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August 19, 2008

IU student launches new energy drink in Terre Haute

Flavor of ‘Punch’ based on old family recipe for fruit punch

By Arthur E. Foulkes

TERRE HAUTE — A Terre Haute North Vigo High School graduate and swimming standout is now diving into the highly competitive world of energy drinks.

Zac Workman, a 2006 North graduate and All-American swimmer, has launched “Punch,” a new energy drink designed to taste good and be better for you than other energy beverages on the market, Workman said.

Punch has “a pineapple juice base with six other juices added to it,” Workman said. “We really feel we are changing the way energy tastes,” he said.

Workman sold Terre Haute distributor Dever Distributing on his product, which is now available in about 50 stores in the Wabash Valley, he said. “[Dever] put their faith in us,” he said.

The flavor of Punch is based on a fruit punch developed decades ago by Workman’s grandmother, Ellen Zschau. “It’s been in the family for at least 75 years,” said Lil Workman, Zac’s mother. “Everybody that’s ever tasted it loved it,” she said.

Punch tastes like a carbonated fruit punch. A 16-ounce can costs $1.99 at Baesler’s Market in Terre Haute on Tuesday. Prices vary at different stores, Workman said.

In addition to running his own company, ZW Enterprises, LLC, Workman is a junior and honors program student in the prestigious Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Running a company and being a full-time student sounds like a challenge to his mother, but Workman said he does not believe “it will be that big of a deal.”

Workman’s identical twin brother, Ty, who passed away nearly two years ago, also was a swimming standout at North Vigo and was much of the inspiration for the energy drink, Workman said. As All-American athletes, both swam several hours each day and became accustomed to energy formulas, Lil Workman said. Zac wanted to delivery an energy formula in a good-tasting drink, he said.

“We figured if we could make a drink that tasted good and was better for you but still gave you the same effects as the other [energy] drinks … without making you jittery and wouldn’t have a crash associated with it, that we’d have a really good chance of doing well,” Workman said. “If we can convince people to try [it], they will realize that this is one that they would want to continue to use,” he said.

Workman said he got the idea for Punch about a year ago. He found a consulting company in Los Angeles late last year that helped him develop the drink. Anheuser-Busch wholesaler Dever Distributing in Terre Haute was key to getting the product in stores, he said.

In addition to designing the energy formula, Workman also designed the can in which Punch is sold, he said. The can is made by Rexam, a North Carolina beverage container company. The cans are filled by Minnesota-based Cold Spring Brewery.

The ingredients in Punch give you a lasting burst of energy without jitters or a crash, Workman said. It has no sodium and no preservatives, he noted. “It tastes so much better and is a lot better for you” than other energy drinks, Workman said. “You don’t feel it as much immediately, but you’ll be wide awake the whole day,” he said.

Workman also “spent a lot of time in prayer about this,” Lil Workman said of her son’s decision to get into the energy drink business. “Doors just kept opening,” she said.

Punch has been available in stores for only about two weeks so it might be too early to tell how sales are going, Workman said; however, initial signs look good. There have been several re-orders and a grocery store in Marshall, Ill., Workman’s hometown, has had to order 23 cases in two weeks, he said.

“It’s been a lot of work and taken a lot of patience,” Workman said of his business venture. “It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve definitely learned a lot.”

More information about Punch is available online at www.punchenergy.com.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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