HEMP SponsorThe team at Zolt believes improving your wellness through plant-based products should be both enjoyable and effortless. The brand’s powdered super drink mixes are centered around four crucial pillars of daily life — focus, immunity, balance and sleep.
Each pre-portioned “mixie stick” is formulated with unique blends of CBD (20 mg of isolate or full-spectrum hemp) and organic adaptogens and antioxidants specifically designed to improve your health holistically.
Delicious and Approachable
With a 17-year career in the beverage industry and advanced knowledge of emerging food technologies, Zolt Co-founder and CEO Doug Siegel was well equipped to move into the CBD beverage space. His inspiration for Zolt was born from his own positive experience taking CBD. He wanted to share the same benefits of CBD with the world, but he wanted to deliver a functional beverage that would be a delicious and approachable product that could be easily integrated into anyone’s day.
“It’s our mission to serve the community and help people find the benefits we found – it really is impactful,” Siegel said.
He partnered with co-founder Ani Collum, also the company’s chief marketing officer, to curate the line specifically with the end-user in mind. Collum, who has extensive experience building direct-to-consumer brands, never utilized hemp prior to joining Siegel — something they felt was an advantage.
“I took the lens of the uninformed consumer, which I think is really important for a brand launching in the space because there’s so much confusion and noise,” Collum told Hemp Magazine. “It’s really hard for the consumer to discern what is truth and what’s marketing speak.”
Formulated for Success
Siegel, Collum and their team set out to develop great-tasting drinks that maximize the benefits of the active ingredients Siegel had success with, ensuring peak bioavailability and performance. They wanted to curate universally loved flavors that also meet individual needs.
“I was the first consumer,” Siegel said with excitement. “I don’t put anything on the shelf that I don’t consume. “We are very focused on the development of these products, sourcing the best organic ingredients, and making sure we influence the customer’s experience in a very positive way.”
Collum explains that for her, “it was about taking all the great ingredients that Doug had already pulled together to formulate the products and then translate that into something that would make sense to the consumer and their needs.”
Understanding that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, the Zolt line features a mixie stick for nearly every need:
- Rise Morning Lemon Tea: This invigorating concoction is a great way to start the day and contains adaptogens, antioxidants, caffeine, guarana and CBD-isolate.
- Rise+ Tropical Orange with Full-Spectrum Hemp CBD: Dubbed “your morning magic,” this blend is meant to kickstart your morning routine and features full-spectrum hemp CBD along with the adaptogens, antioxidants, caffeine and guarana.
- Dial Up+ Tarim Peach Tea: Perfect for the mid-day slump, this blend is refreshing but not too sweet, with full-spectrum hemp CBD, antioxidants, adaptogens, guarana and caffeine.
- Boost+ Passion Fruit: Give your immune system a tropical jolt with full-spectrum hemp CBD in addition to adaptogens, antioxidants, caffeine and guarana.
- Balance Coconut: Meant to restore your “everyday equilibrium,” this hemp CBD isolate-only drink is light and effervescent. Also available in unflavored.
- Dreamy Honey Citrus Tea: Drift off into a sound slumber after sipping this nighttime brew featuring CBD isolate, adaptogens and melatonin.
New Hemp-Free, Terpene-Driven Line
Always innovating, the folks at Zolt are hard at work launching their next product offerings: a line of terpene-infused drinks containing zero hemp. Terpenes, which are the molecules in plants responsible for their flavor, aroma, and in the case of hemp and cannabis, some of the effects, are becoming more of a focal point in the natural wellness market.
Zolt’s team has mapped dozens of cannabis strains, settling on three distinct options: Peak Clementine featuring sativa-dominant terps for an uplifting experience; hybrid Even Lime Mint (with vegan collagen) for encouraging harmony and hydration; and indica-dominant Dreamy Ginger Honey Tea (also containing vegan collagen and melatonin) formulated for relaxation.
“We’ve done a lot of the experiments upfront in terms of understanding which terpene profiles we want to create and dosing of the botanicals — a lot of trial and error,” Siegel said.
“The [terpene] profiles mimic those that come from the hemp plant itself, but they are a solution for people who whatever reason may not want to consume hemp but want the awesome benefits it may provide,” Collum added.
Community-Centered Approach
As R&D continues, the team at Zolt is constantly seeking out ways to impact the community, noting the needs of the consumers will always inspire the products of tomorrow. More sweetener-free products are also on the horizon, as well as increased offerings for promoting sleep.
“We absolutely know sleep is, without question, the most important part of one’s day because if you don’t do that well, the rest of the day isn’t happening,” Siegel stated. “A lot of our focus is going to be around how do we create new products to help further accentuate hemp’s ability to help people find sleep as well as the adaptogens that are instrumental for people to gainfully rest.”
Collum pointed to previous product success stories as inspiration: an email from a nurse who was able to get through her night shifts and sleep during the day, thanks to her Zoltvariety pack; a Parkinson’s patient who successfully rose from bed in the morning without issue because she drank the Dreamymixie stick the night prior.
“Things like that are really rewarding,” Siegel said. “They affirm why we are doing this.”
Siegel contends it’s the desire to help others that truly makes the business — not profits.
“People can get the best of plants and really see it change their routine — that’s the holy grail, it’s not a sale,” Siegel explained. “That’s not how we look at our community. Our customers are a part of a wellness community that is finding themselves and bettering themselves every day.”