Brain Toniq featured on BevNet

With beverages that claim to help to kick-start the day, ensure a good night’s sleep and perhaps even shave off a pound or two, it seems that a person can find any elixir for any ailment. Now, it might even be possible to down the contents of a can in order to become smarter. From the slightly gimmicky to the intensely scientific, a smattering of new cognitive beverage offerings aim to help everyone deal with today’s increased workload, family demands and 24/7 media blasts in an allegedly more calm and focused manner. Can these so-called “brain beverages” turn anyone into an instant PhD? Probably not, but they certainly want to help provide a bit of mental clarity and focus for all the average Joes who work the 9 to 5 – sorry, the 8 to 6 shifts.

“Our target is everyone, software engineers, technologists, academic professionals – many outside of the ‘geek’ world who need to increase their focus and mental ability,” explained Brett Lemker of Brain Toniq – a beverage that describes itself as “the clean and intelligent think drink.” And from what Lemker says, Brain Toniq is a drink to help the average American get through the day a little more effectively.

“We live in a time frame where an increasingly larger segment of the population needs to be intelligent workers,” Lemker said. People must “maximize focus, [and] come up with new ideas. [They’re] multitasking, analyzing, brainstorming.” He added that such activities “all require intense mental focus” and that the beverage “tries to cater to everyone.”

Similarly, ZUN founder and CEO Brian Stearns explained via email that, “the cognitive health segment of functional beverage has great potential to dominate shelf space.” He added the company hopes that the consumer will understand the premise: “if you energize the brain your body will follow.”

At 80 calories for a 8.4 oz. can, Brain Toniq is just a touch lighter than Red Bull, but it still holds 20 grams of sugar from Agave nectar. ZUN, on the other hand, seems more like a soda in its rocket-shaped 12 oz. bottle, but the beverage hopes to pack a mental punch with caffeine, taurine and coenzyme Q10, in addition to its 500 percent of the daily value of vitamin B12 and 100 percent daily value of Vitamins B6, E and C.

In contrast, Brain Toniq incorporates more exotic ingredients that it claims enhance brain function. Its list includes Siberian Ginseng, Rhodiola root powder, and DMAE, which, according to the company website, is a “is a natural-occurring substance” that facilitates the “production of acetylcholine, that crucial neurotransmitter responsible for carrying messages between brain cells.”

However, for a real dose of science to go with this potentially new afternoon pick-me-up, Dr. Rob Paul of Nawgan wants to take the consumer back to the lab. “Nawgan started as a science entity with an interest to bring science to the market,” Paul explained. With ingredients like acetylcholine, commonly found in Alzheimer’s disease treatments, and lycopene which may help reduce oxidative stress and reduce inflammation, the beverage almost needs an accompanying encyclopedia. However, Paul said that Nawgan’s composition is the result of careful scientific planning and the right kind of balance.

“The ingredients are selected at doses that hit a therapeutic window,” he explained, “one that reaches high enough levels with biological meaning, but not too high that there are potential side
effects of interactions with other medications or supplements.”

For the general public, this may be a little tough to swallow, so Nawgan has planned “fun and creative marketing campaigns” including what Paul describes as “playful” print ads and memory games and tests through the website. “The marketing needs to be strategically defined as not too medicinal,” he explained. “Our job is to take science that people may be less familiar with and apply it to marketing.”

While Lemker says Brain Toniq is waiting for growth before kicking off major marketing campaigns, and ZUN is building its name through “visibility and trial,” the Nawgan team seems to have the most calculated approach so far – hardly surprising since the company is helmed by a bunch of scientists. But while all three cognitive beverages have high hopes for their products, can it be too early to tell whether or not there is a market for brain boosters?

Paul doesn’t seem to think so, citing the aging population and baby-boomers as two groups that may be interested in enhancing their mental capabilities. “I think the category has a lot of age possibilities,” Paul said. “We have really focused on adult market.”

Other brain beverages on the market include a suite of SKUs from a variety of functional lines, including Neuro and vitaminwater. Other drinks that feature l-theanine have long been thought of as focus enhancers, although they are not sold with the idea that they will improve brain health over the long term. And the entire category took a shot in the early spring of 2009 when function: brainiac was featured in a story on ABC News 20/20. In a less-than-scientific comparison, the drink did not appear to enhance retention or cognition, although the story did not create a laboratory-worthy environment.

That may be why the rollout has been slow nationally. Currently, most brain-boosting brands only have distribution in very select U.S. markets. Nawgan is currently being distributed by Major Brands in St. Louis and Brainwave in Arizona. Brain Toniq is now being sold in Vitamin Shoppe stores and is being distributed by UNFI, Tree of Life, Natures Best, Altura Distributors, and Azure in Oregon, according to Lemker. He adds that the brand is looking to make its official launch at Expo West. Likewise, ZUN is sold in 13 states through Kum & Go and is experiencing local distribution by New Age Beverage out of Denver, Colorado. But it’s still early days for these companies and whether cognitive beverages can take off in a big way is another story entirely, peppered with plenty of “ifs.” As more competition emerges and pushes the category out of fad territory and into the mainstream, witness the growth of NERD, for example, in the South, perhaps we could be looking at a wiser, more productive America. Then again, the beverages might just be a better way to get a few extra vitamins and afternoon caffeine boost. Now that’s certainly something to wrap your head around. •

Editor’s Note: This article also ran in the March 2011 issue of Beverage Spectrum Magazine.

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Click here to go to Brain Toniq’s website!

Flavorman keeps an eye on FTC decisions…

FTC has filed actions in six different federal courts against ten affiliate marketing operations for using fictitious news websites to market açaí berry weight-loss products. The agency is seeking to permanently stop these misleading practices and has asked courts to freeze the defendants’ assets trial.

The central charges brought by FTC are threefold. First, the agency alleges the defendant affiliate marketers made false and unsupported claims that açaí berry supplements will cause rapid and substantial weight loss. Second, FTC alleges the defendants have created fictitious news reports, other reports, and testimonials regarding the products to deceive consumers.  Third, the defendant affiliate marketers failed to disclose their financial relationships to the merchants sponsoring the products.

During a press conference held in Chicago, at the FTC’s Midwest Regional Office, Charles Harwood, deputy director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, outlined the basic characteristics of the marketing schemes. In the complaints, FTC alleges the defendant affiliate marketers created websites that are meant to appear as if they belong to legitimate news-gathering organizations, but in reality, the sites are advertisements aimed at deceptively enticing consumers to buy the featured açaí berry weight-loss products. The fake websites have titles such as “News 6 News Alerts,” “Health News Health Alerts,” or “Health 5 Beat Health News.”  The sites purport to provide objective investigative reports authored by reporters who tested the products on themselves and experienced dramatic and positive results, typically losing 25 pounds in four weeks.

In fact, the news reports are fake, and the reporters are fictitious. Adam Sokol, an assistant attorney aeneral with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, announced the State of Illinois has been working with FTC and is proceeding in a simultaneous lawsuit against an affiliate marketer in Illinois. Sokol disclosed that a picture used on the website of the defendant in the State of Illinois’ case to identify a news reporter is likely a female news reporter from France. The sites also include the names and logos of major media outlets such as ABC, Fox News, CBS, CNN, USA Today, and Consumer Reports, and falsely represent that the reports on the sites have been seen on those networks. Harwood expressed FTC’s concern that the references to major media outlets could potentially confer unwarranted credibility to the reports.

Steven Wernikoff, a staff attorney for FTC in Chicago, described the fundamentals of affiliate marketing. He described the “chain of deception” employed by the affiliate marketers and their actions as brokers to deceive potential consumers and direct traffic to merchant websites. The FTC alleges that the defendant affiliate marketers direct traffic to these websites by placing advertisements on high volume websites with headlines such as “Açaí Berry EXPOSED— Health Reporter Discovers the Shocking Truth.” Consumers would click on the headlines and be directed to the affiliates websites. Once consumers read the “breaking news”, they could click on products and be directed to merchants’ websites. The affiliate marketers would then get a commission for each referral.

In addition to the deceptive practices utilized to direct traffic to these sites, the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office alleges the weight-loss claims made with respect to the açaí berry products, most notably the claims of 25 pounds of weight-loss in four weeks, are not supported by reliable science. According to Wernikoff, an expert from Northwestern University found that açaí berries do not produce any weight-loss absent a change in diet and exercise.  FTC Harwood indicated that in 2010, the FTC brought a case against Central Coast Nutraceuticals for making similar weight-loss claims regarding açaí berry supplements.

The agency is asking for the courts to permanently bar the allegedly deceptive claims and to require the companies to provide money for refunds to consumers who purchased the supplements and other products. Harwood estimated consumers may have paid more than $10 million for products advertised on these websites. While FTC is currently unaware of any connection between the defendant affiliate marketers, more information may be forthcoming once the cases get underway and the discovery process begins.

In response to questions from media, Sokol stated these actions are “not an indictment of the açaí berry” and that FTC and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office are focused on the marketing techniques utilized and the specific weight-loss claims made for these products. “Almost everything about these sites is fake,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in the press release issued by FTC concerning these cases. “The weight loss results, the so-called investigations, the reporters, the consumer testimonials, and the attempt to portray an objective, journalistic endeavor.”

(For more information, you can see the FTC’s press release at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/04/fakenews.shtm).

Justin J. Prochnow is an attorney and Shareholder in the Denver office of the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP. His practice concentrates on legal issues affecting the food & beverage, dietary supplement and cosmetic industries. He can be reached at (303) 572-6562 or prochnowjj@gtlaw.com .

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Just Pinch Myself

Sometimes I pinch myself wondering where has all of the time gone?  When I started Flavorman back in 1992 I didn’t really know how the company would grow or how we would reach success. For sure, I didn’t have any concept of what I thought success would look like when it was achieved.  Truthfully, I am not sure I know the answer of that even now.  Entrepreneurs always strive for success and realizing it is sometimes harder than the achievement itself.  What I do know is that I keep working like we service only one customer at a time when in reality we have hundreds.  Through this way of doing business we will certainly see success, won’t we?

I started the company with one employee working out of a condo in the Louisville suburbs.  I still remember sitting at a desk in a lawn chair thinking I was at the top of my game with a new company and a new job AND I was the boss.  The square footage of our “corporate headquarters” was less than 900 square feet and it seemed cavernous.  Our first customer made juice drinks on a national basis with an international presence for its products.  Now we create beverages for EVERY beverage category in a truly world class building in downtown Louisville and we are packing it to the roof.  How did we get here?  For certain, we created drinks that made other companies successful – is our success tied to that of our clients?  I think so.

Starting a  company is not easy and sometimes it is maddening.  I have once or twice thought about the day when I could work for someone else with less stress, more structure and about the same level of daily work.  I wouldn’t do it but I think about it because just the thought makes me work harder at what I do, that is, make other companies successful by developing superior new beverages.  In roughly the last twenty years I learned many things, some useful and some not so much.  What I know for sure is creating and developing new beverages is what I was born to do – success at doing so is just a benefit.  Then I pinch myself.

Flavorman Marlena Discusses Developing a Beverage

Marlena's mixing up some goodness

What gets your attention?

When it comes to picking out a beverage, what do you look for?  Is it the color, it is the smell, or is the taste?  Maybe it is none of the above.  Maybe you pick a beverage based on the cost alone.  There are several factors that go into play when it comes to selecting a beverage to purchase.  When developing a beverage, all of these factors have to be considered.  You can have the greatest tasting beverage in the world, but if it looks like raw sewage, odds are it will not be very popular.  It is our job as product development specialists to ensure that we create an optically appealing beverage as well as a great tasting one.

There are numerous items that can have a negative effect on a beverage.  Vitamin E for example, can cause a beverage to look cloudy and have a scummy film at the top.  Clouding agents can fall out of the product and look like a white sand at the bottom of the product as well as cause a filming ring around the top of the product.  Beta Carotene, which is often used to color beverages a bright orange or yellow color, can also ring out at the top of the beverage and/or fall to the bottom.  This can leave your product with a very unappealing appearance that is anything but desirable.

If you are looking to develop a beverage, keep this in mind, if your product is not visually appealing enough to be purchased, taste means nothing.  In short, knowledge of ingredients and experience in dealing with those ingredients can make or break a product.  At Flavorman, we can develop a product that is not only visually attractive but also great tasting.  We succeed when you succeed, so there is nothing but the best when it comes to your product from Start Through Finish®!

Matt’s Memoirs: Chapter 4 aka Matt explains Flavorman’s process

Matt and the Beverage Architects hard at work

Developing a drink is not as easy as:

Step 1: Think up an idea for a likeable beverage

Step 2: Put some ingredients in a bowl

Step 3: Mix

Step 4: Bottle/Can

Step 5: Market and Sell

When a beverage is thought up, first someone has to find a company like Flavorman to help with the production of the product. A client consults with Flavorman with some possibilities and choices that could be made before actual laboratory work is done, for example vitamins to be added or sugar free sweetener.

Once laboratory work begins, a beverage specialist works on a formulation that takes the clients wants and needs into consideration and produces a prototype for the client to taste. When producing a prototype taking the function first into consideration is important. Once the function is taken into consideration the next component to consider is our favorite, flavor.

When I think about children’s cough syrup it brings back vivid memories of the nasty taste of what I was told was supposed to taste like “grape” or even the dreaded “cherry.” If a product works correctly but does not appeal to the consumer then it will be hard to sell more than once. Step 2 is simply stated as “Put some ingredients in a bowl” but in reality is a deep and in-depth process that takes specialists hard work and innovation to create a product the client and ultimately the consumer will enjoy.

Once a prototype is formulated by a Flavorman and the client approves the prototype they then go on to a production plant and have that plant produce the beverage and market the product. What’s unique about Flavorman is that customers can add line extensions, like different flavors or calorie levels at no cost. Flavorman can help their customers develop a product line that is functional and great tasting.

So next time you take a drink of anything think for a second about all the time and effort that went in to producing the beverage you are about to enjoy.

What Our Kids Have Been Sipping On This Year

Flavorman Cory testing Flavors

Here at Flavorman we’ve formulated a lot of kid’s drinks over the years, and after reading an article in Beverage Industry magazine about trends in kids’ drinks I thought I would talk to my own kids about drinks at their school lunches. According to “What are kids drinking at school?” the big dogs in the beverage industry have reduced the calories in the beverages being sold in U.S. schools by 88 percent over the last six years. Other beverage companies worked with schools this year to offer them lower calorie and smaller portioned beverages. I asked my kids, 8 and 15 about the beverages offered at their respective schools. My daughter, Corrin, can choose from bottled water, milk, or a juice drink at lunch. At my son Matthew’s lunch the school has sports drinks, flavored waters, teas and a hand full of diet sodas. According to a back to school survey done earlier this year, parents said they were less likely to pack cokes in their kids lunches compared to last year. The survey also found that a larger number of consumers found themselves packing bottled water in their kid’s lunches much more than they did last year. Now that I think about it my daughter started asking for bottled water this year because her friends were. I was pleased because who doesn’t want their kids to drink more water. The last group said they’ve been sending their kids with juice more this year. My wife sends our daughter to school with juice a couple days a week. If it’s my turn to pack her lunch, I usually throw in some or a miniature bottle water. (Not to mention a handwritten note that will embarrass her later)

This article brought back some fond memories of my school lunches. I can remember sitting in the lunch room and pulling out a once-cold-and-delicious but now warm and partially leaking juice box and using it to help me choke down the dried up tater tots and peanut butter balls. I even started to miss the bright-orange-haired lunch lady after reading through these articles. Those were the days!! One big change from my childhood is the increase in the additives in kid’s drinks. The survey found that more parents are looking for kid’s beverages that include vitamins, antioxidants, probitotics and fiber. Interestingly more moms are packing plain milk rather than flavored milk this year. This is a far cry from the Strawberry Quick my mom would send with me. That stuff was the bomb!! Sadly the survey also points out that 39% of the consumers surveyed said they compromise nutritional value in order to save money. I’m probably guilty of this myself. If Freddy’s fruit punch is on sale right next to the Capri Suns, I’m going to pick the cheaper more sugary stuff. This backs up the stats that a lot of consumers bought those kids drinks that were on sale or the store brand compared to their kids favorite brand to send to lunch this year. So the push for more nutritious kids’ drinks is definitely here and we at Flavorman have a long history in their development. In my next Flog I will be talking more about the development of kids’ drinks.

Click here to read more about trends in kids drinks…

Visitors – Please Come!

Come see our Guest "Sweet" and the rest of our building!

When we purchased our building that dates to the 1800s, we were thrilled with the renovation of this fabulous old warehouse facility.  We had no idea that three years from the date of our Grand Opening, Louisville would be hit by a flash flood that would leave a couple feet of water and destruction throughout our 24,000 SF facility.

After the shock, we renovated – again.  This time, we seized the opportunity to create a building full of displays that showcase the range of products and packaging that we have created for our clients over the years.

Prospects, clients, vendors and all variety of visitors are typically most surprised and excited to walk through our displays, very large beverage lab, blending operation, retain room, full apartment for our guests, and this outstanding facility designed for a single purpose:  Help our clients create drinks from start through finish.

If you want to really understand our step-by-step approach, refined over nearly 20 years, there’s nothing to match a tour of our facility and meeting our team.  You won’t be disappointed.

Experience Flavorman – come visit!

St. Crispin’s Day at The Monkey Wrench

The Monkey Wrench to host Crispin Cider event benefitting The Louisville Youth Orchestra

Looking at the Lab from the Outside

Be polite, or you may be left in phone limbo!

Three and a half years ago I arrived at Flavorman after working fifty years for a company that had gone under.  I wasn’t looking for another job at the time but a friend told me about a great opportunity at Flavorman.  I was told that they were looking for a part time “older” person to answer phones and do other odd jobs.  I could certainly answer a phone but knew nothing at all about a R & D lab.

Prune or cranberry juice was more to my liking; what did I know about energy drinks?  I had seen them on the shelves at the supermarket but how very weird they looked with their wildly designed cans.  Not my style, or so I thought.  At any rate, I went for an interview with the business director who told me that they designed beverages from dairy to veterinary products with some fantastic flavors in between.  I entered an old building that had been modernized in all aspects; it even had a workout room for employees and an apartment for visiting clients.  What a place!

Now, I work 3 days weekly in a wonderful environment saying “Flavorman, the Beverage Architects” to each phone call and loving the marvelous folks with whom I work and share the space. I’ve even enjoyed a few energy drinks myself (they really do work!)

Matt’s Memoirs – Chapter 3: Beyond Retain Room

What's the Dewey Decimal System?

Before coming to Flavorman I assumed I was “self-educated” in energy drinks of all sorts. Being a college student, I have tried all the energy supplements I could in order to “maintain” on small portions of sleep. This education consisted mostly on a steady diet of Redbull, Rockstar, and Monster. Much to my dismay I learned that my “education” was tunnel minded. Within a few days I learned that there are so many choices on the market that I had not even taken off my shoes, gotten wet, or even gone for a swim in the vast variety of the beverage industry.

When I walked into the Flavorman retain room my eyes opened – in reality, my beverage education was only beginning. The room is deep, with a ceiling span nearing twelve feet. The room becomes a maze of shelves from floor to ceiling, each full of cans and bottles; some unrecognizable and a few startlingly familiar. The scope of the different beverage types is unimaginable. I feel cheated by the Sunny Delight commercial where the child callously thumbs through soda, purple stuff, milk, and water; the ignorance of youth. Since I started I’ve told myself my real education in the beverage industry has now begun. If I get the retain shelves buffed up nice and finish tiling the boiler room floor, I might be allowed into another tasting. Climb the ladder…

-Matthew Hurst