THIS DIDN'T START
WITH A
BUSINESS PLAN.
IT STARTED WITH
WANTING
SOMETHING REAL.
A bag of dried hibiscus, a food science class, and frustration with the beverage industry.
I COULDN'T FIND A DRINK I ACTUALLY FELT GOOD ABOUT.
I was doing everything else right — eating better, working out, actually caring about what I put in my body. Then I'd pick up an energy drink and feel like I'd just undone all of it in one can.
"I needed something different."
So I started making my own. That wasn't a business plan. It was a personal decision. But once I made something I actually trusted — real superfoods, brewed from scratch, nothing I'd have to explain away — I figured if I needed that, other people probably did too.
FROM OUR KITCHEN TO YOURS.
Frustrated with every energy drink on the market, Clayton and his wife Phoebe start experimenting in their own kitchen — hibiscus, acerola cherry, and an early formula that didn't taste like a compromise yet.
There was no shortcut. Batch after batch, Clayton and Phoebe kept adjusting the blend until it stopped tasting like a compromise — real hibiscus, real acerola cherry, nothing they'd have to explain away.
Clayton and Phoebe traded the kitchen for a small canning facility in Watkinsville, Georgia. Same standard, just enough room to grow it. Nights canning, days sampling in stores, long before anyone outside Georgia had heard of HIBO.
Earth Fare took a chance on HIBO first, back in 2020. One shelf, no guarantee anyone would notice. Clayton sampled it himself, store by store, learning directly from the people buying it.
One store became a few. A few became Target and a growing list of specialty health retailers across the southeast. Years after that first yes from Earth Fare, HIBO began sitting on the same shelf as the brands that caused the frustration in the first place, but with a completely different standard.
Today that means Amazon, new specialty accounts, and seven flavors built with real superfoods. The people finding HIBO now are looking for exactly what we built back in that kitchen. Our movement doesn't end here. This is just the beginning.
HEALTH SHOULDN'T BE A COMPROMISE.
HIBO exists because the energy drink industry decided that taste and performance mattered more than what's actually in the can. We disagree. You shouldn't have to choose between energy that works and superfoods you trust. Healthy starts with superfoods.
WANT TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S IN EVERY CAN?
We link to the clinical studies. We explain every ingredient. We show you the sourcing. Because if we're asking you to trust us, you should be able to verify it.