Today, ASPIRE Beverage Company announced that its natural sports drinks will be on the shelves of Target Stores in Minnesota and Colorado starting on Sunday, August 3.
This launch in Target Stores is a major milestone for the company and may serve as a platform for its national expansion.
"We're very excited to see our products in Target," said Jesse Parker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Since the day we created this business we've always believed that the ASPIRE and Target brands are very well-aligned. Their commitment to 'better for you' products and mission-driven brands gives us confidence that they'll be a great partner as we grow our business."
The ASPIRE FIRE (cherry-berry), ICE (lemon-lime) and STORM (grape) natural sports drinks are currently being sold throughout Minnesota at Cub Foods, Holiday Stores, SUPERAMERICA, Lunds, Byerly's. Kowalski's, Coborn's, Hyvee, Life Time Fitness and many natural food cooperatives. In Colorado, ASPIRE is currently being sold by all Whole Foods Markets and Life Time Fitness locations.
Since the company was founded in November of 2012 and its products first hit the shelves of grocery retailers in the Twin Cities in May of 2013, ASPIRE has experienced rapid growth that its founders attribute to a widespread demand for a healthy alternative to the leading sports drink brands Gatorade and Powerade.
"Based upon the enormous advertising budgets of the big brands and the 'health halo' that surrounds their products from their association with professional sports and big-name athletes, we thought the marketplace would need more education regarding the truth about these drinks," said John Montague, Co-Founder and Chief Aspiration Officer. "But the good news is that they must share nutrition facts and ingredients on their labels, and consumers are increasingly becoming more health conscious and reading labels."
Target Stores will introduce the new ASPIRE bottle designs with more color and the company's signature logo is more prominently featured. In addition, Target Stores will be selling the brand-new ASPIRE flavors, RISE (blue-raspberry) and RUSH (orange citrus), that were developed following a research study that was conducted by students in the VANTAGE business program at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota. The high school students and a group of college students from the University of Minnesota's Carlson Business School also helped develop the marketing plan for the new product launch.
The launch in Target Stores is the latest major milestone for a company that has challenged the status quo in the beverage industry and achieved remarkable early results including:
• Being distributed in Cub Foods, Holiday Stores, SUPERAMERICA, Lunds, Byerly's. Kowalski's, Coborn's, Hyvee, Whole Foods Markets, Life Time Fitness, Total Hockey and many other quality retailers;
• Being served in the cafeterias, student stores, concession stands and by the sports programs of more than one-hundred high schools as one of the few beverages that meets the USDA's new 'Smart Snacks in School' guidelines that went into effect on July 1, 2014;
• Being consumed by high school state champions in hockey, basketball, soccer and lacrosse, and fueling three of the final four teams in the Class AA Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament;
• Being named as the Best All-Natural Sports Drink by Men's Journal magazine;
• Being selected as the 'Official Sports Drink' of Life Time Fitness athletic events and sold in all LifeCafes, nationwide;
• Being selected as the 'Official Sports Drink' of the Minnesota Swarm professional lacrosse team; Minnesota Football Coaches Association (MFCA); PGA of America Minnesota and Colorado sections; Irish Fair of Minnesota;
• Being named to the 2014 'Favorite Things' list by the Twin Cities Moms Blog; and
• Being appreciated by doctors, dentists, coaches, trainers, parents, athletes and organizations throughout the United States that share ASPIRE's mission to eliminate unhealthy products and practices from sports.
