Nick Kyrgios uses break from Australian Open to launch sugarless soft drink Alive

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has momentarily put down his racquet to embrace a new business venture as the owner of Australian-made ’no-sugar’ soft drink range Alive.

The soft drink, which was officially launched in September 2022 and has 1 billion live probiotics and prebiotics in every can, has started to hit shelves across the country after nearly two years of development, both in Australia and internationally. 

Alive is manufactured in Melbourne and has partnered with Melbourne-based multi-brand company Gen U Brands to launch the range.

The soft drink comes in eight different flavours: blood orange and passionfruit, ginger, lemonade, lemon-lime and bitters, orange, passionfruit, pink grapefruit and raspberry.

Kyrgios isn’t the first tennis star to step foot into the world of business, with other high-profile players also spending time off the court to start their own businesses, side hustles and startups.

Gen U Brands CEO Andrew Blew says he is excited to be working with Nick Kyrgios and the Alive team.

“We saw a fantastic gap in the market for a great tasting all-natural Australian-made soft drink with no sugar, low calories and science-backed gut health benefits. We have had a solid start as a business with Nick leading the charge and we have significant growth targets for 2023 and beyond,” he said.

“Nick has been involved from concept stage through to the current launch of Alive.”

Blew said Gen U is focused on innovative product concepts.

“We work across many large supermarket categories,” he said.

“Alive has been created as a separate brand platform to bring better-for-you drinks to market that taste great.

“The intent is to expand across multiple drink platforms, leveraging our combination of great taste and great-for-you ingredients.”

In the coming months, distribution is set to expand significantly in Australia and overseas. 

“We have had overseas markets reach out post recent activity, ranging from the UK through to the Middle East,” Blew confirmed to SmartCompany. 

Kyrgios says he is passionate about his latest business venture.

“My team and I are always looking for game-changing opportunities. Alive was put on my radar and I was excited about it. I met the founder who had a vision I wanted to be a part of. That’s how our partnership at Alive was born,” he said.

“I want to make a difference to people’s health with a product that tastes great and delivers.

“Obviously, as an athlete, I am always conscious about what goes into my body, and I now have a platform to influence the younger generations in a positive way regarding education around sugar. With Alive and everyone’s help, I believe we can make a big difference and change the world!

“I challenge everyone selling soft drinks to give people a choice to be healthier. We can all play our part to help change habits. Stock it and lead by example.”

Gen U Brands sales, marketing and innovation Lead Alli Bailey says she is starting to bring Alive to life.

“We formed a partnership with Village Roadshow which is really unique and has given us great initial exposure. We have also recently worked with the World Supercross and commence a two-year partnership with Australian Fashion Week starting in May this year,” she said.

Alive is available from independent retailers, Coles Express, independent P&C outlets, Kellys Distributors, online with Hits Different and is quickly expanding to all major retailers.