Muscling In
by Andrew Kaplan May 15, 2007

My, how far beverages have come in just a few years. It's hard to imagine that about the only 'function' one used to expect from a beverage was perhaps a gentle lift from the morning cup of coffee. Now compare that with Redline, a drink launched a few years ago by the Davie, FL, USA-based VPX Sports that has begun to carve out a niche for itself in the crowded energy drink category.

Redline stands out from the others in the energy drink field by claiming to both boost a person's energy and, if used properly, to possibly help them burn stored body fat at the same time. In essence, the drink is your average overweight American's dream in a bottle.

VPX says it can do these things by a proprietary formula that coaxes one's body to burn fat by creating a "shivering response." Shivering, VPX says, causes the body to release a large amount of stored body fat in an attempt to bring body temperature back to normal. The second of Redline's "fat-melting punch," according to the company, are ingredients designed to "have you sweating up a thermogenic storm, and thus burning fat through yet another unique mechanism."

VPX founder, CEO, and Chief Scientific Officer, Jack Owoc, developed Redline's formulation on his own, based on his personal experience as a fitness buff, former science teacher, and most recently,  the owner of a sports nutritional supplement store/personal training center in Florida.

After working with his clients for some time, Owoc began to notice that many of them just weren't seeing the benefits one would expect to see from the nutritional supplements they were using. He decided to have the supplements tested and discovered many of them were bogus. So Owoc went to work on developing his own line of sports supplements, including protein powders, high protein meal replacement bars, a creatine delivery system, etc. He also came out with Redline in the form of a liquid concentrate and liquid-gel capsules.

"He just wanted to make products he felt were legitimate, that met label claim, and worked at a level equal and/or above what they were supposed to do," explains VPX Vice President of Sales Mike Fabiano, "And that's pretty much the thinking when it came to Redline by the way."

Redline's ingredients include a proprietary blend consisting of Vitamin C, Caffeine Anhydrous, Evoburn (pure Evodiamine), N-acetyl-L-tyrosine, Yerba Mate, Green Tea, 5-hydroxy-L-Tryptophan (5-HTP), Vinpocetine and Yohimbine HCL.

The ready-to-drink version of Redline first came on the market in 2004 and was sold exclusively in sports nutrition/health food stores and gyms. But VPX started making a concerted effort to cross over into the mainstream in January of 2006. Today, it is available nationwide in Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven, independent convenience stores, as well as GNC stores, Vitamin Shoppe and other vitamin nutritional stores.

Owoc's idea was to provide consumers a legitimate alternative to the energy boosting and weight loss effects claimed by the now-banned ingredient ephedra.

But Fabiano says what really makes Redline unique is the way its formulation is absorbed by the user. "We're using a delivery method that gets the particle size to sub-micron weight," he says. "And what that means to the end-consumer is you're getting maximum absorption and rapid delivery of the ingredients that are in the product."

VPX recently expanded the Redline family into an Extreme version, and also added Grape and Apple flavors in March of this year at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, the pinnacle show of the year for the Sports Nutrition Industry.

Fabiano says Redline's sales have grown exponentially over the past few years, and he credits the growth to what he says is a simple fact: "Our product works. I say that with humility and no arrogance. Once you try one you'll know exactly what I'm talking about."

The company relies mostly on print advertising, especially in fitness magazines, and a few television spots for its marketing efforts. "But it's really the grassroots effort, the word of mouth that's spreading Redline," say Fabiano. The internet also has played a big role in spreading the news about Redline through a website at redlinerush.com.

He adds that while some energy companies have gone after the nightclub market, VPX has made a conscious decision not to. "We try to stay away from anything that is connected to alcohol," Fabiano says. "Our drink, and our product line in general, is about health, wellness, fitness, etc. and we would prefer to keep the alcohol stigma, connotation away from it."

Currently, about 80 people work at the company, most of them employed in the in-house production of Redline.

Fabiano admits that the company knew it was taking on one of its biggest challenges when it made the decision to enter the beverage industry by marketing Redline as an RTD. To help ease Redline's introduction to the competitive energy drink category and help it find distribution, VPX hired a beverage industry consultant.

With the drink now catching on, Fabiano says the company is developing line extensions to the Redline family. "Also other beverages that are not part of the Redline family, but will be different products from VPX on the beverage side," he adds. "So we hope to become a more dominant figure in beverage while at the same time continuing to do what we do on the specialty sports nutrition side. Because we don't want to lose sight of that since that's what our company was built on. We're not going to burn the ladder underneath us, so to speak, but at the same time we realize we have a good thing going with Redline." BW