Beer Marketer's Insights - Can Spiked Hydration Bevs Become the Next RTD Craze? Spiked Ade Tests, Entrepreneurial Experience, Team and Distribs Have Co Bullish in Early Days

Serial entrepreneur Jason Cohen, primarily in the better-for-you snacks and select non-alc bevs, found his way into RTD spirits with a distinct position in spiked sports hydration-style bevs, and now openly talks about what he believes can be an oppy to create the next big brand. Spiked Ade is vodka-based and non-carbonated, spiking familiar flavors from sports hydration bevs like Gatorade and Powerade to create drinks with 4.5% ABV, 100 cals, 0g sugar, 3g carbs with blue, red, orange and lemon-lime green flavors available for starters. Produced to emulate some of the most popular hydration bev flavors in the country, the general thesis is that while tea and lemonade styles and popularity vary by region, hydration bevs like Gatorade and Powerade taste the same everywhere, Jason explained to INSIGHTS. While others have tested and launched similar concepts, Jason and co feel they have a distinct position with vodka base, sticking to 12oz slim cans. Co's hired several bev industry vets to run the biz: former InBev USA, Latis/Radeberger vet Anthony Giardina joined as GM of Spiked Ade; Diageo mktg vet Lisa Lee is head of mktg; former OWYN coo and Bai svp of operations Brad Moose is head of operations; former Champion Brands' sales veep Nick Runnels is its FL manager; and a couple "very senior" experienced sales vets coming on board to lead its natl sales team, Jason hinted. It recently completed a $15 mil capital raise with "majority" of the money coming from "successful entrepreneurs and family offices," helping fuel this initial stage of expansion.NJ Testing Ground with MC Network; Expects Up to 1 Mil Cases in 2026 as It Methodically Expands In NJ testing ground this summer, brand sold 15K cases in 3 mos NJ with MC distribs Peerless, Shore Point and Kramer, even as sales flew past initial projections and brand was out-of-stock for about 1 mo, Jason shared with INSIGHTS. In fact, distribs initially gave projections of 5K cases for the summer and blew thru it in 10 days. Co had 20+ billboards in the state, planes flying all over the Jersey Shore, 50+ sampling activations and $500K invested across multi-media marketing with the help of Jason's brother, who happens to be an ad exec at ProMedia agency. The brand got in 150 on-prem accounts and some key off-prem retailers like Total Wine, where it had 100% reorders and 55% rebuy rate from consumers. Certain bars at the Jersey Shore saw Spiked Ade sales surpass Sun Cruiser in the last couple weeks of Aug, according to Jason. Brand was picking up in college area bars around Rutgers, more blue collar areas in Secaucus and urban areas of Atlantic City or Newark too, he added, pointing to the broader appeal of the brand. And coming outta summer, Spiked Ade maintained 80% of monthly sales, indicating less seasonality.Initial success in the state that incubated High Noon, Surfside and more got Jason and co moving fast to expand production and distribution while building out leadership team. Co has "bullish" forecast to reach 1 mil cases in 2026 as it signed distribution with multiple large distribs along the east coast and part of the Midwest, but that could "shift to more" depending on "how many markets are anxious" to add the brand, he acknowledged. Spiked Ade team certainly met with many distribs on the exhibitor floor at NBWA's annual convention in Vegas last mo. It's going with the big boys for starters, including Reyes across their footprint in FL, TN, SC, VA, IL and MI, plus Manhattan in NYC, Origlio in eastern PA, Burke and Atlas in part of MA and Buck and Bond Dist in MD. Co's really focused on trying to "replicate" what it accomplished in NJ in these mkts, hiring more folks to execute behind the brand."Really Good Conversations" with "A Lot of Strategics Already Just to Get to Know Each Other" Asked about Jason's thoughts on if and when he'd think about trying to sell Spiked Ade, he acknowledged that it's still early days. But "I've had some really good conversations with a lot of strategics already, just to get to know each other," he shared. Similar to what he found working with cos like Hershey, Frito-Lay and General Mills when building out various other brands, those larger businesses are struggling to find growth organically. They're "not always the best&hellip;risk takers" or brand builders, he pointed out. So Jason recognizes there are "a lot of potential buyers" if Spiked Ade hits. But it's not just about building something that a strategic co might need, he insisted. The "entire industry is shifting" and there are "a lot of opportunities to collaborate with [companies] who have more muscle." Co wants to "make sure we're doing things right" and "buil[ding] things that have foundation," said Jason. But after learning from past experiences, Jason and co don't wanna be "an inch wide and a mile deep" once the concept, formulation, pricing and position are dialed in. Next year is just the start.Journey From Veggie Sticks & Skinny Pop to Spiked Ade; Brother's Idea and Chuck Salzman's Nudge Jason's entrepreneurial endeavors began around 30 yrs ago when he became enamored with better-for-you snack options, eventually founding Veggie Straws as his first big foray into big CPG. Parent co Sensible Portions sold to Hain Celestial in 2010 (back when Tilray's Irwin Simon was still wheelin' and dealin' there). From that exit, Jason "went on the pursuit of looking for other things" in a "similar fashion," including a shelf-stable Greek yogurt bar that sold to B&G foods for nearly $60 mil. He was "fortunate enough" to get introduced to founders of Skinny Pop at an early stage in the co and was brought in as an investor and coach to help build the brand that eventually went public and sold to Hershey for a $1.6-bil valuation.That led Jason to another series of entrepreneurial endeavors in more of a consulting role, and eventually into beverages with OWYN plant-based protein drinks and Core Water with bev entrepreneurs like Ken Sadowsky and Lance Collins. There he learned quickly that "the most important thing to figure out as fast as you can" is "whether or not your product meets [distributors'] needs" and there's "room" on their trucks. Jason eventually exited those brands as well as Parm Crisps snacks and figured he's "never doing this again," he told INSIGHTS.But sure enuf, in 2024 Jason got involved in another snack co, Pretzelized, which pretzelizes pita chips. And in early 2024, Jason's brother (the ad exec) brought up the idea of having a ready-to-drink beverage that mixes Gatorade and vodka, presented to Jason as something plenty of folks already mix a lot on their own on the golf course but don't have available in ready-to-drink form. Jason brought the idea to his friend who happened to be in the beer distribution biz, none other than Peerless prexy Chuck Salzman, half expecting him to say it was a "dumb idea" and "save me" the time. But Chuck liked the sound of it, explained the changing landscape within the alc bev industry to Jason, and gave him the nudge to move forward.

Can Spiked Hydration Bevs Become the Next RTD Craze? Spiked Ade Tests, Entrepreneurial Experience, Team and Distribs Have Co Bullish in Early Days

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