Hockey Dads Working to Hydrate Athletes, Minus the Calories

At their cores, Edina resident John Montague and longtime friend Jesse Parker are a couple of hockey dads looking to keep local athletes healthy.

The pair of entrepreneurs were frustrated by the relative lack of healthy sports drinks at Twin Cities grocery stores and decided to look into creating their own. Montague said they were sick of giving their kids beverages packed with high fructose corn syrup, salt, artificial colors and flavors and preservatives.

Montague said he and Parker—both former technology executives—were driven to solve the problem, particularly after being exposed to several studies linking childhood obesity to the increased consumption of sports drinks.

"We started researching various ingredients and formulations to determine how better drinks could be developed and manufactured," Montague said.

Their research included focus groups and taste tests with area elementary, middle and high school students. They finally landed on three sports drinks—Fire, Ice and Storm—which went on sale at area grocery stores just last week. 

Aspire Beverage Company sports drinks are being sold at all Lunds, Byerly's and Kowalski's stores throughout the Twin Cities, with Montague reporting sales during the first week have been "brisk."

"We are significantly exceeding our projects," he said. "In addition to grocery and convenience stores, we are also focusing on schools and sports associations."

Montague argues the drinks are superior to the leading brands of sports drinks in both taste and health benefits, largely because he and Parker "resisted the status quo."

"Time and money could have been saved at every step of our development process but we constantly did what’s right rather than what was easier and cheaper," he said.

The duo are taking part in a number of "Meet the Maker" events at local stores, including free samples and giveaways for customers.

Those dates are as follows:

• Saturday, May 18: Lunds Navarre, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Sunday, May 19: Kowalskis Eden Prairie, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Monday, May 20: White Bear Lake Kowalski’s, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 21: Byerly’s Chanhassen, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 22: Byerly’s St. Paul, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Friday, May 24: Lunds Plymouth, 2:30-6:30pm
• Saturday, May 25: Byerlys Burnsville, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Kowalski’s Grand Avenue, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 28:  Byerly’s Edina, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 29: Lund’s Minnetonka, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Thursday, May 30: Kowalski’s Woodbury, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
• Friday, May 31: Lunds Wayzata, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 01: Kowalski’s Woodbury, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Sunday, June 02: Byerly’s St. Paul, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Friday, June 07: Lunds Edina, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 08: Lunds Plymouth, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, June 09: Lunds Hennepin, 12-4 p.m.
• Saturday, June 15: Lunds Wayzata, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Saturday, June 22: Lunds Edina, 2:30-6:30 p.m.

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