New Beverage Showdown 23 - Semi-finals: SOMI Energy

Speaker 1 [00:14] Up next we have Arianna Salinas, who's the co-founder and CEO of SOMI Energy. Come on up. How are you? Please keep an eye on your timer.

Ariana Salinas [00:25] Thank you. Hi, my name is Ariana Salinas, and I'm the co-founder and CEO of Sony, the world's healthiest energy drink. Let's face it, life's like a game of trying to wake up in the morning and then trying to fall back to sleep just to do it all over again the next day. We manipulate our energy levels with energy drinks and coffee throughout the day, and then maybe a cocktail or a glass of wine to wind down at night. It's exhausting just to think of it. While working in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, as well as in the restaurant industry for over a decade, I realized energy drinks do not discriminate. They're a necessary evil across all industries and a daily habit silently harming millions of people. It was then that I decided I would no longer compromise my health for energy, so I created Somi, an all-natural, zero sugar, matcha-based energy drink. For centuries, matcha has been used as a clean energy source. It's a nutritional powerhouse packed with natural caffeine, natural antioxidants, and L-theanine. But if I'm being honest, there's nothing convenient about the traditional matcha ceremony. So I decided to put matcha in a can and carbonate it, transforming its superfood properties to a ready to consume, convenient form. Somi is available in 3 delicious flavors, Super matcha, Yuzu lemonade matcha, and fancy mango matcha. Since launching in January, Somi can be found in over 70 Austin, Texas retailers, direct to consumer on our website and on Amazon. With 170 mg of natural caffeine, natural antioxidants, L-theanine, monk fruit, and only 5 to 15 calories per can. Somi isn't just a better for you energy drink, it's the best for you energy drink. Thank you.

Speaker 1 [02:19] Well done. Jackie, let's start with the tagline, the world's healthiest energy drink. What do you think of it?

Speaker 3 [02:26] Yeah, I think there's definitely space for this. Um, I know a lot of people are substituting other forms of caffeine for from your traditional coffee. Um, so I think talking about healthy and mixing it with energy drink, that makes sense. Um, leading with matcha, I think a little bit more would make sense on the packaging and talking a little bit about the green tea aspect because people know that there's a lot more health benefits with green tea.

Speaker 1 [02:50] David, uh, you know, we've seen a bunch of brands try to do better for you energy in the past. You know, what do you think of Somi's approach?

Speaker 4 [02:58] What do I think about what

Speaker 1 [02:58] of of Somi's

Speaker 4 [02:59] approach? I, I think it's a really interesting approach. I mean, I really like, uh, not only the packaging, the texture that they actually applied, uh, to the label itself, um, the, the, the healthy aspect towards it, it, it, it does not, um, you know, it does not overpromise, uh, what it is. I mean, I got exactly what I expected, uh, which is really good,

Speaker 1 [03:23] mhm. Alison, are you a caffeine consumer and is this something that you would reach for?

Speaker 5 [03:27] Yeah, I do. I, I'm a one a day type person, but I do think matcha is on trend and people are really enjoying that right now. Something that I would say maybe I would challenge them on is to think of maybe 16 fluid ounces is quite a. Bit and I think that 170 mg of caffeine is quite a bit as well, um, but I think also the taste was really good but healthiest is not always the most important and I think potentially even adding a teeny bit of sugar could really help for the mainstream palate.

Speaker 1 [04:00] And Brittany, I mean, do you see more consumers reaching for healthy energy, reaching for matcha products in your experience?

Speaker 6 [04:05] Absolutely, it's absolutely trending in the energy space, especially because it feels healthier. It's that right option, so it is trending for sure.

Speaker 1 [04:13] Fantastic.