Naked Nutrition’s New Energy Drink Cuts the Junk, Keeps the Jolt
Naked Nutrition enters the competitive energy drink market with a clean-label formula and zero sugar. ATN speaks with founder Stephen Zieminski about the launch
Naked Nutrition is entering the fast-growing energy drink market with the launch of Naked Sparkling Energy, a new line of canned beverages designed to appeal to health-conscious consumers seeking clean energy without additives or sugar.
Founded over a decade ago by Stephen Zieminski, a former NCAA All-American and investment banker, Naked Nutrition built its brand on transparency, offering protein powders and supplements with stripped-down ingredient lists in a nod to its name. The new drink line reflects that same approach.
Available now on Amazon, the ready-to-drink beverages (in flavors Lemonade, Orange and Strawberry Lemonade) feature just six ingredients, including 200 milligrams of caffeine sourced from organic, unroasted coffee beans. Each 12-ounce can contains 15 calories, zero grams of sugar and three grams of carbohydrates.
“We noticed the lack of innovation with the incumbent energy drink makers and new entrants having a large impact within short periods of time,” Zieminski tells ATN. “For this reason, we decided to enter the space with Naked’s ethos of simplicity and quality. The product only contains a few ingredients, and is a conscious effort to provide our customers only what they need. Naked Sparkling Energy remains true to our mission of offering consumers transparency about the ingredients in our products. In other words, we tried to strip down our energy drink in comparison to other drinks on the market.”
Although consumers (particularly Gen Z) are scrutinizing labels and cutting sugar, taste still remains a make-or-break factor. Zieminski says Naked Sparkling Energy has cracked the code with what he calls a “sweet synergy,” with a blend of monk fruit and fermented cane sugar (Reb M) that delivers the sweetness of traditional sugar without any lingering aftertaste.
“When you combine monk fruit and fermented cane sugar, they work together in a unique way to make the other even more effective, delivering a superior sweet experience,” he explains.
It’s a synergistic effect, he adds, which means less sweetener is needed to hit the ideal flavor profile, allowing the brand to have an economical edge while also keeping its ingredient list short and its label clean.
Zieminski says the drink is designed to provide a clean, sustained energy boost for a range of use cases, from early workouts to late-night study sessions. In addition to natural caffeine and antioxidants that support pH balance and reduce oxidative stress, the beverage is vegan, gluten-free and non-GMO.
When asked about potential partnerships with fitness operators to offer Naked Sparkling Energy in-studio or in-gym, Zieminski says the brand is already laying the groundwork. “We’re in talks with a number of different businesses and hope to start our full roll-out before the end of the year,” he said.