Elevator pitch: Ārepa

Elevator Pitch, brought to you by Flick We gave Angus Brown a little longer than an elevator ride to pitch Ārepa, a caffeine-free mental clarity drink that has ingredients derived from New Zealand-sourced pine and blackcurrants. While coffee is most humans’ vice of choice for increased mental performance, we all can agree that it has its downsides. Once you’re in a couple of coffees deep, the caffeine-driven energy boost often gives way to less desirable side effects, such as jitters, a fast-beating heart and other anxious tendencies. Meanwhile, the alternative – energy drinks – aren’t exactly packaged up in the healthiest way, considering they contain large amounts of sugar and preservatives. This gap in the market for a drink that increases mental performance without any of the unwanted consequences is where the idea for Ārepa (alpha in Māori) was born. Co-founder Angus Brown says it sparked from him working for a large multinational energy drink company, but not being fond of selling caffeine and sugar to improve cognitive performance. “I lost a couple of grandparents to brain-related illness, and from there I also saw friends and family struggle with anxiety and stress, so I thought, ‘Surely we can make something that’s good for you and good for your brain’,” Brown says. “Caffeine and energy drinks make you more alert, but don’t do anything for anxiety and stress levels – they exacerbate stress rather than helping manage it.” Ārepa is intended to be a focusing-yet-calming drink for people to consume to improve cognition functions before a stressful task, be it a social situation, public speaking event, or a sports competition. It consists of a patented formula that uses New Zealand plant extracts of blackcurrants and pine bark, enzogenol (often used as a natural alternative for Ritalin), L-theanine (an amino acid […]

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