It has been more than two weeks since Aaron Hinde, the co-founder of LIFEAID Beverage Company, and his family lost their home in Santa Cruz, California, to the wildfires. The experience still haunts them.
“There was a mountain of fire. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen,” Hinde recalled minutes before his own property was engulfed in the CZU Lightening Complex fire, which has reportedly destroyed more buildings in Santa Cruz County than the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Hinde was quick enough to evacuate his family and pets from their home once multiple spots of fire started inching towards them. Through thick smoke and burning soot, they managed to find a nearby hotel to stay temporarily before moving into a RV for several days.
When the fires finally calmed down in Bonny Doon, Hinde came back and took a nostalgic look around. He later posted several images on Instagram, including himself standing in a large woody debris, and a fully cooked deer that couldn’t escape.
“There’s nothing to come home to,” Hinde recently told me via Zoom. “It looks like the devil itself came through and cleaned up everything.”
Despite his own devastating situation, Hinde and the rest of LIFEAID Beverage team decided to launch a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to help support displaced people in the community by distributing essential supplies and resources.
The campaign quickly garnered over 100 donors, many of whom are also entrepreneurs and investors in the food and beverage industry, including ÈSSE Water’s co-founder Adam Leja, Olipop’s CEO Ben Goodwin, and Filipp Chebotarev, partner at Cambridge Companies SPG.
Hinde said: “Thanks to the enormous support from the industry, outside of our community, and social media, we are able to continue working with the local fire department, and supporting those who are poorly insured to get back on their feet as quickly as possible.”
While the rescue and rebuilding efforts take much longer than expected, Hinde notes how his personal entrepreneurial journey of building LIFEAID has helped him tremendously during the process.
“Entrepreneurs are people of action,” he said. “Instead of being paralyzed by fear, my team came together in such an amazing way… I am not a fire victim, but a fire survivor.”
Hinde has carried along the idea of helping people even before co-founding his functional beverage business with Orion Melehan nearly a decade ago, when he was a clinic director helping athletes recover from sports injuries and pain.
“Those patients I had during my old clinic days was really the first group of our consumers [at LIFEAID],” Hinde said. “We don’t have any external marketing because it’s all done by referral… It was an amazing experience of working with individuals one-on-one, and now our products can benefit the health of millions of people.”
He added how a strong customer relationship has also helped LIFEAID alleviate the financial pressure from COVID-19, which is increasingly driving CPG brands to sell online.
“It’s been challenging since gyms represent a significant portion of our revenue — about 35% overall,” Hinde noted.
“Although that channel was shut down overnight, [making] a lot of brands pull back and save on the expense side of P&L, we took a different approach by selling directly to gym members, and doing a $15 kickback per case to gym owners to keep their businesses afloat during this time.”
The LIFEAID team remains optimistic for the rest of 2020, as the company has recently expanded its international footprint through acquiring European distributor HPF Solutions. Hinde also believes obstacles, including the pandemic and wildfires, exist for a reason.
“I may not see it today, but 20 years from now, I’ll see why that was necessary to go through,” he said. “We are going to be better as a company, community, and nation.”
Original article as posted in Forbes | Sep. 5, 2020 at 5:26pm EDT Written by Douglas Yu | Cover image courtesy of MEDIANEWS GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES It has been more than two weeks since Aaron Hinde, the co-founder of LIFEAID Beverage Company, and his family lost their home in Santa Cruz, California, to the wildfires. The experience still haunts them. […]
Sunshine has a bigger impact on health than most would think. Simply going outside and getting some sunshine can boost your mood, energy levels, and immune function. This connection between sunlight and health sheds some light our synergistic relationship with nature.
While there is concern over potential damage to the skin and the adverse effects of ultraviolet radiation, moderate sun exposure is still recommended. The benefits of moderate sun exposure go beyond the skin- they affect the entire organism.
Here are the top three reasons to go into nature and enjoy the sunshine:
1). Vitamin D
Vitamin D synthesis is perhaps the most well-known benefit of sunlight. Our skin naturally makes vitamin D in response to light stimuli and going into the daylight will promote it. It is a powerful antioxidant that boosts mood, energy levels, bone density, and immune function.
It is possible that going into the sunlight will not promote sufficient vitamin D and need to supplement. Ongoing research on this vitamin suggests that it has a unique role in preventing upper respiratory infections and certain types of cancer. Since vitamin D deficiency is common, it is recommended to supplement it if you spend most of the day indoors.
2). Circadian Regulation
The light stimulation from the sun helps regulate the circadian rhythm- a daily rhythm of hormone oscillations that follow roughly a 24-hour cycle. Melatonin is perhaps the most well-known hormone that follows this pattern. The circadian rhythm is key to getting good sleep at night and being productive during the day.
Light stimuli from the sun regulate our internal biological clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) which in turn influences many homeostatic functions in the body- like body temperature. Waking-up to the morning sunlight will help ensure that you are alert during the day and sleepy at night.
3). Biodiversity
Apart from sunlight, spending time outdoors is good for stimulating our immune system and gaining biodiversity in our microbial populations. The outdoors (the wind, the earth, the plants) is full of different types of antigens to which our immune system responds and adapts to. By going out and increasing our exposure, we are strengthening our immune function.
Microbial populations in our bodies become more diverse when we interact with nature. This is beneficial because a diverse microbial population in the body helps us better respond to our environment and synchronize with it. Microbes, especially those in our gut, have been found to play countless roles in our health- from digestion to even our behavior. So go out and enjoy nature!
—Content and images courtesy of Santa Cruz Core (All rights reserved)
> > > Live well.
Original article by Santa Cruz CORE | April 3, 2019 Sunshine has a bigger impact on health than most would think. Simply going outside and getting some sunshine can boost your mood, energy levels, and immune function. This connection between sunlight and health sheds some light our synergistic relationship with nature. While there is concern over potential damage […]
When you’re working out, having the right playlist changes everything, especially if you have the perfect headphones! Working out with music is a great source for motivation and has been shown to boost performance. Read on to see the benefits of listening to music while exercising, how the right headphones make an impact and which songs to add to your workout playlist to get the beats going and your heart pumping.
THE BENEFITS OF LISTENING TO MUSIC WHILE WORKING OUT
Whether you’re just getting in to the workout world or are a pro athlete, adding music to your exercise regimen can be extremely beneficial, from finding motivation and pushing through difficult exercises to getting you in the zone and helping you keep pace. Music helps provide a distraction from pain or difficulty while working out and can help make the experience more fun. Working out to music can boost your performance, and depending on the activity, the best exercise music is between 120-140 BPM. The main benefits of using a playlist for working out are:
Creates a good kind of distraction
Increases your effort
Puts you “in the zone”
Provides a good beat to keep pace
Elevates your mood
Makes you want to move
FINDING THE RIGHT WORKOUT HEADPHONES
When it comes to your workout, nothing should get in your way. It’s important to find the right headphones for working out that fit your needs. Comfort and functions are main priorities, and of course it doesn’t hurt to have some style thrown in there as well. From wireless headphones that offer rich sound and comfort to true wireless earbuds that keep your gym bag light and allow you to focus on both your music and surroundings, there are plenty of options available.
WIRELESS HEADPHONES
With an adjustable headband, premium sound, and sweatproof construction, the right wireless sport headphones should do the audio heavy lifting when you’re lifting at the gym. Find a pair or workout headphones that stay put even when you’re hitting the gym hard. When you’re working out, you don’t want to worry about an uncomfortable fit or headphones falling off, so look for an adjustable head strap and memory foam ear cushions.
It’s important to find workout earbuds designed to stay in place during even your most rigorous training sessions. When buying wireless workout earbuds, look for a sweatproof and water-resistant design that doesn’t get in your way. Wireless earbuds are compact and stylish options that have the added security of a neck cord. This design is perfect for runners or anyone on the go and are designed to hear your workout playlist with clarity while being aware of other surroundings.
Don’t let cords hold you back. True wireless earbuds are designed to deliver a freeing and reliable listening experience in and outside the gym. This style is the most compact design with no cords, so invest in earbuds that are equipped with soft, flexible yet super-secure earloops in an ultra-lightweight design that will stay put during your toughest workouts. Bonus points if they are sweat-proof and waterproof to add that extra durability needed in workout earbuds.
Electricity – Silk City, Dua Lipa, Diplo, Mark Ronson
Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees
Imma Be – The Black Eyed Peas
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
Headstrong – Trapt
The Middle – Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey
Working out can be made more enjoyable and effective with the right workout playlist and some high-quality sports headphones. Use the playlist above as a baseline to create your best workout playlist and get that BPM going – for both your heart and your music. Not only will you have more fun, but you’ll see your performance improve as well!
Original blog post by Poly | January 6, 2020 When you’re working out, having the right playlist changes everything, especially if you have the perfect headphones! Working out with music is a great source for motivation and has been shown to boost performance. Read on to see the benefits of listening to music while exercising, how the right […]
Tucked away in the back of the old Santa Cruz Wrigley’s factory is a warehouse manufacturing the recovery fuel for CrossFitters.
Forty thousand free cans of FITAID were handed out at the 2019 CrossFit Games — a far cry from the humble beginnings of LIFEAID Beverage Co ten years ago.
Where it all began
“Orion and I met in a CrossFit gym back in 2009 in Santa Cruz and we had this crazy idea and launched LIFEAID in 2011,” said Aaron Hinde, co-founder of the company.
Aaron invited the Morning Chalk Up to the company’s headquarters which supplies LIFEAID products to around 30 percent of CrossFit boxes in America.
“In this warehouse that we’re in now we used to have a little tiny cage that held two pallets of product and that was it. It took us six months to sell through it, one can at a time slowly,” he said.
The company now employs 75 people full time, it’s growth a byproduct of two key factors according to the co-founder.
“The product but also the people and the relationships that we forged early on and nurtured, we still have those relationships nine years later.”
Aaron describes this as the “OG” – or “original gangster” parts of the community – that continue to propel the company forward.
What’s new
LIFEAID’s evolving and has just started stocking each of their unique flavours in a monk fruit, stevia blend.
“We’re launching all of our entire line in the zero sugar format with no artificial sweeteners,” Aaron said.
This includes:
FITAID; probably the brand’s most recognisable “black” line.
PARTYAID; born out of the boys' experience at the Burning Man Festival.
GOLFERAID; believe it or not, this was the “OG” flavour. “When we had free time we used to golf, but that doesn’t really happen anymore,” Aaron laughed.
FOCUSAID; the “healthy, energy drink replacement.”
LIFEAID; all about “anti-inflammatory.” Aaron said, “It came out of the need for a daily drinker.”
What’s next
Aaron and Orion practice what they preach, concluding the tour with a personalised workout – “The Aussie” – in the team’s office gym set up like a mini, in-house affiliate.
Don’t ask me why a huffy, puffy 15-minute EMOM (5 wallballs, 5 pull-ups, 1 rope climb) reflects my Australian heritage, but let’s just say we earned our ice-cold FITAID which is always on tap at HQ.
“People feel comfortable cutting loose and know that we’re going to take good care of them,” Aaron said.
That’s certainly the case both in the U.S. and abroad. For example in Australia, LIFEAID Beverage Co is now stocked in approximately 70 percent of gyms.
For the company, now a major sponsor of the CrossFit Games, global engagement was the big takeaway from Madison, 2019.
Having naming rights to the ‘FITAID Lounge’ (formerly known as the Beer Garden) the company hosted the ‘One Ton Challenge’ drawing fitness personalities – names like CT Fletcher and Wes Kitts – who’d otherwise be unlikely to attend the Games.
“It was great to get a lot of international exposure it was fun to see all the different cultures there,” Aaron said.
“CrossFit is still alive and well with all the changes there was a little apprehension in the air, we weren’t really sure how it was going to shake out. At the end of the day the best athletes always rise to the top.”
“CrossFit, functional fitness, what we do, how we train, it’s going to be here I think forever, you can’t really go backwards,” Hinde said.
> > > Live well.
Morning Chalk Up | Aug. 11, 2019 | By BRITTNEY KLEYN Tucked away in the back of the old Santa Cruz Wrigley’s factory is a warehouse manufacturing the recovery fuel for CrossFitters. Forty thousand free cans of FITAID were handed out at the 2019 CrossFit Games — a far cry from the humble beginnings of LIFEAID […]
The LIFEAID Beverage Co. staff took to the streets and beaches of their local community in Santa Cruz, California, this past Friday, April 19, in honor of Earth Day. With trash bags and grabbers in hand, the crew walked the 3-mile loop to the beach area from their office headquarters in the Old Wrigley building off Mission Street. Employees brought family members & friends to help take part in the clean-up efforts which lasted from 4-6:30 p.m., providing some good clean (albeit dirty) fun for all.
"It's important that we all do our part every day to help give back and protect Mother Earth from the litter and trash that all-too-often lines our streets and park trails," said one team member.
At LIFEAID, we like to live by the rule "Pack it in, pack it out," and we encourage others to do the same. This Earth Day, we hope you find your own fun way to support local eco-systems and make the world a cleaner place for future generations.
HAPPY EARTH DAY! —Your Team at LIFEAID
Co-founders Orion Melehan & Aaron Hinde led the charge for LIFEAID Beach Clean-Up Day.
The LIFEAID Beverage Co. staff took to the streets and beaches of their local community in Santa Cruz, California, this past Friday, April 19, in honor of Earth Day. With trash bags and grabbers in hand, the crew walked the 3-mile loop to the beach area from their office headquarters in the Old Wrigley building […]
Functional drink line expands into retailers nationally while preparing for new product launches.
March 29, 2019 – Santa Cruz, CA – High-growth functional beverage brand LIFEAID, which produces premium vitamin drinks, recently closed a $7.7 million financing round to support the brand’s expanding distribution in retailers across the U.S. The round includes investments totaling $4.7 million from Everplus Capital,Cambridge Companies SPG and a half-dozen angel investors, in addition to a $3 million asset-backed line of credit with Dwight Funding.
LIFEAID Beverage Co. produces a line of nutrition-focused drinks for consumers with active, performance-driven lifestyles. The current LIFEAID lineup features six functional drinks, each with a unique proposition and dedicated consumer. In 2019, LIFEAID will expand its presence in Walmart and Kroger stores along with additional retailers nationwide. FitAid, the brand’s pioneering post-workout recovery drink, is a favorite of fitness devotees and professional athletes. ImmunityAid became a top-selling product for the brand just six months after being launched at the start of last fall’s cold and flu season, demonstrating the increasingly broad appeal of LIFEAID.
In addition to increasing the presence of its drinks in prominent retailers, including a new authorization with Wegman’s, LIFEAID Beverage Co. has also fully established its direct store delivery (DSD) network in the Pacific Northwest. New partners in the region include The Odom Corporation, Sound Beverage Distribution Inc., Craig Stein Beverage and NW Beverages. In Northern California, LIFEAID finalized a similar agreement with distributor DBI Beverage. The brand is starting to build a similar DSD network in the Northeast and is also increasing its presence in convenience stores like Giant.
LIFEAID CEO Orion Melehan stated, “Strategic investors and working capital financing are more important now as we continue to build the LIFEAID brand and platform of customized vitamin drinks — vitamins you’ll actually enjoy drinking. Our goal for 2019 is to emphasize product innovation and smartly capitalize on growth opportunities with partners that understand our vision, mission and the brand’s deep connection with its consumers.”
“We’re proud of the caliber of our latest investors, and appreciate the follow-on investments from some of our earlier ones who believed in LIFEAID Beverage Co.’s tremendous potential early on,” Melehan continued. “In addition to our equity financing, our new relationship with Dwight Funding gives us the flexibility to strategically invest in growth without additional constraints on working capital, given our growing inventory and accounts receivable.”
Joe Yu, principal of Everplus F&B Fund stated, “LIFEAID has shown an incredible and rare ability to continually capture the attention of a dedicated and rapidly growing audience of wellness enthusiasts. The functional beverage category is growing and we think LIFEAID will be an increasingly dominant player in that category. We are confident in the ability of LIFEAID’s forward-thinking and highly strategic leadership to achieve their goals, and we are very excited to be an investor in the company."
Dwight Funding managing partner Ben Brachot similarly commented, “LIFEAID is a leader in the wellness and performance space. We are excited to be working with a brand that has such a strong bond with its customers. The brand’s growth is built on a strong foundation that has set them up to become a household brand name.”
About LIFEAID
LIFEAID Beverage Co. was founded by Orion Melehan and Dr. Aaron Hinde in 2011 and is a pioneer in functional beverage. The brand offers nutrition-focused products including top-selling natural energy drink FitAid, as well as LifeAid, FocusAid, ImmunityAid, PartyAid and GolferAid. Visit www.lifeaidbevco.com.
About the Financial Round Partners
Everplus Capital, located in Newport Beach, California, manages a consumer-oriented fund focused on better-for-you food and beverage brands. Visit www.everplus-cap.com.
Cambridge Companies SPG is a highly respected strategic opportunity investment firm based in Newport Beach, California. Cambridge SPG turns opportunities into value by buying controlling and non-controlling interest in companies poised for growth. The firm focuses on retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG) as well as food & beverage. LIFEAID Beverage Co. is the firm’s 25th investment in the CPG space. Visitwww.cambridgespg.com.
Dwight Funding provides debt solutions uniquely tailored to the needs of growing consumer brands. With a nationwide presence, Dwight has deep ties to the CPG community and is able to provide its portfolio companies with strategic advice and solutions throughout the brand lifecycle. Visit www.dwightfunding.com.
A big thanks to Brad Avery of BevNET.com, Inc.for helping us share the news with the #beverage and #CPG financial community.
@BevNet.com | Press Release Functional drink line expands into retailers nationally while preparing for new product launches. March 29, 2019 – Santa Cruz, CA – High-growth functional beverage brand LIFEAID, which produces premium vitamin drinks, recently closed a $7.7 million financing round to support the brand’s expanding distribution in retailers across the U.S. The round […]
In a time when food is viewed as medicine, the LIFEAID Beverage Company is capitalizing on the expanding interest in better-for-you functional drinks through rapid innovation.
At BevNET Live Summer 2019 on June 12 and 13 in New York City, we’ll sit down with the company’s co-founders, Aaron Hinde and Orion Melehan, to explore how the company is using its deep roots in Crossfit culture to experiment with and expand its product set.
Since we last spoke to LIFEAID at BevNET Live in 2016, the company entered traditional brick-and-mortar retail, raised capital, released a number of new products and now has its sights set on c-store and mainstream retailers. In 2018 alone the company reported a 169 percent increase in sales and is aiming to triple its retail presence to at least 18,000 doors this year, including Walmart, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Sprouts stores.
Behind LIFEAID, FITAID, FOCUSAID, PARTYAID, GOLFERAID, and most recently IMMUNITYAID, the company continues to develop products aimed at niche target demographics and specific use cases. This talk will give BevNET Live attendees insight into how they use subcultures like Crossfit to activate their user groups.
Along with all star speakers like Melehan, Hinde, and others, attendees will also take part in networking and sampling opportunities, as well as offerings like the Beverage School startup session on June 11, and the New Beverage Showdown pitch competition.
Early registration savings are coming to an end! The early registration deadline is next month on Friday, April 26th. Register now to save $200 per ticket.
Additional information can be found on the BevNET Live Summer 2019 website. Questions about the conference can be directed to Jon Landis.
About BevNET Live
BevNET Live Summer 2019 will return to the Metropolitan West in New York, NY on June 12 and 13. A Beverage School for industry newcomers will also be held on Tuesday, June 11 at no additional cost.
BevNET Live is the premiere event for beverage brands, distributors, service providers, retailers and investors to discuss what’s next for the industry. With the industry’s foremost speakers and our New Beverage Showdown, BevNET Live attracts hundreds of brands to each event.
Source: BevNET.com | Mar. 25, 2019 In a time when food is viewed as medicine, the LIFEAID Beverage Company is capitalizing on the expanding interest in better-for-you functional drinks through rapid innovation. At BevNET Live Summer 2019 on June 12 and 13 in New York City, we’ll sit down with the company’s co-founders, Aaron Hinde and Orion Melehan, […]
SANTA CRUZ — Local beverage company meets consumer needs.
LIFEAID Beverage Co. was founded in 2011 in Santa Cruz, California, by two Santa Cruz natives. Co-founders Aaron Hinde and Orion Melehan met at a CrossFit gym in 2009 and bonded over their shared frustration with the limited healthy, functional food and drink options for exercise and recovery.
A statistic in Healthline Media states that, according to the American Heart Association, men should not consume more than 37.5 grams of sugar per day, and women should not consume more than 25 grams per day. For comparison's sake, a 12-ounce can of Red Bull has 39 grams of sugar while a 12-ounce can of LifeAid has only 9 grams and uses all natural ingredients.
.
According to Hinde, 70 percent of people now look at a label before they consume something (people care about what they put in their bodies now more than ever). When the company started, that simply wasn’t the norm.
“Instead of having a one-size-fits-all approach with 20 different flavor profiles, we did the exact opposite — we created just six unique blends to support different lifestyles, providing targeted nutrition within our market,” Hinde said.
If you're new to LIFEAID, the six different blends include:
While ImmunityAid is the company's newest blend, Melehan said he expects it to be their number two or three best-selling drink. Today, FitAid and FocusAid currently rank first and second, according to a company spokesperson.
A Santa Cruz staple, LIFEAID has 67 employees nationwide with more than 30 of those working locally at the Santa Cruz headquarters located on Mission Street. The company sells drinks in 22 different countries.
“We want to really stand true to what Santa Cruz is all about and create clean, functional products for active lifestyles ...With our clean, nutritional blends, we can really have a positive effect on people’s health.” —Aaron Hinde
The Future of LIFEAID
LIFAID is sold at gyms, CrossFit events, natural food & specialty stores, drug & grocery stores, and is branching out to convenience stores. The brand is on its way to selling in all Nob Hill Foods, 11 of 13 Safeway divisions nationwide and approximately 4,300 Walmarts with a grocery component. The co-founders want to expand headcount, dip their toes into convenience store sales and transition from wholesale distribution to direct-store distribution.
The company has a number of goals for 2019. In terms of revenue, the company is growing more than 50 percent per year, on average. Melehan expects an average of 2.5 million cans sold per month this year, up from last year’s 1.75 million sold per month. In the next five years, the company aspires to reach $200 million in sales. While LIFEAID sales were 100 percent e-commerce a few years ago, according to Hinde, 2019 will be the first year that brick-and-mortar exceeds online sales.
LIFEAID currently has seven warehouses nationwide to help handle this growth ...
> > > Above excerpts taken from original article published on Feb. 17, 2019 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. You can read the full article by intern Elaine Ingalls at SantaCruzSentinel.com.
For more information about LIFEAID Bevereage Co. and the healthy products they sell, please visit LIFEAIDBevCo.com or call 888-558-1113.
SANTA CRUZ — Local beverage company meets consumer needs. LIFEAID Beverage Co. was founded in 2011 in Santa Cruz, California, by two Santa Cruz natives. Co-founders Aaron Hinde and Orion Melehan met at a CrossFit gym in 2009 and bonded over their shared frustration with the limited healthy, functional food and drink options for exercise and […]
LIFEAID Beverage Co.
Develops and sells nutritional sports and energy drinks. It's PartyAid is popular at Burning Man.
2016 INC. 5000 RANK: #396
3-Year Growth: 966%
2015 Revenue: $4.4 M
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Industry: Food & Beverage
Launched: 2011
INC. 5000 HONORS
#24 - Top Food & Beverage companies
ON THE WEB
Web site: lifeaidbevco.com
LIFEAID Beverage Co. Develops and sells nutritional sports and energy drinks. It’s PartyAid is popular at Burning Man. 2016 INC. 5000 RANK: #396 3-Year Growth: 966% 2015 Revenue: $4.4 M Location: Santa Cruz, CA Industry: Food & Beverage Launched: 2011 INC. 5000 HONORS #24 – Top Food & Beverage companies ON THE WEB Web site: lifeaidbevco.com