"sports drink" news and stories

We certainly don't need yet another sports or juice or vitamin-enhanced water out there on the market, but according to its makers, Viz isn't even in that category of beverages. It's "an entirely new beverage category."

Viz has a patented cap design, the VizCap, that contains a sealed, moisture-free chamber filled with the ingredients. Apparently, the drink is better than other nutrition-enhanced drinks because keeping the ingredients separate extends the life of the potency of the vitamins and minerals. When ready to drink, you push down on the cap, which releases the effervescent little balls into the liquid. It's kind of like Alka-seltzer, I guess, but as a drink.

Cadbury Schweppes is preparing to launch their largest marketing campaign to date in a market clearly dominated by PepsiCo's Gatorade. Though the product itself isn't exactly new, Accelerade was purchased by Cadbury Schweppes last year and is now backed by a reported $50 million campaign scheduled to begin on May 28.

Accelerade will be joining Gatorade and Coke's Powerade (seriously, who names these things?) in the fight to become your sports drink of choice. Their ads will tell you to "Sweat Smarter," and will feature a team of athletes including Derek Jeter and Mia Hamm pitching the product.

If you are interested in seeing what makes them any different than the others, Accelerade features a product comparison chart on their website which breaks down the carbs, calories, and various other stats between the different brands of drinks.

Source

New from Jelly Belly -- the company that got Ronald Reagan through all those cabinet meetings during the Iran-Contra affair -- is the sweet tooth's answer to Gatorade: Sport Beans.

The company has been sponsoring a professional bike racing team for the last few years, and working with those athletes, Jelly Belly has developed a jelly bean that's certifiably good for you. It's fortified with electrolytes, carbohydrates and Vitamins B and C.

The idea, apparently, is to provide athletes an alternative to the nutrition products that bike racers and other endurance types use: sports drinks, like Gatorade, which are sticky; and energy gels, like Gu, which seem just plain gross.

A cool idea, to be sure. But when is somebody going to make an athletic version of Snickers?