Chicago Company Launches Dairy-Based Sports Drink

A Chicago-based start-up company has launched GoodSport, a sports drink that’s 97% dairy and aims to compete nationally against leading brands. GoodSport is already available on the Company Website, and will soon be available on Amazon, but broader retail distribution is planned for later this year.

The product was launched with support from the dairy checkoff and other industry groups, including the checkoff-funded Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The university showed GoodSport how ultrafiltration could harness milk’s electrolytes, vitamins, and carbohydrates and remove its protein to create a clear, light beverage with a mouthfeel that consumers expect from a sports drink.

Company officials add GoodSport is not only the first-of-its-kind natural sports drink made with milk, but it also promotes sustainability in the industry. Dairy companies often ultrafilter milk and use the protein to make products like cheese but can’t use the nutrient-rich part of the milk, called permeate. That means GoodSport rescues a byproduct from dairy companies to produce its beverage.

“GoodSport carries dairy’s healthy halo,” says Pennsylvania dairy farmer Marilyn Hershey, who serves as chair of Dairy Management Incorporated. “It not only offers delicious refreshment and nutrition from dairy, but it supports our industry’s sustainability mission. It’s a new way to talk about milk, and it’s exciting for dairy farmers.”

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com