A pair of Bailiwick teenagers are hoping to take on the energy drink industry with a healthy alternative made from natural ingredients.
Guernsey Sixth Form students Henry (18) and Callum (17) have created ChargePlus, which combines a pre-workout energy drink with a post-workout protein boost.
Henry told Express the idea was to “eliminate the need to buy two drinks when you go to the gym – you can just find one drink”.
The pair are aiming to test the market in Guernsey later this year with a limited batch of their first flavour: mango, passion fruit and pineapple.
If that goes well, they hope to expand their product line and start selling to the other Channel Islands – and eventually the UK.
To help them create the drink, Henry and Callum approached UK drinks manufacturer Liquid Fusion, which has previously developed drinks for major brands like Capri Sun, Innocent and Itsu.
Their initial investment in product development, of £3,000, was funded from the boys’ savings, including their part-time jobs at a local supermarket.
Now, the pair are crowdfunding £12,000 towards the first batch – with more than £1,800 raised already.
Idea with legs
The concept came out of a Dragons’ Den‑style business project run by their teacher, Erich Hauptfleisch.
The pair – both regular gym goers and padel players – started brainstorming ideas and both identified having to buy an energy drink before a workout and then a protein shake afterwards as a problem.
Henry explained: “We saw that there was a gap in the market, and after lots and lots of debates, we decided that it did have legs.”
They are keen to distance ChargePlus from the stereotypical image of energy drinks, which can have “up to 180% of your daily sugar intake in a single can”, Callum said.
“We wanted to move away from that and create an all-natural drink with less sugar, fewer calories, and just overall better for you.”
And it’s not just ChargePlus’ sugar levels that differentiates it from competitors.
“When you think energy drinks, you think of carbonated drinks,” Callum said.
“But in our market research around 85% of people told us they wanted it still rather than fizzy – that was probably the biggest shock for us.”
Social media
As digital natives, the young entrepreneurs see their age as an advantage in a market increasingly driven by TikTok and Instagram.
“Social media is definitely going to play a big part in how we advertise,” Henry said.
“Being young and being able to use social media and access lots of different age ranges is going to be beneficial for how our product gets advertised.”
The pair are hoping to start with prices under £3 per can and – assuming they raise enough from their crowdfunder – the drink could be on sale in Guernsey gyms and retailers later this year.