How to: Build a functional beverage with help from a 12-year-old entrepreneur

Early in 2024, beverage formulator Steven Fleischauer found himself in a position he’d never experienced before. There he was, on a Zoom meeting, gathering in-depth product feedback and tasting notes from a client … who just happened to be 12 years old.

How the story began was unusual enough. Joey DiRocco and his parents, Justin and Francesca, had reached out to beverage manufacturer Flavorman, where Fleischauer works as a special project manager in R&D, with a big idea. They wanted to launch a hydration drink brand to help “give back” to the nonprofit disability support organization Easter Seals for help it had provided to Joey. But here’s what was even more impressive: This product development process was working really smoothly.

“We had to help them less than we had to help a lot of ‘fully grown’ clients, honestly,” Fleischauer recalled. 

Here’s how the Flavorman team helped turn the idea of Joey’s brand, Sparklytes, into tangible formulas — and what his formulation team says other brands could learn from this family of industry outsiders.

Development first, marketing second

It can be tempting to launch a brand with nothing more than a marketable story (or an influencer), and then figure out the product details later. Even more so with Sparklytes, because Joey’s story is a compelling one. He suffers from nystagmus, a congenital visual impairment that was causing him to fall behind in school. After specialists from Easter Seals provided him with assistive technology and other support that helped his reading improve to grade level, he envisioned Sparklytes as a way to help pay back the nonprofit. 

But rather than bringing this story to a marketing agency first, the DiRoccos leaned into R&D. They embraced the challenge of learning what really goes into a hydration beverage, almost like it was an important school project.

“This is a great example of somebody who did it the right way,” Jordan Plappert, Flavorman’s marketing manager, explained. “I’m a big advocate of going through the development process first. Until you have locked in on what exactly your flavors are, what the nuances are, what the ingredients are in the different levels, you don't entirely know where you're going to stand in the market. And then you can build the marketing facade and everything else around that.”

Of course, the R&D process isn’t as instantly gratifying as building a brand story. But at the end of 21 weeks, the DiRoccos could be confident that their drink would be well-made, taste right and carry a formula that matched up well to everything else on the market.

“Now they know where they stand,” Plappert said. “And they’re better equipped to ask, ‘How can we really build this into something that can go toe-to-toe with the big brands?’” 

Start with comparison points

Fleischauer claimed the biggest challenge he faces as a formulator is when clients come to him in a murky middle ground. They kind of know what they want, kind of don’t, and can be easily swayed either way.

“We really benefit the most when we get a lot of direction or very little direction,” he says. “Because that way, we either know where we're going, or we know that figuring that out is going to be a function of the journey.”

The DiRoccos were in the former camp: “They did their homework and had clear visions and reference points for us.” That included:

Was any of this written in stone? Definitely not. It took six rounds of back-and-forth, plenty of meetings and an 8-hour in-person “lab day” at Flavorman’s facility in Louisville to completely dial in the Sparklytes formula and flavor lineup: peach mango, lemon-lime, blue raspberry, blueberry lemonade, cherry and orange. Each flavor, Fleischauer recalled, came from the DiRoccos rather than Flavorman.

“They did their research, and they came to us with a reasonable and very practical vision for it,” he said.

Don’t overreach out of the gate

With their formulas and flavors finalized, the DiRoccos were ready to start manufacturing their hydration beverage, which they envision as a ready-to-drink (RTD) product. Fleischauer says the final version doesn’t focus on revolutionary new ingredients, but rather on following a proven model with natural non-nutritive sweeteners.

“We wanted to keep it to the hits, and just make sure we’re doing everything in a natural way,” he said. And everyone involved can be confident that Sparklytes is a drink kids would actually finish and enjoy — because Joey has told them.

“It's exciting to see such a young client come through, because you get fresher ideas that way,” Fleischauer explained. “We got to see the atmosphere and the advertising around him that have brought him to this decision. It’s not every day that you get to see such a fresh perspective and someone who’s really enchanted by the process because they’re new to the whole thing. It really makes you feel good about what you’re doing."