Canadian beverage company Leading Brands has entered into license agreements to introduce three new products to the United States market.
The first two multi-year agreements involve the license by its unit Leading Brands of America of two energy drinks, Mad Croc and Red Devil, initially in 8.4 oz and 16 oz aluminum cans, respectively.
The third agreement will see Leading Brands develop a range of healthy products to capitalize on the fast growing nutritional supplement market. The firm will have access to new technology developed in conjunction with scientists from the Harvard Medical School. The new product is expected to provide nutritional benefits that presently can only be obtained by taking several large pills in an easier to consume single serve drink format.
Leading Brands of America president Robert Miller said: "These new agreements allow us to start fulfilling our commitment to our growing US distributor network to include a full range of new and innovative beverages."He added that Red Devil already has a following in certain markets in the US and Mad Croc will start with a national listing with the 7-Eleven chain.
The company is also hoping to expand distribution of TREK Optimized Performance Beverages and its Pez 100% Juices, which started rolling out in 7-Eleven and other national chains last week.
Leading Brands chairman and CEO, Ralph McRae added: "We are excited about bringing our proven product development skills to bear on the nutritional supplement market. This is an extraordinary new area and our opportunity lies in bringing these historically niche but fast growing products to mainstream America."
Mad Croc and Red Devil will be introduced within the next thirty days, whereas the new nutritional supplement will be developed over the next several months.