It’s an idea that started with a warm beer at a baseball game. Now Blox Spiked Ice, a West Chester-based maker of alcohol-infused flavored ice cubes, is poised to make a national push thanks to recently inked partnerships with two of the country’s biggest retailers and $1.4 million in fresh funding to boot.
Blox, a popular addition to hard seltzers, liquor, prosecco or beer, is in the process rolling out to more than 100 Walmart and Kroger stores as part of a new pilot. That comes as the company recently landed a $1.4 million capital raise — an effort it will likely repeat later this year as it looks to upgrade its facility and capital equipment, thanks to expected growth.
CEO Erik Murphy told me Blox was looking for more strategic investors. He declined to name those who participated in the capital round but said they include several high net-worth individuals who add years of business expertise. Some have relationships with large retailers, including grocery.
The funding will also help the company bolster inventory and supplement its marketing budget as Blox looks to make a more national push.
“The major hurdle right now is launching this marketing campaign and really navigating the social media side of things, because that seems to be where everyone finds out about new products,” he said. “We now have some good resources to help us with that.”
Dan Twyman and Brian Gettelfinger co-founded Blox, known then as Spikes, in 2015, raising more than $140,000 in a Wunderfund crowdfunding campaign in 2017. Murphy came on board in 2020 to run the day-to-day operations.
Twyman was inspired to create the alcoholic flavored ice after drinking a warm beer at a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. That origin story has since come full circle: The company opened a branded bar along the first base side at Great American Ball Park this year.
Blox currently comes in four flavors: strawberry, lime, pineapple and lemon. The product has undergone a number of packaging and formulation changes. The company plans to release five or six more flavors, likely next year.
Murphy said people constantly send in new drink combinations. While the original idea was to add a Blox to a Corona or Summer Shandy, they’ve become popular additions to hard seltzers. Popular cocktails include key lime pie, with lime Blox, whipped vodka and limeade; a bourbon slush, with lemon Blox, bourbon, orange juice and sweet tea; and pineapple upside down cake, with pineapple Blox, cake vodka, pineapple juice and grenadine.
“The great thing about the product is its versatility,” Murphy said. “You can eat it right out of the cup. You can float it as an ice cube. Or it’s soft enough you can stir it and make it into a slush. The combinations are endless. And what bartender's like most, they don't have to get the blender out. If you know anyone who has ever been a bartender, that’s the No. 1 thing they hate.”
Currently Blox is sold at around 200 locations, including bars, restaurants, grocery stories, liquor stores and gas stations. Some local spots include Millions Cafe, Esoteric Brewing and Party Town in Florence.
Murphy said the product could be available at 700-800 locations by the end of summer.
That includes 150 new Kroger and Walmart stores.
The partnership with Walmart includes stores in six states; product should hit shelves at any moment, he said. Kroger’s rollout will touch Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas starting in June.
The store additions could grow the brand exponentially, Murphy said.
“To have Walmart as our first major retailer, it's huge,” he said. “It's a lot of work. But that could take you national very quickly.”
In terms of its physical footprint, Blox has a facility in West Chester. The company has room to double production at its current home, but Murphy expects adding more national accounts will push it past capacity, and new equipment will require a larger space. The plan is to keep operations in Greater Cincinnati.
Overall, Murphy said the goal to become a household name. Frozen cocktails, like popsicles and squeeze packages, are increasingly gaining in popularity.
“I want to be the next Skinny (Freezers) or Claffey's,” he said. “I don't see any reason why we can't compete and take our fair market share.”
