As it continues to develop new non-alcoholic brands in a myriad of categories, the Molson Coors Beverage Company announced today that it will enter the energy space with ZOA, a new better-for-you energy drink co-founded by actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Set to launch in March, ZOA was founded by a team including Johnson, Dany Garcia, CEO of the Garcia Companies and TGC Management; Dave Rienzi, fitness coach; and John Shulman, managing partner of Juggernaut Capital Partners.
This is the first venture into CPG for Garcia, who is a regular business partner of Johnson, her ex-husband, with whom she co-owns the XFL football league, as well as for her husband Rienzi, who owns Rienzi Strength & Conditioning.
ZOA was introduced to Molson Coors through its partner company L.A. Libations and has taken a minority equity stake in the brand, in addition to acting as its exclusive distribution partner.
According to Pete Marino, president of emerging growth at Molson Coors, the conglomerate wanted a player in the energy category in part due to existing synergies with its beer business. He noted that the company’s DSD distributors have past experience servicing energy brands while the category largely thrives in the convenience channel — a space it is familiar with.
“We think a healthier energy or performance beverage has a lot of potential and I think that potential has strengthened coming out of the coronavirus, where consumers are continuing to look for better-for-you products,” Marino said. “So the fact that this is a more positive, healthier energy and performance beverage, is something that makes it really, really exciting and appealing to us.”
Speaking with BevNET, Shulman said the brand is currently in production and will launch online ahead of a strong retail push in Q2.
ZOA will be available in Original, Lemon Lime and Wild Orange flavors. Each 16 oz. can will contain 160 mg of caffeine sourced from green tea and unroasted coffee, added electrolytes and amino acids, superfood ingredients such as turmeric, camu camu and acerola and vitamins B, C and D.
ZOA will first be available online, but Molson Coors and L.A. Libations are in the process of meeting with top U.S. retail chains in preparation for a nationwide launch in March, Marino said. The brand will take an omnichannel strategy and although convenience, grocery and drug will be key focuses, Marino said he sees opportunity for ZOA to enter the natural and specialty channel.
As Molson Coors’ non-alcoholic beverage portfolio grows the company has mainly opted to focus on launching new brands from scratch — including a slate of products developed by L.A. Libations and its investment in startup bottled water Zen WTR — as opposed to acquiring or partnering with established companies (with the exception of its distribution deal with coffee roaster La Colombe). Marino said Molson Coors had considered working with several established energy drinks, but felt it would be more beneficial to build from the ground up and have complete control over the route to market.
“You can build it from day one, which has the benefit to us of not having to unwind what often times is a patchwork of distribution agreements around the country,” he said.
Where much of 2020 was about establishing its non-alcoholic beverage portfolio, Marino said Molson Coors is now focused on execution. Though the company will continue to pilot new products developed through L.A. Libations (including another in-development energy drink with nootropics targeting gamers), the company aims to spend the first half of the year growing both La Colombe and ZOA’s footprint.
According to Shulman, the founding team came together following Johnson and Garcia’s own investments in VOSS Water, in which Juggernaut Capital is a partial owner. Shulman said the group wanted to launch a new product together and, encouraged by internal data, felt there was a “void” in the energy space for a health-focused brand.
The past several years have seen spikes in energy drink sales, driven by a cohort of fitness energy beverages such as Bang, CELSIUS and C4. The category was up 7.8%, to $14.1 billion, for the 52-week period ending December 26, according to Nielsen.
Shulman said in addition to riding momentum in the energy category, ZOA will also play toward the growing trend for immunity beverages. In September, Johnson publicly announced that he and his family had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and had begun taking a number of immunity-boosting supplements. This development inspired the brand to reformulate the product with some of these ingredients and integrate immunity into the messaging, Shulman explained.
While Johnson himself — recently dubbed by website The Profile as the “Most Likeable Person in the World” — and his public platform (211 million followers on Instagram) will play a key role in early marketing for ZOA, Shulman said the company does not want the brand to appear as just another celebrity beverage play. Much of the messaging will be tailored toward health and wellness, particularly the drink’s vitamin content.
“[Johnson’s] wingspan is so gigantic, but that’s not the entirety of it because this has to be a beverage product that stands on its own,” Shulman said. “We believe it does, so the marketing message that we’re going to be saying early and often is telling people what this product is in terms of its health benefits.”