The ready-to-drink goes beyond the typical caffeine jolt to target holistic optimization. The formula includes branded ingredients like MitoBurn fermented L-BAIBA, GeniusPure Alpha-GPC, enfinity Paraxanthine, MitoPrime fermented L-ergothioneine and SalidroPure fermented salidrosides.
“I was originally going to be called Focus, but we decided to add salidroside, which is the active form of rhodiola–probably one of the best adaptogens out there—and that’s about having more resilience," said Wells, chief scientific officer at NNB Nutrition. “And then we decided to add a thermogenic brown adipose tissue activator called L-BAIBA that actually mimics exercise. And so we thought, okay, we’ve got stuff for energy and focus, but we’re also enhancing the immune system, enhancing resilience and enhancing metabolism. It doesn’t feel right to just call it Focus. And that’s when we thought about being switched on and just calling it OnSwitch.”
Even though OnSwitch is just a drink concept and not available for purchase, Wells estimates the RTD would run $7 to $8 if sold in stores. The ingredients do command a premium price tag, however Wells said it reflects where the energy drink market is headed, noting that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are driving the shift toward higher quality, more expensive products.
“We’re going to continue to see an evolution of really high end drinks because of convenience,” Wells said. “Gen Z, Gen Alpha doesn’t want pills and powders, they want ready-to-consume. They want ready-to-drink drinks, shots, gummies, gums, pouches, just things that [say] ‘give it to me so I can have it now.’”
So how does NNB fit into this evolution? Rather than competing, Wells said NNB operates as a collaborative ecosystem, working on over 100 ingredient concepts annually alongside partners like NutriScience and TSI to drive innovation across the industry.
“The fastest way to our growth is going to be collaboration, and the fastest way to get these ideas out and potentially grow our revenue and profitability is to work with these other partners,” Wells said. “We can’t do all these ingredients feasibly…We want to work throughout the industry with all of these partners and stop being competitors and start being collaborators.”
