Energy drink delivers a 'Punch'

While watering some plants two summers ago in his parents’ backyard in Marshall, Ill., junior Zac Workman had an idea: Let’s jack up Grandma’s punch.

Only a year and a half later, Punch energy drink is sold in a couple hundred stores throughout Indiana and Illinois, including Bloomington’s Tenth Street Market & Deli, which began carrying the beverage Jan. 26.

“I had had a lot of the other drinks like Rock Star and Monster and Red Bull. They tasted awful, and I knew they were terrible for me,” Workman said. “But I knew that they make a lot of money because people want energy. I also knew that I had this great drink that my family had made.”

He was referring to a 75-year-old fruit punch recipe his great-grandmother crafted back in the 1930s and had been served at family events ever since.

“She even served this punch at Zac’s grandmother’s wedding,” said Workman’s mother, Lillian Workman. “It just seemed to be a flavor that everybody loved.”

By combining this age-old family tradition with a modern kick, Zac Workman created Punch, a juice-based energy drink.

Zac Workman first got interested in business during his junior year in high school when he began dabbling in the stock market, Lillian Workman said. It wasn’t long before he started investigating entrepreneurial programs for college.

He decided on IU’s Kelley School of Business and was granted direct admission. By the end of his first year at Kelley, he was accepted in to the Business Honors Program.

That summer, Zac Workman envisioned an energy drink that was healthy and tasted good. When he pitched the idea to his parents, they were supportive but skeptical. 

“He kind of came up with whole idea out there when he was watering those trees,” Lillian Workman said. “His dad and I, we just kind of thought, ‘Oh, this will blow over.’”

But Zac Workman’s initiative was anything but fleeting.

In addition to his perceived need for a healthier energy drink, Workman said the death of his identical twin brother, Tyler, was a dominant factor in his commitment to the
project.

“That was really inspirational in motivating me to live my dreams,” he said. “You really have no limits in life except for the ones that you put on yourself.”

On New Year’s Day 2008, Workman and his parents flew to Los Angeles to meet with a beverage consulting company.

The company tasted a sample of the punch the Workmans had mixed up in their hotel room and agreed to add the desired energy ingredients without altering the flavor.

Seven months later, Punch hit the shelves in Terre Haute. Since then, the company has expanded dramatically, now offering its product throughout the Midwest at a price of $1.99 for a 16-ounce can.

In addition to the stiff competition of the energy drink market, energy drinks have been met with some concerns regarding the high levels of caffeine they contain.

“Energy drinks get a bad rap, and rightfully so,” Zac Workman said. “Our drink is definitely safe. I wouldn’t recommend it as a health drink, but there’s nothing in our drink that’s bad for you.”

As an All-American swimmer in high school, Zac Workman has always been health-conscious. His goal was to make an energy drink in that light.

“We’ve hit some bumps in the road,” Lillian Workman said. “It’s been hard work, and there’s still a lot of challenges ahead of us.”

But Zac Workman is prepared.

He said it’s important to realize that if a student has an idea, there’s nothing holding them back.

“Here I thought starting an energy drink would be impossible,” Zac Workman said. “It’s definitely a difficult thing, and I don’t get much sleep. But it’s definitely not impossible.”