![a close up of a bottle: Drinks industry veteran Niall Phelan has struck international distribution deals for his latest venture, The Naked Collective. (stock photo)](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"27","h":"17","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19sxhf.img?h=168&w=270&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
© Jake Wallace
Drinks industry veteran Niall Phelan has struck international distribution deals for his latest venture, The Naked Collective. (stock photo)
Drinks industry veteran Niall Phelan has struck international distribution deals for his latest venture, The Naked Collective.
The startup’s Mude range of drinks and no-alcohol So.Beer – created by Phelan and his co-founder Catherina Butler during the lockdown and brought to market this month – are to be available through 20,000 UK stores by next summer, according to the company.
The Naked Collective has also landed a Canadian distribution deal and plans to launch the vitamin-rich drinks in the US, Italy and Asia, it said.
An Irish distribution deal will also see the new vegan-friendly isotonic drinks available in 3,000 Irish stores, and a further 3,000 bars and restaurants here, by the summer of next year in Ireland. They are currently available in Tesco, BWG’s Spar, Londis and Mace stores in Ireland and in Circle K from this week.
“We recognised a serious gap in the market,” said Phelan. “Millennials care about being informed and see products and brands as extensions of themselves especially when it comes to their thinking and beliefs on how humans affect the planet environmentally.
“They also have the greatest affinity with health and wellness activities and our vegan ingredients, zero plastic and carbon neutral creation appeals to them,” he added.
