# Tenzing: How to scale a challenger energy drink

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807/tenzing-how-to-scale-a-challenger-energy-drink
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807/tenzing-how-to-scale-a-challenger-energy-drink.md
Podcast: [Business Leader](https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807)
Published: 2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/business-leader-podcast/episodes/tenzing-how-to-energise-your-drinks-brand-to-take-on-the-big
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/665f2584aa134f0012248c29/e/6978c3524c57a3b32ea72594/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/business-leader-5718807/episodes/tenzing-how-to-scale-a-challenger-energy-drink
Duration seconds: 3201

## Resource

Hub van Bockel shares his story with Richard Harpin about founding Tenzing, a natural energy drink brand inspired by Himalayan sherpas. Drawing on his marketing background at Unilever, MTV, and Red Bull, van Bockel explains how he identified a gap in the market for low-sugar, plant-based alternatives to artificial energy drinks. But how do you take on incumbents in such a competitive space? He explains his bootstrapping strategy, which to begin with focused on niche communities like climbing and running. He also explains how he slowly wooed major retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury's. But it all really began with a pitch deck he presented to convince his wife of the risks. Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Join the Business Leader community here and sign up for our newsletter here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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## Transcript

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