Milk-based EnerDrinks 'healthy alternative' to existing energy drinks
EnerCoffee and EnerChoco, which make up the EnerDrinks range, contain more than 80% semi-skimmed milk combined respectively with high-quality Arabica and Robusta coffee beans and chocolate flavoring.
The 250ml products, dreamt up by 22-year old Mohammed Fahim Shaffi, are also enriched with taurine, vitamins B6 and B12, and inositol - energizing ingredients found in products such as Red Bull.
Shaffi, general manager, HFS Group - the company behind EnerDrinks - is confident the range can compete with the likes of Red Bull and Monster by combining these energizing ingredients with "the authentic, recognize taste of coffee and chocolate."
“It contains the same energizing ingredients as Red Bull, more or less in the same amounts,” Shaffi told DairyReporter.com. “It’s a healthy and tasty alternative to existing energy drinks for literally the same price."
"We have opened up a niche between energy drinks and coffee and chocolate-flavored milk."
“There are no other milk-based energy coffee drinks expect mine," he said.
"Joke...became reality"
Shaffi, a graduate of the European Business School (EBS) in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany, took the plunge and developed the EnerDrinks range after gaining work experience in retail marketing, category management, and sales management at a range of international food manufacturers.
“I started work on it around three years ago,” said Shaffi. “The first idea was for a milk-based coffee energy drink.”
"I was sitting in the car with my father. We stopped, I bought a Red Bull. He smelt it and asked how I could drink it."
"He asked me, 'Why don't you make your own?'"
“It started as a joke, but became reality," he said.
Looking for partners
Three-years on, Shaffi has contracted a manufacturer and secured listings for EnerCoffee and EnerChoco at stores in Germany and Austria.
Deliveries of the milk-based energy drinks to the Netherlands are also scheduled to begin shortly.
Looking ahead, the young entrepreneur said said there are plans to scale up production and distribution of EnerCoffee and EnerChoco.
"Currently we have minimum production of 30,000 cans. But we generally expect a six digit amount," he said.
"Of course we would love to grow. We are just looking for the right partners to do so."
