Three years ago Ohio State alumnus Brian Pitzer began working on a secret business plan to create a marketable brand of caffeinated water.
He hoped to appeal to a unique crowd: classy, smart, trend-setting people that are worried about their health.
In addition, he had “people who need to be hydrated and are also aware caffeine will help their performance” in mind when creating the product, he said.
The product, called Avitae, will soon be released in the southern retail market later this year. By 2010, Pitzer hopes it will be sold across the nation.
“I refer to [Avitae] as female,” he said. “It’s my job to be her parent. It’s my job to help her grow into this beautiful, wonderful product.”
The process began while Pitzer was working as vice president of sales and marketing for a Cincinnati-based firm and one day he reflected on his career as a student athlete at OSU.
Pitzer was a walk-on quarterback on the football team with an active social life, who regularly attended his classes and had four years of internships. He would often break open caffeine pills and mix it with Gatorade to buffer drowsiness.
After his graduation, he experienced a drastic change in his amount of exercise and chose a diet that included less sugar. He found it hard to choose a caffeinated beverage to meet those needs.
“I began breaking open caffeine pills and mixing it with a bottle of water to get my afternoon energy,” he said. “But it was gross.”
He began researching and “working under the radar,” to create the initial product.
Pitzer said he’s the type of guy who prefers to do things quietly, until his work is ready to speak for itself. Except for his research, he mentioned his aspirations to no one until he was confident that the idea was going to become reality.
“At the end of the day, it’s you against the world,” Pitzer said. “I always felt like I had a destiny, but I didn’t know what it was.”
The official launch for Avitae was April 29 at the Lifestyles Community Pavilion at a concert by the band All American Rejects, and the product has been in stores since June 13.
Pitzer said that Avitae is targeted at four main groups of consumers: those he calls “enthusiastic nurturers,” meaning health-conscious females who are constantly on the run; “social butterflies,” or females aged 16-30 who set trends; “executives,” professionals who drink coffee in the morning, but something else in the afternoon; and “educated athletes,” who seek physical and mental challenges and believe caffeine can boost their performance.
“We’re really not trying to compete with coffee one bit,” Pitzer said.
Avitae is targeting the consumers who are currently drinking diet sodas and he believes Avitae will grab the interest of healthy beverage drinkers, he said.
“More of my patients drink caffeine than don’t,” Cynthia Wu, staff dietician at the OSU Medical Center said.
There are benefits linked with caffeine consumption and improved performance during physical activity, she said.
However, she said that water with the appropriate amount of caffeine would be better than other caffeinated products.
“If people are drinking a reasonable amount [of caffeine], it’s considered not to be harmful,” Wu said. “If people are looking strictly for the benefit of caffeine, I would recommend it.”
Avitae is available in various location. Their Web site, avitae45.com, has more information on the product and distribution. Pitzer said that people have already bought it as far west as New Mexico.
