With a focus on flavorful, healthy drinks and on-the-go snacks, Yanni Hufnagel, CEO and founding father of Lemon Perfect, had seen the future in 2017. But a coincidental photo by pop star Beyoncé Knowles-Carter posted to social media brought the brand from thriving. to be a up market hit in 2020. Developed as a hydrating yet flavorful lemon water option, Hufnagel’s focus on creating keto and sugar-free options for popular consumption was on the fast track to tremendous financial success.
Beyoncé, who is known for her healthy lifestyle, had a bottle of her favourite Lemon Perfect flavor by the door of her limo when she snapped the now famous photo. Bottles of dragon fruit mango quickly shot up on social media as Yanni Hufnagel put his drink brand in the limelight. “He had posted the photo in his limousine, and suddenly my phone exploded,” said Hufnagel. “We came to know that he’s a real fan of the brand. A year later, one of our investors was at his house and saw his stash in the fridge and helped us build a bridge with him. It is beyond my wildest dreams to have someone from his influence become a fan of the brand.
Building investor interest in the beverage business is not all the time easy to attain. Fortunately, a bottle of the pop star’s Dragon Fruit Lemon Perfect mango has gone a long way in promoting the brand. Coincidentally enough, the superstar has a genuine love for the drink. “I don’t usually enjoy drinks with no added sugar, but Lemon Perfect is delicious,” says Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, “It was an easy decision to invest in something that was not only tasty and healthy, but also, and most importantly , allowed the choice a healthier lifestyle to be affordable and accessible to everyone.”
In its recent $31 million Series A investment round, which includes not only Knowles-Carter but also Goat Rodeo Capital, Beachwood Capital, Melitas Ventures, Trousdale Ventures and NNS Capital, Lemon Perfect plans to continue to compete with the rest of the beverage sector. Favorites like vitaminwater, hint, and Bai have inspired Yanni Hufnagel, who as a former coach has often seen his basketball players drink this drink in the locker room. That University of Nevada, Reno the basketball coach has also received a draft of a Keto diet book containing several lemon water recipes. Seeing the potential to enter the market on an equal footing with Bai, a sugar-free, low-calorie drink, Hufnagel started the business. Atlanta-based business in 2017.
The multi-billion dollar enhanced water drink sector is ripe for new flavors and has a projected 9 percent annual growth for the next five years. Besides dragon fruit mango, Lemon Perfect also comes with lemon, peach raspberry, and blueberry acai flavors. At just five calories while filled with potassium and vitamin C, this brand stands alone with no artificial flavors, sweeteners, and added sugar. “There’s nothing with us taste and health profile currently on the market,” said Yanni Hufnagel. “Our price point is one where a consumer anywhere at any time can become a customer. It’s very rare that you can have a total addressable market like us.”
The new investment round combines $16.5 million in initial rounds and a $14 million extension of funds, giving Lemon Perfect a total funding of $42.2 million and a valuation of over $100 million. This new funding seeks to drive growth. The brand is poised to scale to over 40,000 distribution points by the end of 2022, representing a further 15,000 distribution point growth spanning online retailers in addition to physical stores and the need for a bigger sales team.
Following Beyoncé’s 2020 posting, Lemon Perfect doubled revenue to $21 million, with projected retail sales of $60 million in 2022, for a total growth of $35 million. Yanni Hufnagel anticipates doubling revenues by 2023 with a rise in associated workforce from 38 to 70. “Beverages are an expensive game, and access to capital is the only way to drive a fast-growing brand,” said Hufnagel in a recent interview- this new. “We want to be disruptive players in big categories and want to burn fuel. We feel capable of great execution, but still have room to grow and want to build a great margin story for the future.” With supporters like BeyoncéThe future for Lemon Perfect is definitely promising.
