On a Houston freeway in 2007, Peter Bianchi noticed that some of his fellow drivers were sipping from brown paper bags. The first realization: It was beer, bought after work at convenience stores. The second realization: There could be money in this.
“They’re thinking, ‘I need to drink alcohol to relax,’” said Bianchi, chief executive of Innovative Beverage Group, which sells a relaxation drink called Drank. “At that moment, I thought, I’m going to create a product.”
Americans need energy drinks to get amped up, or at least many of us think we do. Now, a growing group of entrepreneurs is trying to convince us to try the other side of the adrenaline cycle: relaxation drinks. Call them anti-energy drinks for an increasingly stressed nation.
“It’s the usual American way — looking for the magic bullet,” said Gerry Khermouch, editor of Beverage Business Insights.
The new class of liquids have names like Blue Cow, Tranquila, Purple Stuff, Marley’s Mellow Mood and Malava Novocaine. They boast exotic blends of ingredients such as rose hips, gamma-aminobutyric acid (“gaba”) and Valerian root. Some, such as melatonin, are not “generally recognized as safe” as a food additive by federal regulators.
Questions still need to be answered. Will consumers be confused by the multitude of benefits touted by various brands, including sleep, focus, chilling out or keeping your party rolling? Can the drinks deliver all those benefits?
And will the hundreds of relaxation drink brands run afoul of federal regulators? The Food and Drug Administration says it is concerned about the increase in the marketing of beverages as dietary supplements, as well as beverages that contain novel ingredients, such as added botanical ingredients or their extracts.
Sketchy statistics
There are unusually glaring holes in the data. Published estimates of relaxation drinks’ retail sales range from $10 million from Beverage Spectrum Magazine up to $521 million from Zenith International, a consulting company.
“You go into presentations, and people say, ‘Give me statistics on the relaxation category,’” said Greg Figueroa, chief executive of Irving, Texas-based iChill Beverages. “And we’ll say, ‘Well, they don’t exist.’”
And then there are the illicit drug references, intentional or not. Bianchi insists that Drank — which is sold in a 16-ounce purple can emblazoned with the slogan, “slow your roll” — is not a reference to “purple drank.” That is a mix of codeine cough syrup, soft drinks and candy popularized in the South. He says the brand’s name is an allusion to the hip-hop lyrics of T-Pain, Jamie Foxx and others.
Meanwhile, the parent company of Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda says the drink — unlike marijuana — does not cause side effects such as laziness and 2 a.m. pizza runs.
“You’ve always had wine and beer and other alcohol,” said Figueroa. “But if you don’t want to drink alcohol every night, there’s us.”
Refreshment-plus
As the sellers of relaxation drinks strive for sales and credibility, they hope to mirror the smash success of energy drinks. In a decade, those drinks have invaded just about every convenience store in the country.
Energy drinks are now a $7.3 billion category, according to Beverage Digest, and they have shown that Americans will pay more for drinks that do things for them. We even expect our water to do something for us. Hence the rise of Lifewater, Vitaminwater and fitness-focused coconut water.
“More and more, U.S. consumers like their beverages to do more than refresh and taste good,” said John Sicher, editor of trade journal Beverage Digest.
Jason Boskey, a partner in a dance studio who lives in North Georgia near the Tennessee border, has been a fan of Drank for a few years.
“I really liked it, because it did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said Boskey, 38. “It helped me relax. There was one time I was playing Rock Band and I fell asleep mid-song.”
Adam Parks, vice president of Inkaholiks Luxury Tattoos in Jacksonville, said Drank helps keep his hands from shaking during ink sessions, and also helps clients relax.
Kennesaw-based Red Dawn Corp. came out with a relaxation drink called “Slowtivate” about a month ago. The company is pushing gas stations to carry the 8-ounce bottles, said sales representative Josh Zobel.
Way too stressed
The entrepreneurs behind the brands have one big fact on their side. Stress among Americans has gotten worse, thanks to the economy, the productivity squeeze at work, the lack of work and even traffic gridlock. Most Americans are living with moderate or high levels of stress, according to a study commissioned by the American Psychological Association.
According to a 2009 study by the National Sleep Foundation, about three in 10 respondents used sleep aids at least a few nights a week. Roughly one in ten used prescription sleep medication, with 7 percent using alcohol or over-the-counter sleep aids. The use of both sleep medication prescribed by a doctor and over-the-counter sleep aids has increased significantly.
Bianchi, who as a drummer for a band used a regimen of melatonin and Valerian root to overcome stage fright, said his brand captures the cultural zeitgeist.
“People expect you to respond to an e-mail in five minutes,” he said. “The world is moving at warp speed, but we still don’t have enough time to get everything done. All these advances over time really have never done anything [more] than make us work harder and be more stressed out.”
Shot-for-shot
There are some signs of growing acceptance among retailers. About 200 Walmart stores are carrying the iChill relaxation shot, which is available nationwide in 7-Eleven stores and is also popping up in spas and health food stores. In a statement, 7-Eleven said the drinks are a counterbalance to energy shots such as 5-Hour Energy, geared toward helping people wind down at the end of the day.
The price per ounce can be expensive : $2.99 for 2 ounces of iChill, compared to $3.94 for the same amount of 10-year-old, 107-proof Rip Van Winkle bourbon at Tower Beer, Wine and Spirits in Buckhead.
Some industry analysts have expressed skepticism about the long-term prospects of relaxation drinks. Sicher and others said it’s too early to know whether they will grow past niche standing and become mainstream.
“At this point, the jury is out,” said industry analyst Gary Hemphill of Beverage Marketing Corp. “There’s certainly been some excitement and some buzz.”
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