Dive Brief:
- Liquid Death is expanding its product lineup and entering a new category with the introduction of Death Dust — an electrolyte drink mix available in three flavors: Severed Lime, Mango Chainsaw and Convicted Melon.
- The packets, called Death Dust, each have 35 Calories, five essential vitamins, 300 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 40 milligrams of magnesium. They are lightly sweetened with cane sugar and dextrose.
- The launch marks Liquid Death’s latest step into building out its healthy beverage platform and follows the release of its iced tea line last March. Water is a $25 billion category, but there are more than 30 million “active consumers” who are not purchasing enhanced water, according to PepsiCo, citing IRI data.
Dive Insight:
Once known just for its water and eye-catching name, Liquid Death is moving aggressively to expand its presence in the beverage space.
After launching in 2019, Liquid Death is in 113,000 doors, up from 77,000 at the beginning of 2023, according to the company. It has achieved triple-digit growth for three consecutive years, becoming the fastest-growing brand in the water and tea categories. Liquid Death is reportedly posting annual sales well over $100 million.
If Liquid Death, known for its tagline of “Murder your thirst,” aims for further growth and considers going public, it will need help from new products such as an electrolyte drink mix.
The new offering plays into consumer interest in products with attributes that are important to them, including low calories and the addition of vitamins and minerals. Consumers who exercise could turn to Death Dust and their mischievous flavor names to help them recover, further broadening Liquid Death’s user base. In addition, the portability of the packets could be attractive to consumers who are on the go.
“As a healthy beverage brand, we are always looking at better-for-you product categories,” Mike Cessario, Liquid Death’s co-founder and CEO, told Food Dive in an email. “Healthy brands largely only market to health nuts. But our mission is to make healthy products for a much wider audience that is typically only targeted by beer, candy, and junk food brands.”
Still, Death Dust enters a crowded space where larger, multi-billion beverage manufacturers already have a presence.
PepsiCo’s Gatorade is launching its first-ever water with an electrolyte-infused beverage. Unilever’s Liquid I.V. also has powdered electrolyte drink mixes. Keurig Dr Pepper announced last fall that it will sell and distribute Electrolit. And last summer, Coca-Cola’s BodyArmor announced it was entering the rapid rehydration beverage category with BodyArmor Flash I.V., the brand’s first major product offering in two years.
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