Coffee startup percolates in Fort Lauderdale

January 7, 2005
By John T. Fakler - South Florida Business Journal

FT LAUDERDALE, FL - The formulations are javalutionary.

With coffee products designed to fight obesity slated for 600 GNC stores in March, Javalution Coffee Co. has started a second round of financing, according to company officials.

The Fort Lauderdale company sells JavaFit as safe, effective products to help manage body weight. The line is already sold at Nutrition Depot and other local nutraceutical stores, but the distribution and partnership possibilities are endless, President Scott Pumper said.

He envisions the products replacing sport shakes, vitamin supplements and diet pills.

"It’s the convenience of not having to take pills, which is a stress to most people who are active, who do take a lot of supplements," he said. "It’s usually not one pill a day."

The way CEO Tony Sanzari sees it, why take any pill when you can get the nutrients you need in a cup of coffee?

JavaFit, the company’s high-energy gourmet coffee, should be consumed before intense workouts and includes ingredients found in power shakes downed by serious weightlifters, such as chromium polynicotinate.

For selective dieters and weight trainers, the company’s JavaFit and JavaFit Extreme products are devoid of carbohydrates and ephedra.

JavaFit is a hand-roasted arabica coffee that brews like other gourmet coffees and is delivered in original roast, French vanilla and hazelnut flavors for about $25 a bag. JavaFit Burn, a coffee with extra caffeine and an appetite suppressant, is the top-selling product, Sanzari said.

The company, which recently filed a paper registration statement with the SEC, plans to build a solid brand of "functional foods" before considering any exit strategy, Pumper said.

That could include a merger, a partnership deal, maybe even an IPO.

"We watch trends in different companies and different industries," said Pumper, noting he and Sanzari have backgrounds in Wall Street finance and venture capital and decided to capitalize on the growing functional food craze.

Subcontractors, including bean roasters, operate mostly out of Miami, Sanzari said, helping to keep costs down. The partners did not provide revenue numbers, but Sanzari said the two-year-old firm expects to be selling in 2,000 stores by March.

"We are trying to build our distribution channels now," he said, adding the company doesn’t sell retail.

Chief Science Officer Jose Antonio brings added credibility to the firm and will be a huge part of its marketing efforts, Sanzari said.

"We actually have finished the first clinical trial, and in 2005 we will have four clinical trials going on," said Antonio, a former head of science for Metrx.

To make the company a viable acquisition candidate, success in clinical trials is important, Pumper said. Nine out of 10 companies don’t have the efficacy, he said.

"We are creating a whole new [functional food] category. There is not a competitor out there."

JavaFit News Source: JavaFit.com/distributor/index.php?page=news

For more information on Javalution Coffee Company or JavaFit® visit Java411.net or contact your JavaFit Independent Representative:

Chris Clark
(540)674-0080
chris@java411.net

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