+ Interview with WheyUP founder Erik Rothchild

It's no secret that beverage is an extremely competitive category, with incredibly fast-paced innovation and product development cycles. We think of it as a little crystal ball: if it's big in beverage, you can bet it will be big in other categories in the next year or two. And if there's any one trend or theme that's dominant in beverage, it's health and wellness. From functional energy drinks to organic teas and fair trade coffee, beverage is at the forefront.

One of the coolest products we've seen is WheyUP, an innovative protein energy drink with a light, juice-like consistency. Erik Rothchild, founder and owner of WheyUP, was kind enough to spend some time talking to us. Be sure to check out the WheyUP website for more information. We really appreciate Erik's time, and wish him the best with WheyUP.

First of all, tell us a little bit about where WheyUP came from, where we can get it, and all that.
WheyUP is a non-carbonated, sugar-free, energy drink that has 20 grams of whey protein in it. It's the first of it's kind that combines the benefits of two. I launched it in Phoenix, and it's been in a retailer called Hi Health that has 53 locations in Phoenix. It's become one of the fastest selling drinks in their 35-year history, it's really taken off. I'm testing it this month in the top 200 GNCs in the country. I've been in there for about four weeks, and every week the sales keep increasing. If the tests continue to go well, they'll increase the number of stores with WheyUP, and they have 3500 stores in the US. I also sell online through my website, as well as Bodybuilding.com, which is one of the biggest supplement resellers in the world. I also just finished a distribution deal with someone in Canada, and I'm in the process of doing a deal in Australia. So I'm starting to get some global attention.

"I originally intended it to be just a pre-workout drink, but it's turning into something with mass appeal. It's turned into a great diet drink, because it's like getting up in the morning and having a cup of coffee with a scoop of protein in it."

The way I came up with it was just in my kitchen. I'm an amateur boxer, and I'd train in the morning, and read in Muscle & Fitness magazine that they'd recommend 20 grams of protein before and after you work out. So I wanted to have protein for my workout at 5:30 AM. I'd take a blender, a sugar free energy drink, some strawberries for taste, and put a scoop of whey protein powder in there. For six months or so, I just blended up my own combination of a protein energy drink. Going into the stores, like GNC, I couldn't find anything like that, so I just figured I'd do it myself. A lot of people have asked me why nobody else did it first, and all I can say is, "I don't know!"

I originally intended it to be just a pre-workout drink, but it's turning into something with mass appeal. It's turned into a great diet drink, because it's like getting up in the morning and having a cup of coffee with a scoop of protein in it. It has 20 grams of protein, 1 gram of carbs, 90 calories, no fat, it's sugar-free, and in one shot you get protein and energy. So I'm hearing that a lot of people will have one for breakfast, and it takes them all the way to lunch.

What's the reaction been like so far to WheyUP?
The neat thing about it is that it's taken off in a very grassroots way. A lot of people have found out about me like you did, through the web or whatever, and they'll call me up and get on board. Right now I've got a few Olympic athletes that I'm endorsing, I've got a Paralympic athlete on the Mountain Dew tour that I'm sponsoring. He rides his wheelchair on the skateboard ramp on these events, and I've been sending him about 25 cases for every event up in the athlete's tent. He says the skaters are just freaking out over it, because all they're getting at these events is Mountain Dew and Pepsi, and these guys are athletes- they want something with protein in it.

I've got little pockets of MMA and UFC fighters that are drinking WheyUP. I've got a camp down in Athens, Georgia, called The Hardcore Gym, where Forrest Griffin came from. I've been talking to Adam Singer, he's a huge fan of WheyUP, and I think WheyUP is going to sponsor the Hardcore Gym.

Oh cool, they're good guys.
Yeah! When I first talked to Adam, I asked him what he thought of the drink. He said "Let me tell you how much I like it. I'm in the car right now drinking one, and I've got four empty ones on the floor of the car." I said, "Man, you are a fan- but you've gotta clean up your car!"

It seems like consumers have become more aware of protein in the last couple of years, and they're integrating it into their diets more than ever. What are your thoughts on that?
The one thing I definitely want to stress is that I'm by no means a scientist or a dietician. I'm just truly a guy who read stuff and was the first to put this combination together. But, I'll tell you that being in this industry for 16 or 17 months since I came up with this concept, I really believe that protein is the next "it" ingredient. You've got Accelerade, which is basically Gatorade with protein, you've got Special K's K20, a protein water, there's a protein soda. As you mentioned, more and more people are realizing the overall health benefits of whey protein.

For example, I have a lot of seniors here in Phoenix that are hooked on WheyUP because their doctors are recommending to their elderly patients that they consume more protein.

Yeah, it's good for offsetting osteoporosis.
It's good for that, and it helps maintain the deteriorating muscle mass that everyone goes through as they get older.

One of the unique things about WheyUP is its light consistency, as opposed to the shake-like consistency that you usually see in protein drinks. How has that played out for you?
Well, my original concept for WheyUP was in a 16 oz. can, because that's what all the other energy drinks are in. I was thinking it would fit in well at a convenience store or whatever, and I actually brought the first version out in like that. But like you said, and I didn't realize this at the time, once people who were familiar with protein drinks see the word "whey" on a can, they thought it was a thick shake because they couldn't see inside of it. So that's why I switched to a plastic bottle, so you can see the consistency right away.

Why did you choose whey protein, as opposed to rice, soy, casein, or any of the other proteins?
Whey is the most popular form of protein in the fitness industry. If you go into any GNC or health food store, the majority of what they sell is whey protein. The reason being, especially for a pre-workout drink, is that whey is the form that your body absorbs the most quickly. So it's ideal for a pre-workout drink, but if you were going to have protein before you went to bed, you'd want casein protein, because it absorbs the slowest.

Are you interested in developing other products with different kinds of protein or ingredients?
Yeah, sure. I'd like to do a powder form of WheyUP, so you can just mix it with water on your own, I'd like to do a natural version, an "extreme" version that has creatine for the ultimate pre-workout drink. Some people, maybe 1 in 20, don't like caffiene, so maybe I'll do a version with another stimulant.

"Protein is going to be found in a lot more mainstream drinks. [Y]ou're going to start seeing protein added to not just drinks, but all kinds of products."

The energy part of WheyUP is from B vitamins, right?
Yes, B-12, B-6, taurine, and some other things.

So pretty much the standard energy drink combo?
Right. But it's interesting, I'd like to do some research on this, because I hear it a lot, people who drink WheyUP say they don't get the same crash that they do from other energy drinks. There's two things that could explain that: First, it's not loaded with sugar like a lot of them are. Also, there's the protein, so you're body's digesting something.

In a lot of ways, beverage leads the rest of the food world in health & wellness trends. What are the big trends you see right now?
Well, to be honest, I don't know if I'm the best person to answer that question, because this is just something I came across myself by creating it in my kitchen. As far as someone who has 20 years of experience in the beverage industry, I don't. But I'll go back to what I said earlier: Protein is going to be found in a lot more mainstream drinks. Fortunately, I was first to market with this combination. But you're going to start seeing protein added to not just drinks, but all kinds of products.

WheyUP seems to primarily target a hardcore fitness enthusiast right now. What are the challenges there?
Well, I don't know that I'd say hardcore, but I definitely am targeting a core fitness enthusiast. But I'm finding that that ranges from 50 year old guys in the gym 3 days a week to bodybuilders that live by their supplements and workout schedule, to runners, bikers, skaters, a really wide spectrum of people in the fitness industry.

One of the toughest parts of working with enthusiast markets is getting into mainstream distribution channels without losing the credibility of the ethusiasts. Is that something you're concerned about?
I do see that as a challenge. I've thought about that, because I've had interest from Sam's, Wal-Mart, Target, and places like that which are very mainstream. But I'm starting to see more and more products like Muscle Milk, Lean Body, protein powders, bars, and things like that sold at Sam's Club. Those fitness people are shopping at Sam's, and I think it's the retailers that are reacting to consumer needs and the fitness lifestyle that people are adopting. The retailers are carrying more and more of those products, so I don't know that it's a negative for me to advertise in Muscle & Fitness but have that bodybuilder be able to buy WheyUP at Circle K when he goes to pump gas. It's becoming more and more acceptable for these fitness enthusiasts to find their products at mainstream retail.