Functional beverages and beauty and wellness supplements have soared in popularity over the past few years.
Consumers worldwide now reach for products promising to help them sleep better, reduce stress, make their skin glow and pep up their energy levels in a more wholistic approach to looking good.
Supermarkets, department stores and pharmacy chains have all been major beneficiaries of the ongoing trend.
What could be more enticing than the offer to drink yourself to a brighter brain? New Zealand’s Arepa brand offers a range of nootropic products backed by neuroscience from functional drinks to supplements and powders claiming to enhance mental clarity and cognitive performance.
Founded by Australian Angus Brown in 2017, Arepa won the prestigious startup category in the third NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2020.
The brand is available online in New Zealand and in all the major supermarket chains, including Four Square, New World and Countdown.
Natural and plant-based and caffeine-free, Arepa’s hero product is Neuroberry, featuring native New Zealand blackcurrant and pinebark extracts.
The brand launched online in Australia last June – drinkarepa.com. In addition to Neuroberry, other products include Arepa Lite & Sparkling drink, Nootropic Capsules and Nootropic Powder.
Under the tagline – The World’s Smartest Drink – Arepa has a strong record in clinical studies. The brand’s chief science officer is Professor Andrew Scholey, the director of the Centre for Human Psychophamacology at Swinburne University in Melbourne.
Arepa has signed a deal with Coles and will be stocked in 200 of the supermarket chain’s locations around Australia.
By the end of 2020, the brand had sold more than one million units. On the back of the Coles deal, Arepa is looking to raise further funding of NZ$5 million to help fund overseas expansion, notably in the US.