EXCLUSIVE: Influencer Mari Llewellyn’s Wellness Brand Bloom Nutrition’s Latest Launch Is a Gut Health-oriented Energy Drink

Bloom Nutrition is getting in on the energy drink craze with a new product launch.

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On Friday, the brand, founded by wellness influencer Mari Llewellyn and Gregory LaVecchia in 2019, is launching its Sparkling Energy Drink, $3 a can, exclusively at Target; the product will enter other retailers in January 2025. It comes in four flavors: raspberry lemon, peach mango, strawberry watermelon and cherry lime.

According to data from Circana, energy drinks reached nearly $22 billion in U.S. sales across a one-year period ending June 16, and in 2023, The Vitamin Shoppe also said energy drinks were trending.

The Bloom Nutrition team predicts this launch will be a nine-figure opportunity within 18 months.

The brand started and became known for its greens powders and has gradually expanded into an array of other products like colostrum and protein as it focuses on women’s health overall. Earlier this year, Nutrabolt, a wellness company with a portfolio of brands including energy drink brand C4, bought a 20 percent stake in the company. Bloom Nutrition is tapping into the company’s beverage manufacturing resources with this launch.

“Greens were the product that resonated with me, resonated with the community, but we always saw Bloom as a women’s health brand,” said Llewellyn. “I always knew that there was so much more that we wanted to do.”

With this in mind, Llewellyn said energy drinks were the most requested product from her community. Bloom’s version aims to be a more women-centric alternative to the hyper-masculine energy drinks currently on the market.

“When looking at the female energy drink space, I don’t personally feel like there are a ton of viable options. There’s not a ton that I would personally grab for something that tastes really good but is still good for the gut,” Llewellyn said.

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To create a differentiated product, the brand opted for light purple packaging and tapped into the functional beverage trend, as the drink also includes apple cider vinegar and lychee extract meant to promote gut health.

Prior to this launch, the company had been a powder-only business.

“We’ve been number one in this powder category at Target , Walmart [and] Amazon for a couple years now. We’re jumping a whole bunch of steps going over this beverage category… It’s Red Bull and Monster and Celsius, and these massive businesses, publicly traded, a lot of them. In that sense, it’s really intimidating, but exciting.”

While the new product will be featured on an end cap throughout Target doors, the team is also tapping into digital marketing and Llewellyn’s 1.5 million Instagram followers to get the word out there.

Concurrently, Llewellyn also sees the energy drink as an opportunity to attract new customers.

“People who wouldn’t take greens would grab an energy drink,” she said. “Maybe someone who’s grabbing the energy drink will then consider buying a powder or some of our other new products we have coming out. It will just expand our presence in the health space and the female demographic.”

In terms of new products, Llewellyn said she is especially interested in the hormone balancing space, though the brand will be focused on powders and beverages specifically over the next four years, according to the team.

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