facing inflationary pressure, likening the growth in the category to a fork with value brands similarly booming while mid-price brands like Aquafina and Dasani are slowing down.
Icelandic is now moving into the canned water space for both its still and sparkling lines, showing off a line of 11.3 oz. cans at its booth including flavored sparkling options like Sicilian Lemon, Tahitian Lime and Tarocco Blood Orange, which will begin rolling out next year.
GHOST Aims to Keep High Growth Going
Fast-growing energy brand GHOST was unlisted at NACS but found a perch on the side of investor and sales partner AB-InBev’s booth.
Now in its second year, Ghost Energy is leaning into its licensing deal with Warheads Sour candy to launch a seasonal Sour Green Apple SKU for the fall and beyond. The brand will debut with fitness chain GNC, then move into Kroger in December, said co-founder Dan Lourenco, and then go wider in the new year.
The company is also excited about sponsorships of music events in Las Vegas like the recently-concluded Life is Beautiful festival and is following up with a special SKU for the When We Were Young festival, which will feature pop, punk and emo acts.
Revolution Tea Rolls Out RTD with Cans
Revolution Tea is bringing cans to market, extending from its longtime concentration in bagged loose-leaf products.
The company, owned by Hamburg, Germany-based Lifebrands, displayed a four-variety line of 11 oz. cans in Rose Petal Lemon, Passionfruit Mango, Green Apple and Blackcurrant Blueberry.
Sweetened with apple juice, the products are new to the U.S. but founders hope to get an on-shelf price of $1.99 – $2.49.