This could be your story
John Pinelli
Chief Energy Officer @ Punch'd Energy | Start-ups, Product Development, Strategy
Ever heard the “Caffeine Gummy” Story?
Punch’d Energy’s story is fun.
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What’s even crazier:
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It’s the kind of business that inspires people to get up and just start something on your own ... That's the kind of inspo that most of love in today's world. If he can do it, I can do it and so on.
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Talking in the 3rd person, "John Pinelli" got the idea for Punch’d after working on a project for SEGA, the video game guys. Sonic the Hedgehog was involved. Late nights were also a thing.
He was tired, it was late, and he needed something to keep going. So he grabbed an energy drink & a bag of candy, or something like that.
Then he did the math on the sugars and calories. And the artificial stuff, yuck. That’s not what he wanted, he just wanted the caffeine and coffee was nowhere to be found.
At the time, natural products were on the rise and he was in California – the self-proclaimed land of fruits and nuts. Natural drinks and snacks were popping up everywhere.
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And so....
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JP became a caffeine expert. And then a gummy expert. And then his eyes opened up wide to the food industry as a whole and found out how really broken it is. He immersed himself in all the different phases of coffee, the gummy vitamin market, the risks and rewards of being in confectionery products. He leaned into all the resources and experts he could find. The mindset was this, no one has done it yet, we need it, and we can do it and he had a great starting place.?
“I knew a little bit about a lot of things, but needed to know it all about these key segments. In six months I became one of the world’s leading experts on coffee, caffeine and gummy vitamins – except that no one but me knew this.” He even has a caffeine bible. “I spent all my time learning and then developing the plan, talking and working with everyone I could, I figured it all out by stumbling and bumbling my way through every question or point of contention.”
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So how did he make the first caffeine gummy?
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In his kitchen of course, with his son, in their little green downtown saltbox house. A beloved and quaint winery town called Livermore, which just so happens to be where the famed Napa Valley originated. Startup history was abound. Also important was the secondary "lab" location, Casa Orozco - the famed Mexican restaurant where most of the genius work actually happened.
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Generation 1 of the Punch’d Caffeine Gummies were met with ~30% acceptance. Food scientists and commercial kitchens were now in the mix. These gummies were too bitter for most, and the flavor profile hurt a little to be honest. Natural, green caffeine is one of the most bitter ingredients on the planet, that’s the crux of the issue, but this had to be the hero ingredient. It’s just better than everything else. No Artificial Anything!
Gen 2 got better, and made it to Amazon! The approval process and eventual validation of Amazon’s Choice is everything to a new and upcoming new product category and type like Caffeine Gummies. Punch’d Energy was well on it’s way now. Punch’d saw it’s fair share of mixed reviews during this launch, as taste is a very subjective measure of success and people are very passionate about their taste buds. Approval rate was near 60%.
The big break in approval ratings came with Gen3. When JP’s teenage daughters and their friends got involved in the flavor profiles, the general public agreed wholeheartedly with an almost 95% approval rating in taste and flavor. This is still the product sold today and does 2 things incredibly well: 1) It works really fast and 2) now, it tastes amazing.
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The real fruit flavor profile is a completely different experience in caffeine, because it’s real fruit! Side benefits include great breath and cleaning up your mouth after a big lunch. The zing of the natural green coffee bean caffeine is still in there too, because one thing that JP learned along the way is that you have to be reminded that there’s a real power in here. Otherwise you’ll eat too many and the main goal is to avoid that spikey-shaky-crash thing that happens with most other caffeine products. The US Army helped with this revelation.
All this work and all this effort was done before bigger market risks were ever taken. The mvp, or minimal viable product, was there early but it took constant tweaking and honing of the formula to make a noticeable difference and spur on real growth. This effort also granted a full patent for “Caffeinated Gummies”, because there was no prior art and this was a new category in personal energy. This is how 5hr Energy went to market with their new form factor in energy, and that has worked out well for them.
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Another thing JP has consistently done?
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Super focus on customers. He calls them Punch’d People, and make no mistake about it – they’re his people and he loves them. This is a feel good, better-for-you product and the overarching dream is to get people to do better and be better about what they put in their bodies. And it’s working. Getting someone to replace a Diet Soda with 3 gummies and a water is the ultimate win for JP. Knockout one of those giant energy drink cans a day. Save some dough on a giant latte. Short term positive mood swings are almost instant for Punch’d People ... long term health benefits are even better and are a real game changer.
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Punch’d has a >60% repeat order rate. That’s huge, 3X typical market numbers. The LTV of a Punch’d customer blows away anything that’s in a can. It’s a great product. The testing and ad game part of the business is not easy sledding though. Copy cats and wannabes are everywhere, but this part of the awareness game is improving rapidly with the addition of more than 7,000 convenience retail locations. It’s always about balancing resources and growth @ Punch’d.
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Other ways Punch’d is growing quickly:
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From 2018 to 2023 Punch’d has served up more than 35m gummies. The successive covid and then recession years have provided some challenges, but Punch’d is still growing! Street Cred has been established.
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JP knows that aligning with a premier distribution partner could be a game changer. Strategic partners could instantly change the dynamic of availability. JP has already proved Punch’d is a viable competitor in the energy space, parked right up next to the 5hr Energy, on the cooler doors next to the energy drinks, at the coffee stations, impulse and healthy buy areas, and more. Punch’d is the best new thing in personal energy and will be a household name soon.
Aligning with the next big partner to push into more consumer’s hearts and minds is the plan. Continued growth and new product launches are happening.?Once they try, they buy!
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The big things that will always remain part of the Punch’d culture are:
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This story could be you. What do you want to become an expert at? How can you improve on something important for the people of our world? How fast can you grow? How obsessed with helping people’s lives are you? What else can you do to improve upon the lives of all the wonderful folks that come into your circle?
It’s one of the things about being human, and it makes you think...? I could do this if I just put my head into it.?
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Remember – it’s usually 5% idea; 5% timing; 10% talent and 80% not f-ing stopping. You never have to stop if you're highly caffeinated.
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JP always ends all his meetings & calls with: "Keep Punching!"
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