Cadence Eyes Growing Hydration Market With Salt-Infused Drink
Entrepreneurs Ross MacKay and George Heaton believe there’s a big white space in the sports drink market for products that offer sodium as their main hydration-boosting ingredient
Ross MacKay cares not for the widely held notion that salt and hydration don’t go together.
Fresh off his exit from Daring Foods, a plant-based chicken brand MacKay founded and helped secure over $100 million in funding, the entrepreneur and fitness enthusiast is launching Cadence, a science-backed performance hydration brand offering what it says is the first-ever ready-to-drink mineral salt-based hydration beverage.
“I built a business based on a mission to disrupt the global food system and, now I am reframing the narrative around salt,” said MacKay, co-founder of Cadence. “Salt is a vital mineral that every human being needs to function and those who exercise regularly need a suitable amount of salt in their system to recover and stay healthy. We’re thrilled to bring a first-of-its-kind hydration product to the market that is 100% clean.”
By MacKay’s side as co-founder is fellow entrepreneur George Heaton, known for building Represent, a luxury streetwear brand based in the United Kingdom. The two noticed an extensive gap in the multi-billion dollar sports drink market, stretched out by the excessive usage of sugar and a lack of salt. Well-educated on the mineral’s capabilities, MacKay and Heaton stepped up to fill it.
“As someone who leads a highly active lifestyle with a dedicated training routine, I wanted a product that provided salt and hydration without the unnecessary ingredients such as sugar and caffeine,” said Heaton. “When I realized there wasn’t anything on the market that satisfied my requirements without the addition of unwanted ingredients like caffeine and sugar, I decided to make it my mission to produce something that could offer it all.”
Cadence features 500mg of sodium chloride, 295mg of magnesium lactate and 190mg of potassium chloride, which the brand says is the ideal electrolyte formulation for nerve, muscle and recovery benefits.
Cadence conducted a soft launch in Europe before its domestic debut, though word got here fast as the brand reports it quickly developed a waitlist of 10,000 United States consumers. This was no shock to the Cadence team, as salt-based beverages are becoming increasingly popular. U.S. Google searches for “salt hydration” have increased by 85% year-over-year and searches such as “is salt good for hydration” increased by 285%, according to the brand.
Cadence drinks have zero calories with a citrus flavor with natural ingredients such as Stevia. As the U.S. launch progresses, the brand plans to introduce new flavors and form factors to make its products more accessible.
New beverages continue to pop up addressing health and wellness in creative ways. Key, an energy drink that trades sugar and caffeine for ketones, debuted this past spring after raising $4 million in a seed round.
Odyssey, a functional beverage brand, also received funding for its drinks infused with Lions Mane and Cordyceps mushrooms.