BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
What do you feel nuun’s unique selling point is over other labels?
nuun was the world’s first ever electrolyte replacement tab, so we have been around the longest (over ten years) and are the world’s most used electrolyte tab. As we focus solely on hydration we out-perform on flavour profile and choice with 12 currently in the range.
I think there are still lots of people out there totally overwhelmed by nutritional sports products on the market. The simple message with nuun is that when you exercise you sweat and when you sweat you lose electrolytes.
This will affect your performance and fatigue levels (and in extreme cases can cause death) so it is advisable to drink something more than plain water.
However, lots of sports drinks have tons of calories and sugar in them. It is often the case that when you are hot and thirsty you drink more, but you don’t necessarily want more calories, just more fluids. nuun allows you to separate out hydration from energy needs, so you can go on a short ride and not ingest any calories with your drink, or go for a long ride and have a bar or a gel or stop for a burger (your choice!).
How do you compare to other labels in terms of value for money?
Our tablets are a functional product and one we believe works for a variety of athletes. nuun is not the cheapest product on the market, but we are chosen by millions of active users for a reason. We have the right levels of electrolytes and subtle refreshing flavours in a variety of refreshing flavours.
Which products are currently selling best?
Our top sellers are and have always been the classic fruit flavours – lemon and lime, tri berry, citrus fruits and orange. However, strawberry and lemonade are slowly closing rank.
Is your nutrition targeted at anyone in particular? (Others have recently developed age specific, men/women tailored nutrition – any plans to try the same?)
The beauty of nuun active hydration is that it is suitable for any gender, any level of athlete and any age, from young (my kids drink it) to old.
What point of sale material have you got available for retailers?
The ease of nuun is that eight tubes come in their own POS box. Many of our retailers dot them about the store and have a box on the counter. We also have racks (available at Madison) that hold four boxes of nuun on a shelf or a slat wall.
How do you plan to market Nuun this year?
nuun is a drink for active people. So, for us, our approach is always to get tabs into the hands of people out there doing what they love. We push single tabs out through both our online and bricks and mortar retailers for consumer trial, but also we support a bunch of people taking on active challenges for charity by hydrating them along the way. We also seek out bloggers to trial and review our product.
Will we see you at any events?
We attend a bunch of small events throughout the summer where we can interact with active people. Our next major show will be the Birmingham Cycle Show. Look out for the nuun-Sigma Sport London racing team (they just raced IG Smithfield Nocturne)
Any plans to go beyond dissolvable tablets in future?
That would be telling!
How do you go about developing a new recipe?
There’s a small and active team of riders and runners that help with that. We key off trend data, customer requests and flavours that we are in the mood for ourselves and that about sums it up.
How did you decide on cherry limeade and lemonade as flavour additions?
These were flashes of inspiration on a very long hot ride.
