Essex firm aims to add fizz to health products' sales

The bubbles make it better.

An Essex-based partnership is hoping that its new line of effervescent-fueled drinks can gain a foothold in this nation's mega-market for specialty beverages to quench our collective thirst.

The new line of products is called YZ - it's pronounced "wise" - and its individual flavor packets come in three distinctive flavors: raspberry green tea, lemon ginger and orange mango pineapple.

Each retail box of YZ comes with seven flavor packets - called stick packs in the trade - that are poured into 16 ounces of water, shaken vigorously, and consumed. The flavors boast of a host of natural immunity-and-digestive friendly ingredients, including vitamin C and E, elderberry extract and grape seed extract.

The new products are distributed by Tower Brands, a partnership of four companies, and YZ packets are manufactured at Tower Laboratories in the Essex industrial park.

Tower Laboratories, headed by Norman Needleman of Essex, is already a major manufacturer of private-label effervescent products, including denture cleanser tablets, to all the major retailers and discounters.

The manufacturer's headquarters and main plant are located in the Centerbrook section of Essex - it also has a plant in Michigan - and it develops and manufactures over-the-counter medications, prescription pharmaceuticals, personal care products, beverages and household products. Among its wares are those denture cleaner tablets, along with analgesic antacids, cold medications, potassium supplements and bath tablets.

So with that kind of experience in the effervescent - some might say "fizz" industry - Tower Laboratories was the perfect partner to manufacture the new YZ product line.

Effervescence is, indeed, the key to this new beverage line.

The drinks' hydravescent crystals help the overall hydration process by quickly enhancing the water with electrolytes. And each of the three new flavors can boast of healthy effects.

The lemon ginger flavor delivers prebiotic fiber and green tea, which its creators say helps promote digestive health. The orange mango pineapple flavor touts immunity boosters and supports the body's health defenses. And the raspberry green tea flavor offers an antioxidant boost, using pomegranate, elderberry and green tea extracts to help lower "oxidative stress."

All natural products

These aren't just new drinks, they're drinks that are better for you, say its founders, and the new company has already trademarked its "Bubbles Are Better" slogan. The overall powdered drink market is approaching $1 billion annually, and since its creators say that YZ is the only all-natural product in the powdered drink market, they expect strong sales.

Henry McInerney, the chief executive officer of Tower Brands who has a strong corporate background as an executive with Nestea tea products and Tetley Inc., says YZ products are truly unique because of their effervescence.

He admits there are many other water-enhancing products on the market - think the popular Crystal Light packets, for instance - but Tower Brands says its products have that effervescence kick - "Bubbles are better," insists McInerney - which actually bubble up when poured into water to disperse their ingredients quickly and evenly.

There is no gritty taste, and there is no sediment with the stick packs, says Matt Needleman, project manager with Tower Brands.

Both men say YZ products have no artificial ingredients and have a lower level of calories than many drinks. The flavor packs typically deliver 20 to 45 calories per serving to water.

And that YZ name offers the company's marketeers plenty of word-play fodder. Besides the Bubbles are Better pledge, the promotional literature and website at www.yzchoice.com play on the YZ (wise) Up pitch and remind potential customers that "your water could be working harder" - a reference to those hard-working YZ fizzing bubbles stirring things up inside a water bottle.

Experienced team

Besides McInerney's corporate experience in the beverage industry, he also has extensive experience in developing venture capital-funded startups.

The partners behind the new YZ beverages include Tower Laboratories, the exclusive manufacturer, the New York-based CBX, responsible for brand and package development, the Essex-based Outthink LLC, which is handling advertising, and SXRiver of Essex, for management and marketing.

"Each of us has contributed our own sweat equity," quips McInerney. "This development team is as good as they come," he adds. "This is a first-class group of very experienced people."

Tower Brands calls its new products wellness drinks, and market research shows a global potential of some $25 billion for such drinks. The research also projects these natural/organic drinks will grow at a 30 percent annual clip. Focus groups with Gen X women - a desired demographic for this product - showed a strong preference for natural products, which were also viewed as healthy products.

McInerney says hydration is vital to our health, supporting our immune system and proper organ function - and keeping our skin healthy. Most of us aren't well hydrated, so the market potential is huge.

The new products are just beginning their branding and positioning in the market, and are already available at www.yzchoice.com. The new company also envisions focusing on health-and-wellness consumer product initiatives, as well as viral marketing over the Web, various online sample and coupon opportunities to consumers, and having a major presence at regional events to offer samples and promote distribution opportunities.

The "pricing point" for this new product is projected to be about $1 per flavor stick, or less than $6 for a packet of seven sticks.

McInerney says that a brief free promotion on the drink-company's website was a viral-marketing success, with so strong a demand that the initial supply was exhausted.

"We've had a very good response," he says of the new products. The company has already enlisted Marie Baumuller, a sports nutritionist based locally, to help market the product, and is talking with grocers for product placement on their shelves.

"We're trying to do some of this grass roots," says McInerney, in addition to the online marketing and promotions. "But we're going to take our time - and do this right."

Anthony Cronin is The Day's business editor.