Brian Pitzer, CEO of Vitality Distributing, was on hand at the Memorial Tournament last week to hand out samples of his Avitae energy water.After a taste, responses varied from “This is good,” to a droll “This tastes like water.”
To the Ohio State University alumnus, the latter comment is the best.
“When people say, ‘It tastes like water,’ that’s the biggest compliment,” he said.
Pitzer’s company, located at the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center, has been a work in progress for nearly three years, but now, Avitae energy water is hitting the shelves at Kroger stores across central Ohio.
Pitzer said he began putting caffeine tablets in Gatorade in college. When the weight started piling on, Pitzer opted to reduce his calories by adding caffeine tablets to water.
The business began when Pitzer thought water that carries as much caffeine as a diet soda might appeal to others.
“Rather than diet sodas with a lot of junk in them, I thought people might want water,” he said.
The Avitae venture got serious about a year and a half ago when Pitzer decided to set up shop in Dublin.
“I really like the mindset in Dublin. There’s kind of a young mindset,” he said. “It’s a nice combination of forward thinking and an entrepreneurial town.”
Pitzer has focused recently on getting the word out about Avitae through samples at events such as the Memorial Tournament.
“We’re at all kinds of places: Red, White and Boom, the parade of homes,” he said. “One of the things we really want to do instead of spending money on TV, we want it to be experiential.”
Experiences with the water have been positive so far, Pitzer said.
Avitae is currently going into Kroger stores, and Pitzer is hoping the product will take the country by storm by the end of the year.
“It’s been well embraced. There are really no ingredients in it. I didn’t try to fortify it, I just wanted water,” he said.
With no other ingredients besides water and natural caffeine, Pitzer said anyone can reap the benefits.
“There are so many positives to caffeine and this has no artificial sugars, flavors or sweeteners,” he said. “People who in the past couldn’t drink soda because of their health can drink this.”
But when it comes to Avitae, Pitzer doesn’t consider himself to be an inventor.
“Marketing is my passion. I like thinking of ways to get people what they want,” he said. “I just saw an opportunity that was going unfilled.”
Starting the company also made him recognize his weaknesses and appreciate the help of others.
“I’ve got a great team,” he said. “The CEO of Wendy’s is on my board. There are so many people I couldn’t have gotten here without.”
