The co-founder of BioSteel has re-entered the sports nutrition space with a new product being sold as a healthy alternative in a crowded market.

Cizzle Brands, which is overseen by founder and CEO John Celenza who also co-founded BioSteel Sports Nutrition, recently unveiled Cwench Hydration, a new sports drink that’s launching with major athlete partnerships already in place. NHL star Nathan MacKinnon, along with Olympic soccer player Adriana Leon and Canadian NBA player Andrew Wiggins are all promoting the new drink.

The goal in developing Cwench, Celenza says, was to create a healthy product that can boost performance. Cwench was developed in partnership with renowned strength coach Andy O’Brien, who’s worked with NHL teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers throughout a more than 20-year career, and has helped train MacKinnon for years. 

To further promote the drink, Celenza adds that Cizzle is also working with several top YouTube content creators who specialize in videos about hockey including Nasher, Pavel Barber and Pete Lenes.

“We’ve brought the creators along with the pro athletes this time around, that gets the hype going, social media outlets start getting all our messaging out there, obviously PR, and the kids start to think it’s cool. They want the next best thing,” Celenza tells strategy.

MacKinnon, who’s the odds-on favourite to win the NHL MVP award this year, was seen as an ideal fit to promote the drink due to his connection to O’Brien and because he’s known within the NHL for being meticuluous about what he eats and drinks. Meanwhile, Wiggins is one of the top Canadian players in the NBA today, while Leon is one of the faces of Canadian soccer after winning a gold medal with the team at the 2020 Olympics.

Celenza touts the new Cwench drink as having no sugar and all-natural ingredients. The goal behind marketing a “better-for-you” product, he says, is that when it catches on with kids and they ask their parents for it, parents will appreciate the healthy ingredients in the drink, which gives the product a better shot at being a pantry staple for families.

The new brand is the culmination of more than 15 years of experience for Celenza, which informs the strategy behind it. He says that much of the marketing team that worked in-house at BioSteel is now conducting the same work at Cizzle. Celenza himself left the company last year.

“We’re going to continue to evolve and stay best-in-class on products, and I believe that has longevity,” Celenza says. “You do something right over periods of time, people are going to catch on with that. I also know what it’s like from prior experience to have a product that’s consumed by pro athletes, and slowly get it to be a mass brand.”

To further promote Cwench, the brand is running events like the Next Gen Series of minor hockey, while also partnering with elite youth sports programs across Canada as well as in U.S states where where hockey is popular, like Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He adds that the brand is working with sporting facilities and figures initially to build a foundation for the drink, before reaching out to bigger retail chains once the product is more well-known.

The drink is available across the country in national retailers like SportChek, Source for Sports and Sports Excellence. It’s launched with four flavours: Blue Raspberry, Berry Crush, Rainbow Swirl and Cherry Lime.