BOZEMAN — If you’ve been to the Bozeman Co-op or another local store lately, you may have seen an energy drink called EOS Clean Energy on the shelves. But did you know that it’s Montana-made?
“It’s crazy that we came this far in an incredibly short amount of time,” said Gordon Menager.
Menager is the founder of EOS Energy Drinks and was born and raised in Helena. He moved to Bozeman five years ago and works full-time for a rental car company while also running his energy drink company.
WATCH: Caffeine, anyone? Montana native founds Montana-made, clean ingredient energy drink company
“I wake up early in the morning, and I go to bed very late at night, but luckily, it’s an energy drink company. So, the product itself literally fuels me to do the thing,” said Menager.
In fact, Menager says the whole reason he started the company was his affinity for energy drinks.
“I drink energy drinks every day,” said Menager. “Just living in Bozeman, it’s such a crazy place, and people are just grinding constantly.”
But Menager says he was concerned about the additives and the lack of transparency in the energy drinks he was consuming.
“They kind of just hide behind their label,” he said.
That’s why he decided to found EOS Energy Drinks, which was formulated with food scientists in California.
“It’s carbonated water, citric acid, natural flavor, green tea extract, stevia leaf, and monk fruit,” said Menager.
The drink officially launched in July and is manufactured in Helena. Menager says he named EOS Energy Drinks after the goddess of dawn.
“It is inspired by basically just the idea that you wake up in the morning and rise up with the dawn,” said Menager.
Right now, the drink is sold online, at the Bozeman Co-op, Town & Country Foods, and other local stores around town. Menager says breaking into the energy drink market has proven difficult.
“It’s incredibly hard. It’s dominated by large brands, and so working with different distributors has been a huge challenge,” said Menager.
But, Menager says, he’s proud of how far they have come and hopes EOS Energy Drinks will one day be sold nationwide.
“It is crazy. Like I never imagined it would be what it is, especially in less than a year,” said Menager.
“We also hope to also influence other energy drinks to maybe do a little bit better," he added.
