How Cizzle Doubled Revenues in Two Years Via Sports Drink Marketing and Contract Manufacturing

Small business takeaway:

• Cizzle Brands, a sports nutrition products company, more than doubled revenue in two years by pairing health-geared beverages and snacks with a disciplined growth strategy. Three lessons stand out for companies large and small: vertical integration can turn supply-chain control into revenue; brand positioning works best when tied to real consumer behavior; and strategic partnerships can convert niche credibility into mainstream retail opportunity.

Sports nutrition products company Cizzle Brands has grown rapidly in just its first two years in business with a combination of strategic acquisitions, new product lines, and a series of relevant sponsorships and tie-ins.

The company’s flagship Cwench Hydration product line, which John Celenza, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, launched in 2024, has recently rolled out into more than 100 Target locations. The rollout followed Cizzle Brands’ acquisition of its co-manufacturing partner, which it renamed the Cwench Hydration Factory, taking its manufacturing in-house. Since then, Cizzle has more than doubled its revenues and its gross profits.

Celenza had previously co-founded another sports beverage company, BioSteel, which he launched in 2009 and sold in 2019.

“The [hydration] science has definitely evolved since 2009, and I felt as though there was definitely still a gap in the market when it came to a better-for-you option [designed to support] hydration,” Celenza said in an interview with CO—.

The U.S. sports nutrition market totaled $18.28 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow from $19.6 billion in 2026 to $27.76 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 7.21%, according to a report from Mordor Intelligence.

Driving growth in a sports nutrition market attracting a new breed of consumers 

“While athletes and bodybuilders remain core consumers, the market has expanded significantly to include recreational users, weekend warriors, and lifestyle enthusiasts, driven by increased health awareness and rising disposable income,” the report concluded.

Celenza agreed that consumers are increasingly investing in healthy lifestyles as they learn the benefits of being active and are making food and beverage choices that support their physical activities.

“People are just spending more of their disposable income on either their own health and wellness or that of their families,” he said. “The more educated consumers become, the better it is for us.”

The Cwench Hydration line, available directly through the company’s website and in fitness centers and other retail venues across the United States and Canada, includes several flavors of sports drinks.

In addition to the beverages, Cizzle Brands also makes powdered hydration mixes, nutritional supplements, a line of pasta products designed for athletes, and high-protein, high-fiber snack foods.

Cizzle’s in-house production edge: growing by controlling the supply chain for its own brands and as a co-manufacturer for other brands, too

Celenza said taking manufacturing in-house gives the company more complete control of the production process and provides a key source of revenues through the manufacturing of other brands’ product lines, too. In the company’s first full quarter operating the Cwench Hydration Factory, contract manufacturing contributed $9.3 million in revenues, or more than three-fourths of the company’s total revenues for the quarter.

“We were able to build our last business up to more than $100 million in sales, and one of the great learnings from that is if you can control your own supply chain, it leaves you in a much better position,” he said. “It’s also a big win with retailers, because they know you will be able to grow with them.”

Manufacturing the beverages in-house also offers another growth opportunity for Cwench: the limited capacity of co-manufacturing facilities that can produce beverages in the Tetra Pak carton packaging it uses rather than traditional plastic bottles. 

Expanding into better-for-you snack foods

Earlier this year, Cizzle Brands also launched SnakStars Sports Bites, a high-protein, high-fiber product that the company bills as an alternative to traditional granola bars. The nut-free formulations, available in Frosted Vanilla and Apple Cinnamon flavors, seek to appeal to active kids and their parents seeking healthy snack foods. That launch followed the debut last September of the company’s first food product line, HappiEats Sports Pasta, made from a high-protein, high-fiber blend of red lentil, white quinoa, and white bean flour, tapping into the “protein-maxxing” and “fiber-maxxing” food trends. 

In addition to the food and beverage lines, Cizzle also has a line of sports nutrition supplements under the Spoken Nutrition brand.

[Read more: How CPG Disruptors Are Leaning Into the Protein-Fortified Food Trend to Unlock Growth]

Partnering with sports groups like the National Hockey League and USA Lacrosse to reach that young, ‘premium’ consumer 

The snacks and sports drinks also have marketing synergies, as both product lines appeal to what Celenza describes as Cizzle’s “youth grassroots programs,” through which the company has formed partnerships and sponsorships with sports groups including USA Hockey and USA Lacrosse, as well as several state-level sports organizations. Cwench has also launched product tie-ins with young athletes, including the recent Draft Day Blue sports drink promotion to celebrate the National Hockey League’s first-round draft pick, Gavin McKenna.

“We’ve really targeted certain sports that we think speak to that premium consumer, and we’re using those platforms to help drive trial and educate consumers,” Celenza said.

He said he recognized there was an opportunity to offer more healthful snacks and beverages at youth athletic events as an alternative to the fast food or vending machine fare that families typically encounter at these venues.

“Being able to provide people with better-for-you options that can keep consumers and their families hydrated and consuming healthy products—that’s really the niche that we’ve identified,” said Celenza.

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