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• 🥤 Nixie Jumps Into Soft Drinks
• 🌡️ Celsius’ Snack Attack?
• ❤️ Don’t Quit Loves Radio
• 🫒 Can You Cultivate A Phenomenon? Graza Has. Here’s How.

It takes a lot to take a shot at the champ, but Ketone-IQ is making a play for the top dog of energy shots… at least within the natural channel.

For the first time, H.V.M.N (the parent company to Ketone-IQ) overtook 5-Hour Energy in natural expanded channel dollar sales for the 52-week period ending May 18, according to SPINS data provided to H.V.M.N. Ketone-IQ posted $1.1 billion in total sales; whereas, 5-Hour pulled in just over $1 billion.

The news comes as the brand launches its second retail product, Ketone-IQ High-Performance Shot, which adds 100 mg of caffeine to 5 grams of ketones and improves on the flavor profile of its original formulation. The new product will retail for $4.99 and is positioned to not just compete in natural and specialty grocers, but also as part of the brand’s long-term goal to go after 5-Hour Energy in conventional and convenience.

The strategy is intended to “springboard” the brand’s recent success to compete with “the 500-pound gorilla” in the energy category. How did they do it? By broadening the brand’s appeal from the health and wellness shopper to the energy consumer who is looking for a better-for-you iteration to conventional caffeine and sugar-based shots, said Michael Brandt, co-founder and CEO of H.V.M.N.

Despite its success in the natural channel, Ketone-IQ still has a ways to go if it wants to make 5-Hour sweat. In multi-outlet + convenience sales data from Circana, 5-Hour still represents about 87% of single-serve shot sales.

H.V.M.N.’s new product aims to meet everyday energy consumers wherever they are in retail channels with a shot that gives the immediate caffeine jolt alongside sustained performance enhancing properties of ketones, Brandt said. “The really quick pitch is that it feels good.”

Along with the new product launch, Ketone-IQ has brought in a few key advisors for the brand in an add-on investment that includes Khalil Rafati, founder and CEO of Sunlife Organics; Mark Ramadan, founder of Sir Kensington's and former CEO of Hu Chocolate; and Kurt Seidensticker, partner at Family Fund.

Brandt said it has been “affirming” to have Seidensticker as an advisor and consultant, citing how Vital Proteins has been a model for how Ketone-IQ can reach a broader audience in functional drinks.

Go Deeper: Not Another ‘Keto’ Product: Ketone RTDs Seek Place Within Emerging Functional Set

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BevNET Live Summer 2024 kicked off this morning in New York City. If you weren’t able to make the trek to the Big Apple – tune into the free livestream to hear from our full lineup of thought leaders, trailblazers, and the next generation of brand founders. 

Over the next two days they will share strategic insights and stories aimed at helping beverage industry professionals thrive. You don’t want to miss it. 

Tune in here.

Having first teased the release at Expo West in March, Nixie Sparking Water has officially launched its line of diet sodas today, marking the brand’s first portfolio expansion since launching at the end of 2019. Positioned towards the natural shopper, Nixie sees opportunity in offering an organic variety of a stevia-sweetened, zero-sugar soda.

🏬 Nixie founder Nicole Bernard Dawes (who also founded organic snack brand Late July) has built the brand into over 11,000 stores with nine varieties of flavored sparkling water.

⏪ Similar to Dawes’ past venture, the brand has leaned into its organic ingredient panel and focused its first three SKUs (Classic Cola, Root Beer and Ginger Ale) on recognizable flavors.

📈 Why move into carbonated soft drinks (CSDs)? The extension opens the brand up to a wider consumer base that is looking for a better-for-you soda option. Dollar sales in CSDs were up 4.6% in the last two-week period, according to a NielsenIQ scanner data report by Goldman Sachs Equity Research from June 11.

Check out the full story on BevNET.

With its core energy drink business approaching $2 billion in annual retail sales, Celsius may heat up its portfolio with a vision to expand into new categories, including water and food products, according to recent comments by CEO John Fieldly.

🚰 There’s no immediate plans for category extensions, Fieldly recently told Food Dive, and any innovations would be several years away. But the proclamation shows Celsius is beginning to think beyond energy as it seeks to grow its platform.

🏃 Fieldly pointed to successes by Gatorade – owned by Celsius’ exclusive distribution partner PepsiCo – in branching out into new categories like protein bars, powders and, most recently, bottled water as inspiration and affirmation that Celsius could potentially succeed outside of energy drinks.

🔋 Celsius already offers powdered products, but its focus has remained in the RTD energy realm, where it’s now the number three brand selling in the U.S. behind only Monster and Red Bull. But Fieldly told Food Dive the 20-year-old brand feels it’s “just getting started.”

Sports nutrition brand Don’t Quit! announced today a multi-year marketing partnership with iHeartMedia, utilizing the iHeartRadio parent company’s platforms to build brand awareness.

💪🏼 Don’t Quit! was founded by fitness icon Jake Steinfeld, founder of Body by Jake, and L.A. Libations CEO Danny Stepper. The brand has since brought on investment from athlete stakeholders like NFL star Damar Hamlin and Peloton instructor Kendall Toole.

🎧 The partnership with iHeartMedia will include programs by Don’t Quit! featuring stories of perseverance intended to inspire consumers.

💰 The deal arrives on the heels of the brand’s $10 million Series B capital raise led by Madison Square Garden.

Andrew Benin, the co-founder and CEO of Graza, talks about how the olive oil brand and viral sensation has developed influencer relationships “at scale,” why taking a bet on the upside has guided its demand planning strategy, being an “early team-led company” versus a founder-led one and his nuanced perspective on profitability.

Listen to the episode now.