Playing video games takes intense concentration, and as the hours go on, gamers find themselves needing an energy boost. One NH entrepreneur makes one specifically for their needs.
Gamer Soda is created by DSJ Beverages in Strafford. Gary Carlson started the business seven years ago as a weekend hobby and has grown the business continually about 10 percent a year as the sole employee. Carlson works in pharmaceutical sales. He plans to continue a steady growth plan and is now seeking a distributor for his product.
Video gamers like his son usually turn to drinks such as Mountain Dew and Monster, but Carlson wanted to offer something unique to their needs. “It seems so simple that it must be owned by a big company, must be trademarked, but it wasn’t,” he says. “So I decided to trademark it.”
Gamer is a carbonated, clear soda that is bottled in four flavors: citrus, grape, orange and cherry. Carlson, who came up with the flavors and ingredients himself, wanted a different take on conventional soda.
For one, Gamer contains B vitamins. Carlson claims the vitamin metabolizes sugars and carbohydrates, leaving the drinker with more sustained energy. Carlson also has both caffeine and caffeine free options: Citrus and cherry are caffeine enhanced while grape and orange are caffeine free.
It is also different because it is clear. “That was my wife’s idea. She said if you’re bringing a new soda into the world, as a mom I don’t want it spilling and turning things purple or red.” says Carlson, “We made them clear on purpose for the spill factor, but what we’re finding is that a lot of people have food allergies to artificial colors.”
Gamer is bottled locally by Squamscot Beverages in Newfields and is sold online and in more than two dozen NH stores as well as eight stores in Massachusetts and locations in California, Arizona and Hawaii. Local retailers include Walmart, Market Basket, Double Midnight Comics in Concord and Manchester and Level-Up Gaming in Manchester.
“I could see this on a hood of a NASCAR. We’d also love to get into a chain like Gamestop,” Carlson said. “They don’t have any beverages in their stores, so it would be perfect fit for their 6,000 locations.”
For more information visit gamersoda.com
By Austin McGuigan of the Young Reporters Project, a partnership between Business NH Magazine and University of NH in Durham.
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