Everyone has their own special fix for fighting a hangover. Ryan Leonard is marketing his personal cure to the masses.
Leonard and his co-founder, Adam Post, recently founded Revitalyte, which offers a drink with a nutritional formula similar to Pedialyte, which is intended for rehydration and electrolyte replacement in sick children. While Pedialyte is typically found in drug stores, Revitalyte is primarily targeting liquor stores with its product.
"What sparked all of this was being in liquor stores before the weekend," Leonard told Minne Inno. "They'll sell Gatorade or water, but not a pediatric electrolyte solution."
St. Louis Park-based Revitalyte began selling its product in a handful of local liquor stores in March 2018. The company then partnered with an Illinois company, Breakthru Beverage Group, for distribution. Revitalyte is now in more than 300 liquor stores across Minnesota and recently expanded into Wisconsin, where it's currently in 30 stores. Leonard said that he hopes to continue expanding throughout the Midwest.
One-liter bottles of Revitalyte sell for $4.99 in mixed fruit and grape flavors. The drink is less syrupy than competitors like Pedialyte, which recently began marketing its formula to adults.
Revitalyte also has less sugar than most sports drinks, which makes it a popular option for athletes hoping to rehydrate as quickly as possible.
"Sports drinks are a high-carb, high-sugar product that's meant to keep you feeling good for about an hour at a time," he said. "Whereas with Revitalyte, our sole purpose is getting water and fluids back into your system as quickly as possible."
Other startups have experienced success in the hangover cure market. Cheers, a Houston startup creating a hangover pill, recently closed on $2.1 million in seed funding after pitching their product on "Shark Tank."
Of course, the big question is: will it actually cure your hangover? Doctors are skeptical of the Pedialyte fix, noting that while electrolytes and sugar can help the body rehydrate after too much drinking, the science behind hangovers involves more than just dehydration.
Nevertheless, Leonard says that Revitalyte has been quickly and eagerly embraced by customers.
"There's a reason we've gone from zero to over 300 stores in a short period of time," he said. "There's a big demand for this stuff. It's really fun to see stores bring in one case at first, and then come back to us asking to purchase multiple cases on a weekly basis."
