EX Drinks U.S. Enters Market with Healthy Trio

by DrinkNetwork

Published on Fri Sep 7 14:37:15 2007

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ANAHEIM HILLS, CA (July 30, 2007) – EX Drinks U.S. LLC, (EXDUS), quietly founded in Orange County in 2005 with more than $3 million in start-up capital, is beginning to make noise: Noise about its marketing strategy and its healthy alternatives to industry-leading energy drinks containing megadoses of caffeine, vitamins, processed sugar and taurine. EX Drinks U.S, without the boast or ballyhoo inherent in the energy drinks industry, has begun distributing three drinks -- EX Pure Energy®, EX Slim Energy® and EX Chill® -- in Hawaii and California. (The firm is located a933 N. Batavia, Orange, CA 92867; mail to 751 S. Weir Canyon Rd. Ste. 157341, Anaheim Hills, CA 92808) EXDUS also is offering online orderingwww.EXDrinksUS.com as it rolls out its national marketing strategy this summer. Initially, the drink brands are being sold in convenience, health food and grocery stores in 8.4 fluid ounce cans. The drinks retail from $2 to $3 each, with 16-ounce cans to be introduced in August. The company, which owns the brands in the United States, is the exclusive U.S. distributor for London, England-basedExtreme Drinks LTD, a five-year-old firm which markets its beverages in 26 countries. The global roster includes Denmark, France, India and Sweden, four nations which either limit or restrict from sale drinks containing taurine. Extreme is a part of Extreme Group and Extreme International, which owns the Extreme Sports Channel so popular with the industry’s target market -- youths age 18 to 30-years old. “We realize that we’ve been flying under the radar for many months,” conceded CEOJarod Duggins, a San Diego native. “We are well aware that we are ‘David” in a $3.4 billion-a-year industry populated with tenacious ‘Goliaths.’ Our industry reportedly grew at 80% in 2006, with about 500 new labels introduced this past year -- for the second year in a row!” An undisclosed U.S. investment group, as well as additional individuals, comprise the company’s core investors. Ex Drinks will announce this summer distributor relationships beingclosed in California and Hawaii; endorsements by athletes in various sports; and the company’s special promotional events and involvement in various charitable causes.

EXDUS Management Team

Jarod Duggins, 28, grew up in San Juan Capistrano, CA. He played high school football and baseball and was an avid surfer, skater and snowboarder. He studied business at nearby Saddleback and Santa Barbara City Colleges.The former sporting goods salesman coached San Juan Capistrano’s Challenger League – baseball for mentally and physically challenged athletes. He successfully offered private placement investments for centers to accommodate non-invasive heart scanners. In 2003, he started Products Rep Direct, which represented beverages, clothing and apparel companies in Orange County, Hawaii and Vancouver, BC. Norm A. Hunte, a New York native and Duke University economics graduate, is a Partner and U.S. Sales Manager. Previously, he was a Regional Sales Planner/Account Manager with the Pillsbury Co, a licensed broker and equity fund analyst with Dean Witter and a member of CDC (Certified Development Corporation) in Charlotte, NC. Corey Namba,a Partner in and Promotions Manager for EXDUS, worked with Duggins at Products Rep Direct before helping start EX Drinks. The San Clemente, CA, native, a former American River guide who also worked on the Colorado ski slopes, is earning a public relations degree in Hawaii. He resides in Haleiwa and is a member of the Surfriders Assn. Safety Concerns on Ingredients

“We share the concern of educators, parents, pediatricians and poison control centers that unhealthy energy drinks have created a whole new ‘buzzed generation,’” Namba observed. “Youth and adults, turning away from carbonated and coffee drinks, are getting unnecessarily revved up on some of these beverages, particularly the ones containing taurine.”Taurine, an active ingredient in most energy drinks, is a conditionally-essential amino acid which is not utilized in protein synthesis, but rather found free or in simple peptides. Although discovered as a component of ox bile in 1827, it has been artificially synthesized for the drink manufacturing process. Red Bull®, Monster® and Rockstar®, industry sales leaders who held 76.5% of the energy drinks market share in 2005, all contain taurine. (Market share sources:Beverage Digest; Datamonitor.)Some major U.S. insurance companies will not provide product liability coverage for energy drinks containing taurine. EX Drinks three beverages, which management believes will avoid California’s ban on junk food in schools (effective July 1), are heralded as “Great Tasting, All Natural, Life Enhancing.” Theycontain no taurine. EX Pure Energy: Contains kombucha, ingested since 221 B.C. (Qin Dynasty), and believed to inhibit harmful bacteria, detoxify the body, encourage cellular reproduction and help cell regeneration and tissue repair, as well as forming antibodies to help build the immune system. Other ingredients are guarana, a natural stimulant; Siberian ginseng and up to 80% of daily values of Vitamins B3, B5, B6 and C. Pure cane sugar,not processed sugar, also helps avoid digestion conflicts encountered by some consumers. EX Slim Energy:The drink contains the same above ingredients, but less than two grams of carbs and sugar.

EX Chill:A nonalcoholic drink, “America’s First Relaxer Beverage.” Contains chamomile, used for centuries as a nerve sedative and mild sleep aid which also contains anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. It also contains, valerian, a sedative for insomnia that provides a calming effect; lemon balm, also a sedative herb, used since the ancient Greeks, which lowers fever, relaxes spasms and improves digestion. EX Chill contains up to 40% of daily values of vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12, folic acid and biotin.

“We make no claims of increased endurance, legal highs and weight loss. We have no desire to jolt young bodies and brains. We want to secure our customers’ trust, not to fuel the concerns of doctors, dentists and nutritionists,” Duggins stated.“We actually support call by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce stricter standards for energy” drinks and other so-called functional foods and join it in urging the FDA to tighten regulations and take enforcement action,” he said.http://www.cspinet.org/new/200612051.html

“EX Drinks US is delivering convenience, as well as health, to busier lifestyles. We want no skepticism associated with our products,” he added. “That is exactly why we bought the U.S. brand rights and became an exclusive distributor for Extreme Drinks. These products are a safe alternative to energy drinks with taurine and have been marketed globally for about four years.”

For more information, please click onwww.EXDrinksUS.com.

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