Hytropics is a sparkling electrolytes drink developed by commercial pilots Anna Malsam and Dave Saunders. It’s designed to provide relief from fatigue and brain fog, but without the sugar and artificial ingredients that often feature prominently in energy drinks.
It came into being because Malsam and Saunders had failed to find an energy drink that kept them satisfactorily hydrated and sharp while flying. “We’re positioning the product as a category-creating brand, sitting at the intersection of energy drinks, sports hydration and functional beverages,” Malsam says.
“Many conventional energy and vitamin drinks rely heavily on sugar, caffeine or artificial sweeteners and only deliver a temporary energy boost, whereas Hytropics’ pro-sodium formula delivers effective mineral support without the slump.”
The founders, who are partners in life as well as business, met while flying for Norwegian Air and both had experienced bouts of fatigue brought on by a combination of long hours in a pressurised cabin, irregular shifts and the demands of a busy working environment.
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Malsam has always had an interest in nutrition and supplementation, and to help combat the flying fatigue, the couple began adding electrolytes and other supplements to their diet.
They also started putting pink Himalayan sea salt in their drinking water and noticed a real improvement in their energy levels at the end of a long flight. “This ultimately led to us creating Hytropics, and our goal is simply to help people feel better with more energy,” Malsam says.
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As rookies in the food and beverages sector, the founders had to bring in outside expertise to help them develop the product. However, Malsam had very clear ideas about what the drink should contain and rejected some of the advice given about adding certain ingredients in order to drive sales. Instead, she relied on her nutritional knowledge as well as her background in health (she originally trained as a nurse) to inform Hytropics’ final formulation.
“Hytropics stands apart from conventional energy and vitamin drinks in several ways,” Malsam says. “Unlike many products on the market that contain only trace amounts of active ingredients, Hytropics delivers meaningful doses of electrolytes, B vitamins and ginseng for balanced energy and better focus. The formula supports hydration, reduces fatigue and improves mental clarity – benefits that typical energy drinks, which overpromise and underdeliver, fail to provide.
“Hytropics is completely ‘clean’ with zero sugar, zero calories and zero artificial ingredients. Our fruit flavours are made from real fruit, so they taste intense. It was a real challenge to achieve this as it’s very hard to find flavourings that don’t taste synthetic.”
Hytropics is Irish-made and comes in a can in a choice of three flavours. It was launched in May this year and is priced at a similar level to other energy drinks on the market. At the moment, Hytropics is mostly available in Dublin across a mix of supermarkets and independent retailers.
“The decision to outsource the production was an obvious one,” Saunders says. “We didn’t have the money to set up our own facility and have it certified for food production. But we found a really good producer who has worked with us to realise our vision.”
Malsam is originally from Germany and is a trained rescue scuba diver who learned to fly to overcome the fear she had experienced as a passenger in a small aircraft. Saunders left school at 16 for an apprenticeship in spray painting and tried his hand at delivery driving and sales before borrowing money from his local credit union to make his dream of becoming a pilot come true.
Both founders have given up flying for now to concentrate fully on the business and have given themselves two years to get it up and running successfully. They currently have one staff member, but otherwise are doing everything themselves, and 16-hour days are the norm, while weekends are spent at events and tastings.
“There is so much to do that we couldn’t be half committed. It needed a full commitment from both of us, not least because flying is also so demanding in its own right,” Saunders says. “I was involved in a start-up before [to do with sleep, as he found the disruption of his circadian rhythms due to irregular flying hours difficult to cope with], but I didn’t execute the idea well and it didn’t go the distance. So I’m very aware of how much effort you need to put in to get a new business off the ground.”
Saunders says they also realised early on that being open to pivots is crucial if something isn’t working as expected. In their case, it was the decision to switch from pursuing contracts with big distributors/chains to approaching retailers individually in order to get product on the shelves faster and start generating revenue.
The founders have invested roughly €80,000 in the business so far, between savings, a loan and support from Dublin city local enterprise office, while Malsam is currently on the New Frontiers programme at TU Tallaght, which comes with a small stipend. Enterprise Ireland has provided an innovation voucher to fund more product development, and the next step is a fundraising round of €100,000.
“The hardest part of starting our business has been learning to navigate the industry’s communication style, where it can take a long time to get responses,” Malsam says. “Also, realising that not all professional services operate as smoothly as you might expect. On top of that, we have had to become proficient in every area of the business, from operations to marketing to compliance, often working around the clock. It’s been a steep learning curve, but one that has been incredibly rewarding.”
