Ārepa’s had a spectacular rise - and a significant fall before it picked up again. And founder Angus Brown has also been on a big personal journey of his own. 

After losing loved ones to cognitive-related conditions, Brown told Kerre Woodham on the Bosses Unfiltered podcast that he wanted to develop a solution - a drink that was significantly healthier than the usual sugar-packed energy drinks.  

“I started to think - why can’t we make something that’s natural, that’s good for you, that doesn’t contain caffeine? And could we work with a neuroscientist to develop it, so that when we put it through a clinical study, we could show that it actually had a benefit to the brain? And then if they consumed that regularly, could it make their brain work better?”

It was a compelling concept, but it took a while to get off the ground. After a few rejections and some failed projects, Brown managed to meet with a neuroscience expert based in Australia to develop a drink designed to match his vision.

“The goal for our business is that we want to make brains work better through science-backed nutrition and that if we can push out a healthier brain for longer, then there’s less economic burden later on in life… it took a while for him to be convinced that he should work with Angus Brown from Hawke’s Bay.”

The new formula utilised two locally-sourced key ingredients- pine bark extract and a specially-produced type of blackcurrant, dubbed ‘neuroberry’. Once Brown’s team managed to get the flavour right, the product was ready to be taken out for testing. Brown revealed that he was committed to investing in the drink’s future, despite the significant cost.

“A clinical study could cost anywhere from $80,000 to $1.5 million. But from the foundation of the business, we wanted to invest more in the science upfront than whatever we could afford later on marketing because we think the science is more defensible if we can actually show something.”

After more tests, the new and improved Ārepa started generating some buzz, and even the All Blacks got involved. Things were going well, sales were growing, and positive headlines kept coming. But then things began to turn and competitors started to raise concerns.

“We had a journalist come knocking on our door to say - hey, we hear that you’re going to get a letter from MPI soon. And we’re going - what letter from MPI, we don’t really know what’s going on here? And then we had MPI touch base with us to say - we’re going to issue you a notification. Turns out, a whole bunch of competitors had complained about our science communication.”

Ārepa had to update its website and associated platforms to clarify that the earlier scientific claims were unsubstantiated. This story spread over to TVNZ and the New Zealand Herald, but Brown clarified to Kerre that the snafu wasn’t as straightforward as it appeared.

“There was a whole piece on us that was already prepped…and TVNZ had brought in an ‘expert scientist’ to comment and they chose the scientist that we had worked with on our old formula that didn’t work to comment on our research. And he was not aware of what we had coming through the pipeline.”

The mistake impacted Ārepa and cost them millions in lost revenue, and Brown revealed he and his team never got the chance to get on air and have their say. Things were later corrected, but the ship had sailed on Ārepa’s reputation.

“We didn’t know what we could or couldn’t say and I was so scared that if we spoke truly about the science and really defended ourselves publicly that MPI would say - no, you’re in even more trouble and pull the products off the shelves. Which would have resulted in even more of a revenue decline for us.”

Sales are going strong to this day, even if Brown admits they’re ‘haunted’ by this incident. Luckily, he revealed to Kerre he’s still feeling optimistic about the future ahead. 

“We still have really interesting opportunities abroad, we’re still here and we believe we can grow. We’ve just launched a brand new product and we plan to launch new products, we’re going out to retailers. So it’s been a two-year comeback plan.”