Did you feel that? The ground just shook a little--almost like a mini earthquake. It’s Syzmo (pronounced sizz-mo) hitting the shelves of convenience stores and on-premise locations across the globe.

Syzmo, derived from the Spanish word sismo, meaning earthquake, is an energy drink that Jeff O’Neal, president of The Organic Beverage Co., and Richard Sorenson, COO, believe is going to have a significant impact on the global beverage business because it represents “the intersection of the two hottest categories in the market--energy drinks and organics,” says O’Neal.

USDA organic certified, Syzmo’s ingredients include caffeine, coffee fruit, guarana extract, green tea extract and yerba maté extract, all of which are organic. But what really sets this beverage apart from the rest is its low glycemic index (GI)
rating of 30.

Sorenson explains that Syzmo’s low GI rating is due to the fact that it’s sweetened with 100 percent organic blue agave syrup. Glycemic index relates to the way the body’s sugar levels respond to certain foods. Ratings are measured on a scale of 1 to 100 and can be used to assist in weight loss and controlling diabetes. To put Syzmo’s rating into perspective, Sorenson points out that most products that use high fructose corn syrup (i.e. carbonated soft drinks) have a rating between about 60 to 80. “Ours came in at 30--that’s off-the-charts low,” he says.

And according to recent ACNielson LabelTrends data, low glycemic foods and beverages grew 150 percent between 2005 and 2006--one indication that the concept is hitting home with consumers.

The Organic Beverage Co. works with Glycemic Index Labs, Inc. (Toronto, Canada) for its human clinical trials, and Glycemic Index Limited (Sydney, Australia) for its license for Syzmo’s glycemic index seal.

“We have to be very savvy in our ingredient sourcing to find New Age or available ingredients to support our cause,” says O’Neal of Syzmo’s formulation.

One example is the use of freeze-dried organic coffee fruit concentrate, which has a high ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) value, a measurement of antioxidant power. “Being that this is an energy drink, we chose coffee fruit because people drink coffee in the morning and drink coffee for energy, and this is an excellent by-product of that consumption of the bean that we could utilize in an innovative way,” explains O’Neal.

It’s Syzmo’s innovative qualities that The Organic Beverage Co. is banking on to help the energy drink find a spot in convenience and on-premise markets worldwide. Since its national launch in 2005 as a niche product in the organic channels under BevSpec, Inc., Syzmo’s organic ingredients always have remained the same. Integrated BioPharma, Inc. acquired assests of BevSpec, Inc., including Syzmo, in March and created a subsidiary company, The Organic Beverage Co., to steer the energy drink into new horizons. Now, the company is looking to go mainstream with Syzmo--particularly hitting US, Mexico and European markets.

The acquisition gave The Organic Beverage Co. a chance to “dial it up,” says Sorenson. “Organics is being recognized and so what we have been able to do is really focus on healthy alternatives for the energy drink category. There are a lot of energy drinks that are in the market and we have some things that are truly distinctive about ours.”

To help Syzmo’s distinctive qualities shine, The Organic Beverage Co. redesigned its packaging to highlight the blue agave component, that it is glycemic index tested and USDA certified. Available in 12-ounce Rexam sleek cans to better compete with the leading energy brands, explains O’Neal, Syzmo is available in four-packs in three flavors: Original, Passion and Prickly Pear.

The packaging reflects a bilingual nutrition panel--in Spanish and English--which reinforces the Hispanic association with the energy drink. O’Neal points out that the packaging is a fit for Hispanic and English retailers where the product can be positioned to show a specific language.

“We are really catering to both of those markets and the imagery we’ve given our brand with the agave hits home with that culture,” he says.

“It crosses over between the Hispanic markets and the rest of the US without being exclusionary,” adds Sorenson. “It’s not often that a product presents those elements that way.”

By dialing things up a notch, The Organic Beverage Co. hopes to gain new ground and make a statement that it holds what’s in store for the future.

“We’ve got to be a contender in that market, not a pretender,” says O’Neal. “So that’s why we’ve stepped up our game and our packaging to address what those market leaders are doing in that category. We are doing the same thing, yet taking it up a notch to what we feel could be even more of a high-class beverage.”

The company’s catch phrase, “Better than Juice!,” speaks to the nutritious value of juice, the youthful association of “getting juiced” with getting energy and to baby boomers, says O’Neal, who are looking for healthier energy products.

But Syzmo isn’t all The Organic Beverage Co. has to offer. This fall, the company plans to launch a soda line--Gavii--that also is sweetened with blue agave syrup and is glycemic tested. Containing no caffeine or added sugar, Sorenson and O’Neal believe the product line will be another “home run.”

Now things really are shaking.

VITAL STATS
THE ORGANIC BEVERAGE CO.
PRESIDENT: Jeff O’Neal
HEADQUARTERS: Austin, Texas, USA
EMPLOYEES: 3 full-time
GOALS: To expand Syzmo’s distribution globally, bringing New Age, clinically proven, healthy
alternative beverages to consumers.

From Beverage World September 15, 2007