A group of University of Richmond students launched a new beverage product into local stores this week.
Through the yearlong Bench Top Innovations course at the university, the students created a company called TwinTail Brews and an energy drink called Superberry Power Tea. The drink is sugar-free and has caffeine and L-theanine, an amino acid that balances the effects of caffeine to take away some of the jitters associated with energy drinks. The students are having the drink manufactured at a facility in Virginia Beach and released the product at Ellwood Thompson's and other retailers around Richmond this week.
The class started in the fall with four different teams, and each team produced a different food and beverage product. The teams submitted the final products to a panel of judges, which selected the tea as the winning product. The 16 students who had enrolled in the class merged into one team and began building the company.
“We ended up developing a tea that gets rid of so many of the jitters and crashes that college students experience being as busy and up late as we are,” student Danny Anderson said.
The team worked with students at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter on the logo, color palette and other labeling. The Brandcenter also helped the team develop a brand voice and position the product in the marketplace.
“This has been a yearlong course so I would say the learning curve has been incredibly steep,” student Vivian Shon said. “One of the main things that I learned from this process is that you have to be able to constantly adapt and adapt quickly.”
She added that she also had to learn patience. She cited the example of the label for the beverage. The color was a little off from the printer, and Shon said she panicked when she first saw them.
“As time went on, we started to realize that this is the environment of a startup company,” Shon said. “Things are always constantly changing.”
TwinTail follows in the wake of Absurd Snacks, which was produced by University of Richmond students last year. That product has been spun off from the university and has raised some capital. The students who worked on TwinTail are unsure if the project will continue after the school year. They understand the realities of launching a food and beverage product.
“It would be amazing if we could continue this after graduation, but I can’t say for certain that we will,” student Grace Clarke said. “It is definitely an option that we will explore.”
The students took a field trip to Virginia Beach this week and were expected to tour the manufacturing facility. They will bring products back to Richmond and deliver the beverage to retailers who committed to selling it.
Retailers have offered suggestions on ways to improve the marketing and how to approach other retailers, the students said. They expect to have the beverage at 20 retailers in the coming weeks.
“I really see this startup as being part of our city,” Anderson said. “They all took a chance on us and believed in their neighbors. I think that says a lot about Richmond as a city.”
