Mike Repole: Snack Satisfaction This Time?
The legendary beverage entrepreneur (Vitaminwater, BodyArmor) has once again trained his sights on a food brand, this time Junkless. Mike Repole bought the brand three years ago and started a gut renovation; now he’s quietly brought on two experienced hands, Frank Zampardi (CCO) and Chris Pruneda (COO), to help build out the snack bar brand. But Repole’s overwhelming success in the liquid space hasn’t yet translated to solid food; the closest he’s come was a run as owner of Pirate’s Booty, which sold to Hershey’s but for nowhere near the eye-popping dollars that came from selling drink brands to Coke. Is this his best shot at harnessing his well-known drive, or is he too distracted by other ventures (NoBull, the St. John’s U. basketball team) to manifest as a snacking thoroughbred?