Dan Lourenço Introduces GHOST Energy Blueberry Cream and Talks Legend V5 | Episode #241

GHOST co-founder and CEO Dan Lourenço hosts what he calls the first official Blueberry Cream flavor review at GHOST HQ, then previews the three-product Legend lineup, protein bar improvements, and the Yoo-hoo launch story on Episode #241 of the PricePlow Podcast.

Fans invented a GHOST flavor online, and now it's in a real life can. And it is phenomenal.

On Episode #241 of the PricePlow Podcast, Ben and Mike visit GHOST headquarters in Las Vegas to sit down with co-founder and CEO Dan Lourenço. The visit picks up a conversation the three started at FNIS, and takes it a whole lot further.

Dan opens with what he calls the first official flavor review of GHOST Energy Blueberry Cream, a flavor that started as an AI-generated internet rumor before the team decided to actually make it. The flavor is beyond what anyone expected.

From there, he previews a rebuilt GHOST Legend platform: a more affordable flagship Legend, a more premium Legend All Out, and a stimulant-free Legend designed for lifters who already bring an energy drink to the gym.

The bigger question is how GHOST keeps its identity as energy drinks, protein foods, and major partnerships keep growing. Dan's answers keep circling back to the fans, and to the 100-year vision he laid out on Episode #143.

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https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dan-lourenco-241

Video: Dan Lourenço at GHOST HQ

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:21:06 — 88.8MB)

Detailed Show Notes: Inside GHOST HQ with Dan Lourenço

• 0:00 - Introductions

  Table of Contents

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  Ben, Mike, and Dan are back in Vegas, this time at GHOST headquarters on the Tuesday before SupplySide Global. It's Mike's first visit to the office. The three just caught up at FNIS (the Future Nutra Innovation Summit), but Dan agrees that hang was too quick, and the guys kept texting afterward about everything they still wanted to cover.

  Ben admits he needs some caffeine, so the first order of business is cracking open a can that, as he jokes, isn't AI.

• 0:45 - The Blueberry Cream Story

  Dan calls Blueberry Cream one of the stories of the year because it captures his day-one goal: fans who feel like part of the brand. In 2025, rumors claimed the flavor leaked on a distributor's order page. GHOST formally answered on video that it had never sampled the flavor or even put it on a whiteboard.

  Yet... the rumor wouldn't die.

  Fake pallet photos circulated, and the AI renders fooled Dan long enough that he called his team to confirm he wasn't crazy. He decided the flavor should exist, cracked the first sample on camera, and now it's lined up for 2027 shelves.

  When a Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) leader at NACS asked what consumer insight inspired it, Dan's answer was "the consumer insight is the fan". This is the kind of "data" that you don't find in spreadsheets.

• 3:45 - The First Official Flavor Review

  Dan declares this the first official flavor review of Blueberry Cream, and the hosts crack their cans on camera. Mike says it's exactly what he wanted from smell to taste, comparing the over-the-top blueberry to Boo Berry cereal and warning that it's not for the faint of heart. Dan gets more of a Go-Gurt vibe and calls the flavor weirdly nostalgic, like something to drink while watching cartoons.

  On the flavor's roots, Dan suspects fans connected the dots from GHOST's cream lineup. Orange Cream helped inspire Raspberry Cream, which began as a UK confection-inspired pre-workout idea before landing in the can. GHOST has done blueberry before, but never creamy, and its cream base now gives the team a foundation for layering new fruit.

  The smell hits quick, and the flavor hits harder. It couldn't be any better for those who like powerful, cream-based flavors.

• 5:45 - Variety Packs and the Walmazon Migration

  Ben asks about a rumored variety pack pairing Blueberry Cream with Orange Cream and Raspberry Cream. Dan says the team hasn't discussed it yet, since GHOST wants feedback on the flavor first, but "the answer's not no". Grocery multipacks never took off for GHOST, while club-store variety packs (where shoppers buy whole cases) keep working.

  

  Dan Lourenço returns to the PricePlow Podcast for the sixth time to discuss the Legend V4 launch, the first half of 2024, and the Ghost 100 Year Plan in Episode 143

  That opens up GHOST's retail history. Dan coined the "Walmazon migration" around 2015, when specialty brands started moving beyond GNC and Vitamin Shoppe onto Walmart and Amazon. GHOST waited until about 2020 to launch on Amazon, supporting day-one partner GNC, then added Vitamin Shoppe and independents in 2021. Today Dan wants the cans in every airport, convenience store, and grocery store, while staying choosier with powders to keep them premium.

• 8:30 - Listening, Credit, and Powder Roots

  Does getting memed into a flavor invite more nonsense? Dan doesn't think so: "we've got the confidence to listen, and we've also got the confidence to give credit where it's due". Few brands GHOST's size do that outside crowdsourcing campaigns, he says, and GHOST has failed if people don't feel like they can hang out with the team.

  Ben notes that some consumers worry GHOST is leaving sports nutrition behind for cans and grocery. Dan says they're noticing scale, not priorities. He cites roughly 2,000 to 2,300 GNCs and 700 to 800 Vitamin Shoppes versus about 14,000 7-Eleven and Speedway stores. Beverage is much bigger, but in Dan's words, "My heart and soul and the DNA of GHOST definitely is the powder side of things".

• 13:00 - Limited Editions and the 2027 Rotation

  Dan confirms Blueberry Cream is headed for broad distribution as GHOST's first limited edition of 2027. GHOST runs about three rolling limited editions a year, roughly four months each, or a "trimester LTO program" if Dan wants to sound corporate. If Blueberry Cream takes off, it could return through specialty, online, or a variety pack, and sustained demand is how a flavor eventually goes permanent nationally.

  The 2026 rotation ran Welch's Grape-Cran, then 7UP, then A&W, and Dan says A&W and 7UP are both going permanent in 2027 because they performed so well. Flavors that don't make the starting lineup on shelf often stay available online, and Dan says much of this cadence comes from retailers and the rhythm of the beverage industry.

• 14:45 - Flavors for Everyday Drinking

  

  7UP Lemon Lime was the test. A&W Root Beer confirmed it. GHOST Energy clones a soda better than the soda company does. Zero sugar, 200mg caffeine, and none of that thin diet soda texture. Now give us GHOST Energy Dr. Pepper.

  GHOST's early energy flavors were wild, Ben notes, while newer ones are easier to drink daily, and Dan agrees. Intense candy collabs put GHOST on the map and drove trial, but repeat purchases now favor subtler flavors like Iced Tea Lemonade, A&W Root Beer, 7UP, and the slushie-style Blue Raspberry, which is outperforming the sour candy flavor before it.

  Mike calls A&W a 10 out of 10 and says many fans think it beats the original, a case we made in our look at GHOST's soda-cloning collab era. Dan sidesteps the comparison, since liquid-to-liquid comps are never apples to apples. KDP's leadership called A&W GHOST's biggest flavor evolution from first draft to final, and Dan calls the work with KDP's flavor scientists a "team lift".

• 17:30 - The Caffeine-Free Question

  Ben raises the boom in functional and non-alcoholic drinks, and Dan insightfully answers with a question: how many do you keep in your fridge? As for caffeine-free GHOST Energy, a constant fan request, Dan's answer is shelf space. A retailer like Circle K might give GHOST two shelves and 20 slots, so caffeine-free versions would replace flagship cans, and if they sell less, both the store and GHOST lose.

  Mike, drinking his first caffeine in over 30 days, wants a 12-ounce caffeine-free Blueberry Cream for the evening and predicts demand within five years. Dan wouldn't be surprised, given how fast the old two- or three-brand shelf changed. For now, growth is in sugar-free functional performance drinks, he says, and GHOST will pounce on new shelf space.

• 25:30 - Rebuilding the Legend Lineup

  GHOST uses athlete collabs as test beds. Rob Lipsett's Legend tried Nitrosigine® (plus a whiskey sour flavor that never returned), and Maxx Chewning's pump-chasing versions added VasoDrive-AP. This year's athlete editions, like Sydney Cummings x GHOST Mango Colada, had fans asking whether they were seeing Legend V5. Dan says they aren't the final form, and GHOST used the feedback to keep developing it.

  

  GHOST went with a dessert classic for the fourth Protein Bar flavor. Mint Chocolate brings 20g protein and 2g sugar per two-bar pouch, made with General Mills like the rest of the lineup.

  Three problems drove the rebuild: pre-workout hasn't had a platform breakthrough in years, commodity costs keep climbing while consumers feel squeezed, and Legend and All Out never had a clear step between them. The fix is a smaller serving, a lower price, global consistency, and spending only on ingredients people value, because "you might not want to pay for the kitchen sink".

• 30:30 - A Stimulant-Free Legend

  The piece Dan's most excited about is a stimulant-free Legend. Plenty of stim-free pre-workouts exist, but Dan says GHOST's reasoning is different. At Dragon's Lair, the hardcore gym where he trains, advanced lifters carry cans of GHOST Energy, even though, as Dan sees it, energy drinks aren't designed to do a pre-workout's job. Rather than fight that habit, GHOST wants to improve it.

  The non-stim Legend uses a smaller scoop of core ingredients like L-citrulline and beta-alanine, without stimulants, to pair with GHOST Energy or any energy drink. (Dry scooping isn't something GHOST recommends, Dan adds.) It's not groundbreaking, but "sometimes the best innovation is inches, not miles", and Dan believes energy drinks partly explain pre-workout's slower sales.

• 34:15 - Pump, Global Legend, and Pricing

  GHOST Pump isn't going anywhere. Dan calls it one of GHOST's most underrated products and one of the few formulas they've barely touched. In his view, beta-alanine is what separates a pre-workout from a pump product for most consumers.

  Legend is expanding globally, so GHOST built it for regulatory consistency across markets. All Out remains mostly U.S.-focused, and the non-stim version can reach only certain countries. Dan says the formulas are more or less finalized and coming soon, with GHOST marketing all three together so shoppers know who each is for. The team is targeting about $30 for flagship Legend, which may expand beyond specialty, while All Out will cost more and stay specialty-focused.

• 37:00 - Break-Even Powders and Whey Supply

  

  The GHOST x Sour Strips Appleberry collab is complete. GHOST Creatine takes the tart apple and sweet berry into a 40-serving tub, and GHOST Legend carries the leaner 200mg caffeine formula rather than V4.

  Shoppers are price-sensitive, Ben says, and Dan gets candid: GHOST's powders, especially with today's protein pricing, "break even on a good day". GHOST runs them thin to keep prices competitive, hoping protein, creatine, and citrulline costs ease. Whey used to be a cheese byproduct, and with demand soaring and America's pizza-driven cheese business hurting, Dan says there isn't enough to go around.

  A two-pound tub now costs what five and a half pounds once did, yet Dan says GHOST has passed on only a fraction of rising costs. Tweaking the blend wouldn't help, since concentrate, isolate, and hydrolysate cost about the same, and he won't do "open heart surgery" on a best-seller to save pennies. Some flavors are on hold, and big retailers face allocation.

• 41:15 - Improving GHOST Protein Bars

  The GHOST Protein Bar comes from a partnership with General Mills, one of the country's biggest bar producers, which hadn't made a traditional sports nutrition bar before. GHOST waited nine years to launch a bar, avoiding Chipotle-style contract bars where everyone picks from the same menu. The two-stick design adds chocolate coating, which changes the eating experience and nudges the macros.

  The bars were good out of the gate, but time on shelf told a different story. No hot box or accelerated testing replaces real aging, Dan says, and the aged bars graded a B or C, short of the GHOST standard. Fixes usually come down to inclusion size and water activity, and Dan says Mint Chocolate nails it, backed by real shelf-time data.

• 45:15 - General Mills Licenses GHOST

  Mike is surprised to learn that the bars and GHOST Protein Cereal are actually General Mills products. General Mills licenses the GHOST brand, makes the products, and largely distributes them. GHOST handles development input, flavor testing, art, design, and strategy, and its team approves what goes out.

  

  GHOST Protein Cereal x Trix is official. The fourth permanent flavor in the line brings the same 17g of protein per serving to fruity multicolored puffs.

  Ben loves the reversal. GHOST built its name licensing other brands, and now a food giant licenses GHOST, with General Mills press releases touting GHOST's innovation. Dan spent years knocking on General Mills' door, hoping to use its marshmallows in a cereal milk protein, before he met the right people. Now it's a two-way street: GHOST uses General Mills brands in GHOST Whey flavors, while General Mills brings GHOST into bars and cereal.

• 47:00 - Ingredient Partners and Peptides

  Asked about exclusive ingredients, Dan says supplier partnerships have shaped GHOST since day one, sometimes with first-to-market access. GHOST worked with NuLiv Science on GHOST-specific clinical or preclinical research examining AstraGin® alongside ingredients GHOST pairs it with, which Dan lists as choline, taurine, and carnitine. It also partnered with TSI on OptiCreatine™. The philosophy is one Dan has repeated for years: formulate for the 1%, build the brand for the 99%.

  On peptides, Dan speaks only for himself. He prefers tried-and-true options with more data and time behind them, and calls himself cautiously optimistic. He doesn't see peptides fitting GHOST, which has always avoided compliance risks and gray-area ingredients in favor of reputable, trademarked suppliers.

• 50:15 - Creatine Formats, Gummies, and Food

  Creatine in liquid is where Dan gets old school. He still has big concerns about creatine's stability in solution, and he wants to see data behind the new patents and products in that space. OptiCreatine lets GHOST pair a tried-and-true creatine monohydrate with GHOST flavors, plus an unflavored version that shows off its solubility.

  

  Gritty creatine that settles at the bottom of your shaker? GHOST is done with that. Their relaunched Creatine uses OptiCreatine™, which dissolves fully in under a minute.

  Gummies remain an open door with nothing on the horizon, since Dan has seen plenty of testing failures and products that need a pile of gummies to deliver an effective dose. On functional foods, Dan notes that adding real functional ingredients and claims blurs the line between food and supplement. He also believes creatine's mainstream surge comes more from interest in its cognitive research than from strength and muscle.

• 54:00 - GHOST's Partner Family

  Dan won't name the sample he shared with the guys before filming, which Mike says may or may not arrive next year. Instead, he points out what fan renders miss: GHOST won't make a soda collab with a Dr Pepper competitor, or a Kellogg's cereal flavor while working with General Mills. Fans should expect GHOST to keep doubling down with its family (KDP, General Mills, Warheads, Sonic, Welch's, and Sour Strips) instead of chasing random licenses.

  Ben notes KDP's plan to separate its coffee business and asks about GHOST K-Cups. Dan recalls a conversation about ten years ago, before KDP, but questions how much efficacy a hot-water machine could deliver. GHOST has plenty of low-hanging fruit already, and Dan says it'll be part of KDP's go-forward beverage company.

• 57:00 - Building a 100-Year Brand

  Imposter syndrome? Dan says GHOST works because he and co-founder Ryan Hughes see themselves as "one of the guys". They quit training together before GHOST because they talked business instead of lifting. Now they're on bigger companies' earnings calls, and Dan admits it hasn't fully sunk in, since they're focused on the 100-year brand. A chip on your shoulder helps, he says, if you remember your roots.

  Ben asks about C4, since KDP also holds a minority stake in Nutrabolt and distributes C4 and Bloom. Dan calls it a well-rounded portfolio with distinct customers, and credits KDP for growing from almost no energy business to about 20% of energy sales in some stores. He wants to win, but a rising tide lifts all ships.

• 1:01:00 - Why Pouches Don't Fit

  

  Four products, one tropical flavor. The Sydney Cummings x GHOST Mango Colada collection covers Legend, Greens, Clear Whey, and Hydration Drink, with the RTD joining a Sydney collab for the first time. All limited edition, so it's gone when it's gone.

  Pouches are booming, but Dan isn't a fan. He admits he doesn't know the category well, but sees a slippery slope from "functional" pouches to tobacco and nicotine. Companies have approached GHOST, and Dan recognizes the financial opportunity, but not every way to make a buck is worth pursuing when energy drinks, protein RTDs, and powders already keep the team busy.

  The hosts agree. Mike raised regulatory concerns at last year's SupplySide, since a pouch isn't swallowed like a dietary supplement. Ben dislikes the category's origins and doesn't want an industry already under a microscope sitting next to something so heavily regulated. Dan puts it simply: who you're on shelf next to matters as much as who you're not on shelf next to.

• 1:03:30 - The Yoo-hoo Launch Story

  Mike loves GHOST Protein Drink x Yoo-hoo Chocolate, and Dan ranks its story among his favorites of the year, partly because it never leaked. Yoo-hoo is a KDP trademark, and KDP's team questioned building on a dated brand. Dan called it crazy nostalgic and asked them to trust him, and he credits KDP for that trust.

  The launch plan was brutally simple: Dan and Ryan simultaneously posted the can with their sneakers, Ryan on Instagram and Dan on Twitter. No money, no campaign, no agency. It blew up, and Dan says it's selling well. Launching just one flavor was intentional, since chocolate is the top protein drink flavor anyway. GHOST can put all its capacity behind it, then use sales data and feedback to decide what's next.

• 1:06:15 - What's Next for Protein RTDs

  Ben recalls discussing protein RTDs with Dan and PricePlow's Cody last year (Bevlab Podcast Episode #1), then asks about more Yoo-hoo flavors. Dan pushes back on online posts claiming GHOST confirmed four new ones. In his opinion, there's only one Yoo-hoo flavor, though anything's on the table, and he points to GHOST's partner family for any future RTD flavors. GHOST chose ultra-filtered milk because the office already loves simple UF milk shakes, and Yoo-hoo felt nostalgic and "really GHOST".

  

  GHOST x Yoo-hoo Chocolate Protein RTD is happening. 25g protein, 110 calories, 11 oz can -- and it looks exactly like the collab you'd hope for. No full nutrition panel or release date yet, but we're watching closely.

  Mike argues GHOST has now beaten the originals with A&W, 7UP, and Yoo-hoo. Dan won't say that. "Authenticity is undefeated", he says, so the goal is capturing the original's essence. GHOST benchmarks sodas against their full-sugar versions and treats each collab as a modern take on an older classic.

• 1:11:45 - Fan Requests, Dr Pepper GHOST Energy, and Brand Personality

  Dan's only public statement on Dr Pepper GHOST Energy: "The people want it". The guys loved GHOST's National Dr Pepper Day post joking the day could have gone differently, and Dan admits he saw it when they did. That freedom is the point. If GHOST stops having fun and sparking conversation, from fans or critics, Dan says he'll hang up his cleats.

  The instinct dates to his previous company, where he jokingly tweeted a chicken-and-waffles protein sample that was never meant to launch. The company saw it as ego, but Dan saw what Blueberry Cream showed: "People want to be a part of the process." That belief helped push him to start GHOST with Ryan, and he credits KDP for letting GHOST stay itself.

• 1:15:30 - AI and Offline Community

  Mike has never heard Dan talk about AI. Dan says it hasn't really changed how GHOST works, or his personal life, yet, though he expects the next five years to look very different. Ben argues GHOST's community still runs on human ideas: someone loved Raspberry Cream enough to imagine Blueberry Cream, and AI only rendered it.

  Dan's optimistic view is that AI still needs human creativity to guide it, since it knows the world but not your business. Fan renders still require knowing GHOST and having a sense of humor. He also hopes a more digital world makes real-life connection more valuable, which is why GHOST's festivals and music events matter so much to him. In Dan's view, nothing replaces the offline world.

• 1:19:00 - SupplySide and Closing Thanks

  Dan plans to cruise SupplySide for a day, and he likes that living in Las Vegas means the industry comes to him. Ben notes that GHOST's team usually walks the floor quietly, scoping things out. Dan compares the two shows: SupplySide is a stadium show packed with meetings and dinners, while FNIS feels like an intimate show where people let their hair down, connect, and learn.

  To wrap up, Mike thanks Dan with a gift from podcast sponsor Perfect Shaker and Darren Thompson: a laser-etched shaker, maybe with a Blueberry Cream logo instead of the usual GHOST mark. A fitting finish, since the flavor fans dreamed up opened the show.

Where to Follow and Learn More

Connect with Dan Lourenço and GHOST

• Dan Lourenço on LinkedIn
• Dan Lourenço on X (Twitter)
• GHOST Lifestyle
• @ghostlifestyle on Instagram
• @ghostenergy on Instagram
• GHOST on PricePlow - Sign up for news alerts

Previous Episodes

• Episode #143: Dan Lourenço on Ghost Legend V4 and the Ghost 100 Year Plan
• Episode #116: Dan Lourenço on the Meteoric Rise of Ghost Energy
• Episode #118: Ghost, Glaxon, and Cellucor on Branded Ingredients (Kyowa Panel at SSW 2023)

Resources Mentioned

• GHOST Energy Raspberry Cream
• GHOST's Next Collab Era: Cloning Soda, Not Candy
• GHOST Energy Welch's Grape-Cran
• GHOST Energy x 7UP Lemon Lime
• GHOST Energy x A&W Root Beer
• Blue Raspberry GHOST Energy
• GHOST Legend V4 Overview
• GHOST Legend All Out
• Sydney Cummings x GHOST Mango Colada
• Rob Lipsett's Whiskey Sour GHOST Legend with Nitrosigine
• Maxx Chewning's GHOST Legend with VasoDrive-AP
• GHOST Pump
• GHOST Protein Bar Launch
• GHOST Protein Bar Mint Chocolate
• GHOST Whey x General Mills
• GHOST Protein Cereal x Trix
• GHOST Creatine: OptiCreatine™ Replaces Creapure®
• GHOST Protein Drink x Yoo-hoo Chocolate
• Keurig Dr Pepper's GHOST Acquisition
• GHOST's 2025 Festival Collaborations

Products Discussed

• GHOST Energy
• GHOST Legend
• GHOST Legend All Out
• GHOST Pump
• GHOST Protein Bar
• GHOST Protein Cereal
• GHOST Whey
• GHOST Creatine

GHOST has grown far beyond the pre-workout brand Dan and Ryan started, but this conversation kept landing in the same place: fans shaping flavors, products built around how people actually train and shop, and partners who let GHOST keep its voice. Thanks to Dan for hosting us at GHOST HQ. We'll be watching for Blueberry Cream's 2027 run and the new Legend lineup.

Thanks again to Perfect Shaker for sponsoring this episode. Check out their custom and laser-etched shakers at PricePlow.com/perfect-shaker, or hear how Darren Thompson built the company in Episode #209.

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