Turning its original concept on its head, Liquid Death’s newest product aims to bring consumers back from the dead.
The “entertainment-first” beverage maker is the latest brand to jump into the rapidly expanding hydration category with today’s announcement of Death Dust, which adapts three of the most popular flavors from its sparkling waters – Severed Lime, Mango Chainsaw and Convicted Melon – into electrolyte drink mixes. Each contains B and C vitamins, 200mg of potassium, 300mg of sodium, 40mg of magnesium and 35 calories per serving.
The new line is launching on Amazon for $17.99 per 12-count variety pack and will be rolling out to retail in the near future.
An accompanying video ad, true to the brand’s horror movie sense of humor, features the powder mix as a cure to turn flesh-eating zombies back into normal human beings. The brand also says it’s good for replenishing after a hard workout or a night out drinking.
Reached by email, Liquid Death co-founder and CEO Mike Cessario said Death Dust reflects the brand’s continued focus on “bringing humor and entertainment into large beverage categories where there are little-to-no comedy-centric brands.”
The company has proved consistent on category innovation over the past few years: in 2022, Liquid Death introduced flavored sparkling waters and last year it debuted a line of canned iced teas, aiming to prove it can bring its marketing prowess to beverage sets beyond still water.
So far, it’s seen promising results. According to Circana, in the 52-weeks ending December 31, 2023, Liquid Death’s RTD tea line reported over $19.6 million in U.S. retail dollar sales, after less than a year in the market. Its flavored sparkling waters grew 150.6% in the same period to over $80 million, placing it as the 10th largest brand in the category (including private label).
With Death Dust, the brand is now tackling the fast-rising hydration mix category, which Circana reported up 51.8% to over $771 million in the same period. The format has proven particularly attractive as a means for aspiring platform brands to expand their reach– see recent launches from Electrolit, BodyArmor, GHOST and Roar Organic, just to name a few.
With those names in the mix alongside leaders like Liquid I.V., Gatorade and PRIME, Liquid Death now looks to act as another premium player in the set that can drive incremental growth in the category by appealing to a base of consumers that most hydration-focused brands often overlook.
“While healthy brands typically only market to health nuts, our mission is to make healthy products for a much wider audience that typically only gets attention from beer, candy, and junk food brands,” Cessario wrote. “Death Dust is the perfect first extension beyond the ready-to-drink beverage category for our platform.”
Death Dust also gives Liquid Death an opportunity to extend its presence to new shelves in the store and to go deeper with existing retail partners. According to Cessario, the company grew its retail footprint to 113,000 doors across the U.S. and U.K., up from 77,000 at the beginning of 2023.
In October, the company named former White Claw SVP of sales Stephen Ballard as its chief commercial officer, charged with overseeing U.S. and international expansion.
However, one top team member appears to have moved on. Earlier this month, Liquid Death Chief Sales Officer Sean Lynch, who joined the brand in 2020, announced on LinkedIn he has joined canned tea startup Halfday as president.