March 20, 2007

E.V. man finds his whey into energy drink market David Woodfill, Tribune A local entrepreneur hopes to shake up the energy drink market. Chandler-based businessman Erik Rothchild said his fledgling company, WheyUP LLC, is the first to offer a protein shake and energy drink in one can. Rothchild, a fitness enthusiast with a background in sales and marketing, said he began experimenting in his kitchen with combinations of sugar-free energy drinks, fresh fruit, and whey protein, a common supplement used for building muscle mass, when it occurred to him to market it. After a period of trial and error and $125,000 in costs, Rothchild and three friends who invested in the product settled on a formula that was mixed by Key Essentials, a company offering research and development, manufacturing, packaging and distribution of food products. Rothchild said he has tested WheyUP with friends and gave Scottsdale-based Hi-Health a 60-day exclusive distribution deal in exchange for high profile shelf placement within its 63 Arizona stores. “I haven’t had anybody say it’s not going to work,” he said. Starting April 1, 16-ounce cans of WheyUP can be purchased at 63 Arizona Hi-Health stores for $2.99, which costs more than a traditional energy drink such as Red Bull or Monster Energy, but cheaper than a high-protein energy shake. Peggy Autterson, a product buyer for Hi-Health, said the company chose WheyUP because it’s the only combined energy and protein beverage on the market.

Rothchild, a fitness enthusiast with a background in sales and marketing, said he began experimenting in his kitchen with combinations of sugar-free energy drinks, fresh fruit, and whey protein, a common supplement used for building muscle mass. Ralph Freso, Tribune