CRESTVIEW, Fla. -- Tom Thumbs Food Stores has agreed to carry DNA Beverage Corp.'s DNA Energy Drink at its 126 convenience stores in Florida's Panhandle and Alabama. The DNA brand will be distributed to Crestview, Fla.-based Tom Thumb—a unit of Cincinnati-based Kroger—by Florida Beverage Sales. Its warehouses are in Pensacola, Fla., with a satellite warehouse opening soon in Jacksonville, Fla.
"The addition of Tom Thumb to our existing Gulf Coast business rounds out this important territory and allows us to benefit from the economy of scale in our crew drive and sampling programs," [image-nocss] said John Duva, vice president of DNA Beverage and former head of operations for Red Bull and regional manager of Hansen's Energy, Monster's parent company.
DNA Energy Drink comes in 16-oz. cans in flavors including Lemon Lime, Citrus and Citrus Sugar Free and sells for a suggested retail price of $1.99.
The drink has its roots in the action sports world of athletes who created the drink, the company said. DNA's marketing program includes major support of the action sports community where teams compete in motocross, surf, wakeboard and skateboard. It is the title sponsorship of the DNA/Butler Brothers Racing Team where it competes on a world-class level in supercross and motocross, reaching millions of fans and viewers. DNA has strong recognition in action sports and stores that support these athletes and sport participants and is a regular at skate parks, said the company. Its two 53-ft. DNA branded semi-trailers are regulars at events around the country and regularly supports its retailers and distributors.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based DNA Beverage announced in mid-May that it had launched its own distribution operation. After six months of testing the waters, the company has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Grass Roots Beverage, in order to provide a more efficient delivery mechanism to the 750 accounts already carrying its energy drinks in South Florida. Its six fully branded delivery vehicles, four sample teams and two action sports reps will be fully operational by month's end and will target the area's convenience store market.
"South Florida, unlike many other regions, offers very little distribution opportunities for new beverage lines like ours. Larger players such as Monster, Rock Star, Red Bull, Full Throttle and Amp are either owned by or controlled by the major distributors such as Coke, Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch, leaving only pockets of distribution for the rest of us," said Mel Leiner, Grass Roots Beverage's executive vice president and co-founder. He added, "Having our own distribution capability gives us immediate access to thousands of locations that otherwise would be out of our reach and has already spurred interest from other non-competing beverage producers seeking to fill our trucks with additional revenue producing products."Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.