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Advanced Nutrient Science:
Taking Energy to the ‘Xtreme’
By SARAH THEODORE
Energy drinks have been
causing a sensation in the beverage industry for a number of years, but
never literally ... until now. Advanced Nutrient Science, Largo, Fla., has
developed Xtreme Shock, a dietary supplement drink designed to produce an
energizing tingling sensation to accompany its caffeine boost.
The product was developed by company President David
McCabe, who incorporated Endosine Carnosine Metabolite as the
product’s defining ingredient.
McCabe says endosine commonly is used in the sports
supplement industry, but until now has never been used in the
ready-to-drink beverage market — in fact, he has exclusive rights to
the ingredient in RTD beverages.
“Body builders have been using it for
years,” he says. “It reduces lactic acid build-up so you can go
longer and be stronger and not cramp. Not only that, but this ingredient
gives you a tingling feeling in your body.”
McCabe says this unique aspect of his product has
created a new category within the beverage industry called the
“energy sensation” category. The product uses the tagline
“Feel the Rush in 15 Minutes.”
“Within 15 minutes you will feel this drink;
it’s almost like a shock drink,” McCabe says. “You feel
it in your head, your fingertips, your feet, you feel it in your arms ...
It’s a cool feeling, nothing where it’s dangerous or anything
like that.”
The product is not the only beverage to use sensation
ingredients as a consumer pull — Brain Twist Beverages last year
debuted a line of drinks designed to create warming and cooling sensations,
for example. But it is among the first to use the concept in an energy
format. In addition to endosine, Xtreme Shock contains 200 mg. of caffeine,
glycerol, Octopalean Norsynephrine HCL, Evothin Evodiamine, L-tyrsoine,
L-carnitine, Citrus Naringinine extract and synephrine HCL. With all of
those stimulating ingredients, McCabe says the company has set 18 to
35 as its age demographic.
“We don’t want to sell to anybody under
18,” he says.
The product is low in calories, with 20 calories per
12-ounce bottle and contains no carbohydrates. It is sweetened with a blend
of sucralose and ace-k, and is available in Grape and Fruit Punch flavors.
Unlike most energy drinks, Xtreme Shock is packaged in 12-ounce PET rather
than 8- or 16-ounce cans.
McCabe got his start in the business during the early
1990s, when he formed a company called Worldwide Sport Nutrition. His
offerings were mostly limited to traditional weight-loss and weight-gain
products, but he tapped into what was then an emerging category of
low-carbohydrate products. He launched the Pure Protein Bar, which went on
to become popular with consumers of sports nutrition products as well as
mainstream products.
He sold the company in 1995, but didn’t lose the
product development itch. He does all of the product development for his
current company, which carries a number of other supplement-type beverages
such as Protein Ice, Nitric Pump, Fast Gain XXL, Quick Loss fat burning
drinks, TrimFast, Hoodia Splash and Thermo Hydroxadrine drinks.
But it’s Xtreme Shock, which was introduced in
March of this year, that he believes has the potential to be his biggest
product. Marketing so far has focused on the trade and word of mouth among
consumers. McCabe says he is gaining distribution through beer wholesalers
in many markets throughout the country, and is targeting convenience
accounts as well as health food stores, gyms and health clubs. With the
energy drink market still growing by leaps and bounds, McCabe hopes his
crossover product and the newly emerging “sensation” drink
category are going to be the next big buzz in beverages. BI