Rowdy Energy has run its final lap.
In an announcement posted to his personal LinkedIn account, Rowdy Energy’s CEO Jeff Church, who co-founded the brand with NASCAR star Kyle Busch in 2020, revealed that the energy drink company will be shutting down its operations by the end of this month.
“Despite our best efforts, challenges in securing funding and difficulties in achieving the necessary turnover at the shelf have forced us to make this decision,” he wrote.
“To our investors, I deeply regret that we were unable to fulfill the commitments we had set out to achieve. Your trust and support have been invaluable, and I am sincerely sorry that we could not bring our shared vision to fruition.”
The brand represented a new chapter for Church following his departure from juice and functional drink maker Suja, which he co-founded in 2012. In May 2021, Rowdy raised $13 million from investors including CPG accelerator CircleUp, the Kraft Group and Michael Rubin, executive chairman of Fanatics.
After debuting with its flagship 12 oz. low-or-zero-sugar energy drink in 2020, Rowdy introduced a thermogenic sub-line, Power Burn, in February 2022. The brand went on to appoint model Camille Kostek as Power Burn’s ’s Chief Wellness Officer in May. Speaking with BevNET at the time, Church said Rowdy was set to hit the $20 million mark in sales that year and teased the launch of an energy shot line.
Yet those plans appear to have fallen apart in the wake of several seismic shifts in the energy drink space, namely consolidation in partnerships between the large strategics and leading independent brands, including Pepsi’s investment in Celsius, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) teaming on distribution with C4 (Nutrabolt), and GHOST’s alignment with Anheuser-Busch. New category entrants from Congo Brands, namely PRIME and Alani Nu, have also made an impact by catering to specific demographics that might otherwise gravitate towards a brand like Rowdy.
“As we close this chapter, I recall a quote that has helped me during previous times of adversity: “The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” – C.C. Scott,” wrote Church. “The experiences we have shared and the lessons we have learned together will forever be sources of inspiration and strength. Thank you for your unwavering commitment and belief in our mission.”