Sports nutrition platform Don’t Quit! is shaking things up with the addition of new institutional investors and corporate leadership, with former X2 CEO Mark French bringing in a seasoned executive team as he steps into the chief executive role at the brand.
The deal marks a new chapter for Don’t Quit!, the brand launched in 2020 by celebrity fitness trainer Jake Steinfeld in partnership with L.A. Libations and Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP). Initially positioned as a meal replacement drink aimed at disrupting established category players Ensure and Boost, the brand has since shifted focus to its two-SKU protein drink line in 12 oz. bottles, which are distributed by KDP in SoCal and other regions.
The transaction is being billed as a merger between Don’t Quit! and New Jersey-based X2 Performance, a maker of natural energy drinks that counted Anheuser-Busch InBev’s AB ONE network amongst its distributors. The X2 brand itself, however, is no longer on the market. Parent company Advanced Bio Development, Inc (ABD) and existing X2 investors are now shareholders in Don’t Quit!
Under its new leadership — which alongside French also includes fellow X2 veterans Kevin Foreman as CFO, Dave Cohen as CMO and Chad Cunningham as Senior Vice President of Operations & Product Development — the company will continue building around the protein drinks, but also aims to extend its platform into new product categories, the first being this summer’s launch of pre-workout energy drinks.
That growth will be fueled in part by new investments from Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (MSG Sports), owners of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, as well as X2’s slate of institutional investors which includes the firms L Catterton and Sweetwater Private Equity.
Board seats in the new entity will be held by L Catterton, Sweetwater Private Equity, L.A. Libations and KDP, as well as famed sports media leader Steve Bornstein.
“Between Sports Protein, our energy drink and the original Don’t Quit!, we now have a platform and a brand and people and partners that can make it happen,” said Steinfeld, who heaped praise on KDP CEO Bob Gamgort for “being with us every single step of the way.”
Don’t Quit! is also getting a design revamp: along with a new logo, the brand’s Max Protein line (33 grams of protein per 12 oz. bottle) is now “Sports Protein,” a naming convention that will continue with the introduction of Sports Energy this summer.
That line will feature three flavors — Performance Punch, Mango Citrus and Kiwiberry — boasting 150mg of natural caffeine (green tea) per 12 oz. can, as well as nootropic Cognizin Citicoline, B Vitamins and 100% DV of Vitamin C. The drinks contain 20 calories, 1 gram of added sugar, and are sweetened with a combination of cane sugar, coconut water, erythritol and stevia. While Don’t Quit! protein drinks will continue to be distributed via KDP’s network, the energy drinks will be incubated outside of the system.
Speaking with BevNET earlier this week, French said the brand has ample room to expand within its unique positioning and personality. Unlike New Jersey-based X2, which counts star athletes like Kawhi Leonard and Saquon Barkley as investors and brand advocates, Don’t Quit! is designed to target a broader audience with themes of resilience and perseverance.
“Whether you’re an elite pro athlete or a weekend warrior like myself, you’re gonna get knocked down in life as well as on the playing field. It’s about what motivates you to get back up and keep going,” French said. “We think there’s a real void in the marketplace, from a brand positioning standpoint, to lean into that with clean, healthy ingredients.”
Having spent the past two years proving out the concept working alongside KDP in retailers like Kroger, Safeway, CVS and Ralph’s, L.A. Libations co-founder and CEO Danny Stepper said the pieces are in place for Don’t Quit! to deepen its connection with its target audience and accelerate its evolution into a complete sports nutrition platform.
“What Mark and (CMO) Dave (Cohen) are doing now is creating the brand architecture around perseverance and really digging into what that means for the everyday consumer and how that transcends functionality and embodies a lifestyle,” he said. “We’re really getting into the discipline of consumer marketing and I think that’s just going to add gasoline on an already robust fire.”
Correction: A previous version of this story listed former Pepsi executive Eric Foss as a member of the board of directors. The article has been updated.