Hussein Warmack is on a mission to make lemonade hip. 

 

 

Warmack, 35, grew up in Detroit and spent about five years in brand management for The Coca-Cola Co. before striking out on his own. 

 

After evaluating the beverage market, Warmack decided to create lemonades because, he says, just about everybody likes lemonade, but it is vastly underserved. 

 

"All the lemonade brands that are out there right now are about grandma,” said Warmack, founder and CEO of United Beverage Group Inc. "You've heard that story over and over.” 

 

Warmack established Atlanta-based United Beverage last year and began bringing the company's six flavors of Nu South Lemonade and its Nu South Grape Soda north in June with backing from John Hantz, CEO of Southfield-based Hantz Group . This year, Hantz plans to invest between $700,000 and $1 million in Nu South, and that could increase substantially, he said, if test-marketing underway in five local 7-Eleven stores succeeds and the brand expands into all the company's Southeast Michigan stores. 

 

 

 

Warmack's main challenges, analysts say, are getting the ultra-trend-conscious youth market to embrace lemonade over the emerging energy-drink category dominated by companies such as Red Bull and Monster , as well as battling health concerns over drinks with lots of sugar and calories. 

 

Warmack's tactic is to market his bright-colored, lemonade flavors to ages 12-24 through racing sponsorships and store promotional events, as well as niche marketing techniques designed to position his lemonade as a cool, edgy drink. 

 

Nu South has flavored lemonades to represent various states in the South: watermelon for Alabama, blueberry for North Carolina, mango for Florida, and plain old lemonade for Tennessee. Georgia gets two: strawberry and peach. The company also has a discount line of three fruit drinks called Southern Sippers to be sold in stores such as Big Lots . 

 

So far, Nu South is sold in about five states in the South, including about 400 stores in the Atlanta area as well as about 250 independent stores in metro Detroit. 7-Eleven's local test-marketing includes stores in Roseville and St. Clair Shores. 

 

"We agreed to test the product for about a month to see what would happen with the sales,” said Mike Dutrieux, merchandising manager for Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. 's Great Lakes region. Dutrieux said the results have been positive so far.