G's acquires beetroot sports recovery drink

G’s acquired the PWR+ brand from Cobell last month

Salad veg supplier G’s Fresh is making a move into sports drinks with the acquisition of a beetroot-based recovery drinks brand.

G’s, which is a major supplier of fresh and marinated beetroot lines to the UK mults and sells a Love Beets range of beetroot-based juices in the US, bought the PWR+ brand from Devon-based Cobell last month.

The PWR+ portfolio comprises three drinks - Endurance, Impact and Recovery - containing beetroot as well as other natural ingredients such as cherry juice and coconut water. G’s intends to rebrand the drinks as Performance, Win and Recover, respectively, and redesign the packaging, a move that will be backed by a revamped website.

The drinks, which have an rsp of £2.19 for a 330ml bottle, are pasteurised so will be merchandised in the ambient aisle. G’s would initially look to secure listings in sports and specialist retailers but said it hoped to gain mass-market distribution in the future.

“We see a great opportunity for more natural sports drinks rather than them being predominantly water-based,” said G’s marketing director Anthony Gardiner.

G’s had been eyeing the market for a beetroot juice-based sports drink in the UK for several years, and its success with Love Beets in the US had “brought it up the agenda”, he added.

G’s would not be able to make any health claims on the products but they would carry the Informed Sport logo - meaning they had been tested for banned substances by anti-doping lab HFL Sport Science, said Gardiner.

Studies had demonstrated that nitrates - present in high quantities in beetroot - had a positive impact on sports performance, he added.

In the UK, PWR+ will take on Beet It Sport - the concentrated beetroot juice sold by UK juice company James White.