Brand Building Playbook: Vuum

A Chat with the founders and brand director of Vuum, a sparkling beverage with protein and caffeine.

In Today’s Newsletter

• An Interview with the founders and Brand Director of Vuum, a protein infused energy drink.

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There is no better time to be alive if you are the type of person who loves to grab a fun, little drink while grocery shopping than right now.

In recent years, the CPG beverage space has exploded in popularity, with small startups vying to take on established, legacy brands; offering everything from CBD infused spritzes to canned matcha lattes.

If you’ve been to Erewhon or Happier Grocery here in NYC, you know exactly what I’m talking about. In this sea of well-designed but often forgettable beverages, its incredibly hard to stand out and gain market share.

But Vuum is a standout.

What is Vuum?

drinkvuum

A post shared by @drinkvuum

Vuum is a health and wellness focused sparkling beverage with both 10g of plant protein and caffeine. It comes in several delicious flavors— Berries, White Peach Citrus, and Strawberry Tangerine.

It was founded by fitness enthusiasts and college friends, Matt Forsey and Valentino Sinacola, who were tired of traditional protein drinks that are categorically heavy, chalky, and dairy-forward.

How is Vuum Capturing Market Share?

First let’s set some context for just how many new beverage brands are hitting the market—

• The CPG beverage market is expected to grow from $59.15 billion in 2018 to $72.53 billion by 2028.

• The energy drink market has seen a 9.9% sales spike, surpassing $22 billion.

And with this influx of competition and the traditional hurdles to starting a CPG brand it can be incredibly challenging to capture consumer’s attention and win their loyalty—

• It’s difficult to get customers to buy beverages like this online, and even more costly to ship it to them.

• Thus, founders want to be placed in grocery stores, which already have partnerships with established players and seldom take a chance on new brands.

• Then, if a drink lacks sales velocity due to bad placement, an ugly can, or a lack of clear value proposition— it gets kicked to the curb.

But Vuum, which is entirely self-funded, is scaling by breadcrumbing their brand into the discourse with beautiful out of home (OOH) campaigns and a word of mouth strategy.

I spoke with their founders to get some insights on why they started Vuum, how they’re competing, and then with their brand director, Riley Nelson, to learn more about their incredible design and breadcrumbing marketing strategy.

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drinkvuum

A post shared by @drinkvuum

JAKE BELL: Talk to me about what VUUM is and what it brings to the market.

MATT FORSEY: VUUM is the world’s first sparkling plant protein drink. We are on a mission to disrupt the stagnant protein drink category. Our proprietary recipe utilizes a clear, weightless hydrolyzed pea protein which allows us to create a sparkling protein drink that is equally refreshing as it is satisfying. 

VALENTINO SINACOLA: VUUM, and protein consumption in general, shouldn’t be limited to post-workout use – we want people to think of us as a more satisfying morning coffee-alternative, pre-workout fuel, or refreshing ‘snack’ to tide you over. We want to celebrate the multifaceted importance of protein in the human diet by delivering an option that could be more diverse in usage and help people reach their daily protein goals.

JB: What inspired you both to found VUUM?

MF: Both of us are really active and health conscious. We like to cycle, lift weights, play tennis and value our health and overall wellbeing. We realized that there was a hole in the protein drink market for a protein drink that wasn’t heavy, thick, chalky, and dairy-forward. We wanted something that was light and refreshing that we could drink on our way to the gym or quench our thirst after a long hike. So we set out to do just that. 

We initially met at a fitness class when we were both students at USC and quickly became integrated into the LA fitness scene, where we learned about the nutritional needs/wants of the community – which, long story short, always revolved around better protein options.

JB: Did you have previous experience in the CPG space? What are your backgrounds?

MF: We actually don’t have any previous CPG experience, so we’re learning as we go. We’re first time founders with a big vision to categorically shift the protein drink market that has been the same for far too long.

JB: What have been the challenges and rewards bringing this product to market?

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