The Vita Coco Company’s plant-based energy drink brand Runa could be on the auction block after being discontinued, effective immediately, according to the brand’s website.
Founded in 2009 by Brown University graduates Daniel MacCombie and Tyler Gage, Runa produced a line of organic and Fair Trade Certified “clean energy” drinks made with brewed guayusa.
According to a statement on the brand’s website, all Runa products are being discontinued. The company did not provide further details on the closure, but thanked customers for their “loyalty over the years.”
A ‘Buy Now’ link on the site redirects to the brand’s listing on Amazon where the bulk of products are currently unavailable.
Reached by BevNET, a spokesperson for Runa declined to comment, only stating that “The details regarding the production and potential sale of Runa are considered confidential information and are reserved for the company.”
Runa was acquired in 2018 by Vita Coco, under its former name All Market Inc., for an undisclosed sum. At the time, Vita Coco co-founder Mike Kirban – an investor in Runa since 2014 – said the company viewed Runa as “an opportunity to disrupt the existing energy drink set.”
Runa continued to serve as a roleplayer in Vita Coco’s expansion strategy aimed at growing the business from a sole coconut water manufacturer to a portfolio beverage company with stakes in multiple categories, and has since seen the addition of aluminum bottled water brand Ever & Ever and protein-infused water line PWR LIFT.
Under Vita Coco’s ownership, Runa saw multiple rebrands, including a new design in 2019 shortly after the acquisition and a reformulation and second rebrand in 2020.
Recent 2023 earnings presentation decks from The Vita Coco Company have made no mention of Runa and current sales data was unavailable. However, in its 2022 Annual Report, the company noted that as part of its acquisition of the brand, Vita Coco had agreed to pay Runa’s former shareholders contingent payments up to $51.5 million “only if a certain revenue growth rate is achieved” by December 2022, four years after the sale. As of December 31, 2022, the company said “the contingent consideration was determined to be zero.”
The report also noted that Vita Coco was seeking to sell an Ecuadorian farm it used as the source for guayusa leaves for Runa, as it had – as of September 30, 2022 – found an alternative means to source the ingredient.
Runa’s apparent shuttering arrives even as the market for better-for-you energy drinks has exploded, with brands like Celsius, Ghost, C4 and Alani Nu driving sustained growth for the category.