CREATEA Mighty Mango breaks new ground with stable creatine in RTD format plus Zynamite S mango leaf extract for mental energy. This natural, clean-label concept beverage showcases what's possible when industry leaders collaborate. Sample it at SupplySide Global 2025!
Following the groundbreaking success of XPO NRG at SupplySide West 2024, PricePlow is proud to announce CREATEA Mighty Mango, a next-generation concept beverage that pushes the boundaries of functional beverage formulation. This collaborative project brings together some of the industry's most innovative ingredient suppliers and formulation experts to showcase what's possible when cutting-edge science meets real-world commercial viability.
Building on Success: From XPO NRG to CREATEA
Building on the success of last year's XPO NRG collaboration, CREATEA takes the concept further by focusing on two of the hottest trends in functional beverages: creatine stability in ready-to-drink formats and natural, clean-label ingredients. The result is a 12-ounce RTD canned beverage that delivers real performance benefits through scientifically validated ingredients, all while maintaining the natural positioning that today's consumers demand.
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The CREATEA Mighty Mango Formula: Creatine Meets Mental Energy
CREATEA Mighty Mango represents a significant evolution in functional beverage formulation. While creatine has long been recognized for muscle performance benefits, this formulation breaks it out of the sports nutrition box to highlight broader health benefits, including brain health and cognitive performance.
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CreaBev®: Finally, Stable Creatine in Beverages
The star ingredient is CreaBev® from Glanbia Nutritionals, a patent-pending encapsulated form of creatine monohydrate that attacks the stability problem that has plagued beverage formulators for decades.
Standard creatine monohydrate rapidly degrades into creatinine (an inert waste product) when exposed to liquid, especially in acidic environments or during heat processing. This instability has made creatine-containing beverages nearly impossible to formulate... until now.
CreaBev's breakthrough encapsulation technology protects creatine from degradation without altering the molecule itself, with remarkable results as described in the article linked above.
What makes CreaBev even more impressive is its enhanced bioavailability. Internal animal studies showed that CreaBev achieved similar plasma creatine levels despite containing 26% less actual creatine than standard creatine monohydrate.
According to Joey Savage, CEO of Savage Nutra, "Creatine has been a hot ingredient in the sports nutrition market for its muscle performance benefits for years. With this formulation, we wanted to break creatine out of that box for a more mainstream audience and highlight some of the other health benefits it can offer. Glanbia's CreaBev® is an innovative form of creatine that is ideal for beverages, allowing beverage formulators to achieve soluble and stable creatine formulations with less degradation."[1]
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Zynamite S®: Mental Energy from Mango Leaves
Complementing CreaBev's physical and cognitive benefits is Zynamite S® from PLT Health Solutions, a novel water-soluble mango leaf extract standardized for mangiferin that delivers non-stimulant cognitive enhancement.
Zynamite is PLT Health's Next-Gen Brain and Body Support Ingredient, harnessing the power of ≥60% mangiferin from mango leaf extract
Zynamite has been tested in multiple human clinical trials demonstrating:
- Improved cognitive performance including memory, attention, and accuracy
- Enhanced reaction times comparable to caffeine
- Increased peak power output by 3.8% in just one dose
- Better blood flow and oxygen extraction during exercise
- Reduced exercise-induced muscle damage and faster recovery
The Zynamite S version used in CREATEA is specifically formulated for beverage applications: it's more heat stable, transparent, and has a neutral taste profile that works perfectly in drinks.
Ben Kane, President of PricePlow and CREATEA Project Coordinator, explained the synergy: "As creatine gains recognition not only for muscle strength but also for brain health, its combination with Zynamite S® positions this concept at the forefront of performance innovation. Zynamite S from PLT Health Solutions is redefining what mental energy can be, with two remarkable clinical studies completed in the last year backing performance that people can feel in just 30 minutes. It is also made from mango leaves, which inspired our flavor concept."[1]
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Natural Caffeine: InnovaBean®
To round out the energy profile, CREATEA features InnovaBean® from NutriScience Innovations -- a high-purity, water-extracted natural caffeine produced from green coffee beans (Coffea canephora, also known as robusta).
Finally! Creatine that stays stable in beverages thanks to Glanbia Nutritionals' CreaBev™ technology. Plus OptiATP® brings actual cellular energy to RTDs -- not just caffeine. Add in Collameta™ marine collagen tripeptides & TruCal® bone minerals = strength from every angle. Read about all four ingredients in Glanbia Nutritionals' Strength Platform
InnovaBean is part of NutriScience's Innova Family of natural caffeine ingredients, offering a clean-label alternative to synthetic caffeine anhydrous. The ingredient is:
- Highly soluble in water for ideal beverage use
- Solvent-free in production
- Fully traceable back to the farm
- Sustainably farmed using water-saving irrigation practices
Natural caffeine is structurally identical to synthetic caffeine and offers the same performance benefits (improved focus, elevated alertness, faster reaction time, reduced fatigue, and increased endurance), but comes from a natural source that consumers increasingly prefer, and none of the synthetic residues from precursors used to make caffeine.
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SweetVantage®: Clean Sweetness Without Sugar
SweetVantage® from NNB Nutrition represents a breakthrough in natural sweetener technology. After investing $2.5 million and three years of intensive R&D, NNB has engineered a stevia extract that covers the front, middle, and back of the palate, delivering clean sweetness with rounded flavor that other stevia products fail to achieve.
NNB Nutrition revolutionizes natural sweeteners with SweetVantage. A 3-year, $2.5M project delivers clean-tasting stevia that covers the entire palate. Perfect for beverages and powders.
Traditional stevia extracts often suffer from bitter aftertaste issues that limit widespread adoption. SweetVantage solves this through a carefully-controlled extraction and purification process that optimizes the ratio of beneficial steviol glycosides while minimizing less desirable compounds.
When visualized on a sensory spider graph, SweetVantage shows:
- Higher umami (savory/rich) components than monk fruit
- Better balanced sweetness compared to isolated steviol glycosides
- Significantly lower astringency than both sugar and other natural sweeteners
- A cleaner finish with minimal lingering aftertaste
Research indicates that properly formulated steviol glycosides can actually support healthy blood sugar levels while providing satisfying sweetness, a significant advantage over both sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Mighty Mango Flavor: Inspired by Nature
The mighty mango flavor profile was specifically chosen to complement Zynamite S's mango leaf origins, creating a cohesive story from ingredient to taste experience. It's also Ben's personal favorite flavor, bringing a tropical, refreshing taste to the functional beverage category.
Savage added context on the formulation philosophy: "This year we wanted to take a more 'natural' approach to things. We wanted natural flavors and sweeteners to be one of the main differences between this year's and last year's products."[1]
From Concept to Commercial Reality
While XPO NRG demonstrated the art of the possible with cutting-edge ingredient combinations, CREATEA takes a more pragmatic approach. According to Kane, "For SupplySide 2024, we set out to prove what's possible when competitors put differences aside and collaborate, showcasing how a host of branded ingredients from across the industry can unite to deliver broad health benefits and elevate the category as a whole. For CREATEA, we focused on a beverage innovation goal but wanted to more closely emulate the product development process you see in the industry – including cost considerations. The formulation you see in CREATEA Mighty Mango could go straight to market."[1]
This represents a significant evolution in collaborative concept beverages. Rather than simply showcasing what's scientifically possible regardless of cost, CREATEA demonstrates how cutting-edge ingredients can be combined in a commercially viable format that brands could actually bring to market.
The Collaborative Process: Industry Leaders Unite
CREATEA Mighty Mango represents the combined expertise of multiple industry leaders, each contributing their specialized knowledge:
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Formulation and R&D
Savage Nutra was instrumental in developing the formula, bringing their extensive beverage formulation expertise to create a balanced, effective product that works within real-world manufacturing constraints.
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Manufacturing Excellence
Lacore Nutraceuticals managed filling and manufacturing, bringing their RTD beverage production expertise to ensure the final product met the highest quality standards.
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Brand and Package Design
Nutramedia led the bold branding and package design, creating visual identity that demands attention and reinforces the innovation inside the can.
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Printing Innovation
McDowell Label (part of Resource Label Group) executed state-of-the-art flexographic sleeve printing, producing packaging that stands out on the shelf and communicates the premium positioning of the product.
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Project Leadership
PricePlow (especially Ben and Spencer) coordinated the entire project, bringing together diverse industry partners and ensuring the final product achieved its goals of showcasing innovation while maintaining commercial viability.
As Kane emphasized, "I can't thank the people and companies who worked on this project enough. I've said before that competition happens at the bottom; collaboration happens at the top. PricePlow and the contributing companies invite attendees to visit the participating booths at SupplySide Global 2025 to experience CREATEA, and witness the next generation of performance beverage formulating, where they will learn what can be accomplished when competition is set aside, and collaboration takes the lead."[1]
Where to Try CREATEA Mighty Mango at SupplySide Global 2025
CREATEA will be available to sample throughout the SupplySide Global show floor at both dedicated sampling stations and at collaborator booths. Three separate kiosks located in Lobby B, C, and F will be serving the beverage throughout the event.
You can also visit the booths of project collaborators to try CREATEA and learn more about the featured ingredients:
- Zynamite® S by PLT Health Solutions (Booth #4855)
- CreaBev® by Glanbia Nutritionals (Booth #3964)
- SweetVantage® by NNB Nutrition (Booth #5154)
- InnovaBean® by NutriScience Innovations (Booth #4243)
- Branding and Label Design by NutraMedia (Booth #7965)
The Future of Functional Beverages
CREATEA Mighty Mango represents more than just another concept beverage... it's a roadmap for the future of functional drink formulation. By combining breakthrough stability technologies (CreaBev), natural cognitive enhancers (Zynamite S), clean-label energy sources (InnovaBean), and superior natural sweeteners (SweetVantage), the formula demonstrates how modern beverages can deliver real performance benefits without compromising on taste or clean-label positioning.
At SupplySide Global 2025, a consortium of ingredient innovators, formulating experts and marketing and packaging design companies working in collaboration will unveil a concept beverage that will ignite dialogue on the future of formulating in the functional beverage category.
The creatine and cognitive enhancement combination is especially timely, as consumers increasingly recognize that true performance encompasses both physical and mental capabilities. Research continues to expand our understanding of creatine's benefits beyond muscle performance, with studies showing positive effects on cognitive function, memory, and brain health.
Similarly, the shift toward natural caffeine sources and sophisticated natural sweeteners reflects broader consumer trends demanding transparency, sustainability, and clean labels without sacrificing efficacy or taste.
From XPO NRG to CREATEA: A Year of Innovation
Last year's XPO NRG collaboration proved what's possible when competitors set aside differences and collaborate. The limited-edition energy drink featured Cognizin® citicoline, enfinity® paraxanthine, goBHB™ ketones, MitoPrime® L-ergothioneine, and Zembrin® kanna extract – demonstrating the power of synergistic ingredient combinations.
CREATEA builds on that foundation while shifting focus toward natural ingredients and commercial viability, showing the evolution of collaborative beverage innovation in the supplement industry.
Conclusion: Collaboration Drives Innovation (Again)
CREATEA Mighty Mango continues PricePlow's mission of showcasing what's possible when industry leaders collaborate rather than compete. By bringing together innovative ingredient suppliers, expert formulators, and specialized service providers, the project demonstrates that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.
Whether you're a brand looking to develop the next breakthrough beverage, a formulator seeking inspiration for clean-label products, or simply someone interested in the future of functional drinks, CREATEA represents a glimpse of what's coming next in this rapidly evolving category.
Visit SupplySide Global 2025 to experience CREATEA Mighty Mango firsthand and witness the next generation of beverage innovation. And don't forget to subscribe to PricePlow's news alerts to stay updated on all the latest developments in supplement science and ingredient innovation:
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Finally, a major thank you to PLT Health Solutions for pushing out the press release referenced in this article!
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