CLEAN Cause Broadens Offerings with ‘Sparkling Pick-Me-Up’ Launch

CLEAN Cause is looking to spread its support for addiction recovery further with its latest product launch: Sparkling Pick-Me-Up, a functional sparkling water line infused with collagen and prebiotics.

According to founder Wes Hurt, the new line was soft launched last year in Austin, Texas-area stores and is now available in about 200 doors as well as online direct-to-consumer. The drinks are available in Strawberry Lemon, Berry Vanilla and Orange Passion flavors and each 12 oz. can contains 1000 mg of collagen, 1000 mg of prebiotics, 120 mg of organic caffeine from green tea and 6 grams of sugar. The drinks are available online for $35.95 per 12-pack or $60.95 per 24-pack.

Founded in 2015, CLEAN Cause primarily produces a line of sparkling yerba mate drinks and donates 50% of its profits to sober living scholarships to help people in recovery from substance addiction. The company, Hurt said, has so far given over $2 million to the program since its inception.

While CLEAN Cause’s yerba mate drinks are now available in over 10,000 doors nationwide, Hurt said the category is still new to consumers. Although yerba mate growth has been consistent over the past several years, it has been slow, even as category leader Guayaki has raised large funding rounds and headed education efforts.

Sparkling Pick-Me-Up now provides the brand with a differentiated product line that can drive incrementality by both appealing to its existing customers and also open up “a much larger total addressable market” for the business, Hurt said. As its name suggests, the drink is intended as an afternoon refreshment beverage that won’t cause jitters.

“It’s not energy, it’s better – that’s my tagline,” Hurt said. “This is more of a balanced [drink] and it’s kind of the best of all worlds. We know gut health is up and coming, we know collagen has had a run in the powders but is looking at new formats, and we know better-for-you caffeine is of interest. So we actually wanted to innovate in this space.”

Hurt compared Pick-Me-Up to a cross between emerging brands such as CELSIUS, Vital Proteins and Olipop that have helped lay the groundwork for consumer trends such as healthier energy, gut health and skincare drinks. However, he admitted the multi-functional formulation has left the brand still working to determine the best part of the store to merchandise the line. While the caffeine content is in line with an energy drink, Hurt said he sees Pick-Me-Up as a differentiated product.

“I want to go into more of that holistic health and wellness play and be around the likes of kombucha, Olipop, Poppi, those types of new age sodas,” he said. “This is a new age beverage, for all intents and purposes.”

After its test run last year, CLEAN Cause reformulated Sparkling Pick-Me-Up and the company is now undertaking a “highly strategic launch with a select number of DSD partners” in the Texas market.

The brand will also sample Sparkling Pick-Me-Up during the Natural Products Expo West 2023 trade show next month, along with another new beverage line that will be unveiled during the show.

“2023 is the year of innovation for CLEAN,” Hurt said. “It’s the year that CLEAN realizes much of its potential after seven years of grinding and going through peaks and valleys. That’s my prediction for this year.”