The Neighborhood Beverage Company (NBC), parent company of Once Upon a Coconut (the premium coconut water brand reportedly known for clean ingredients and mission-driven hydration), announced the acquisition of Punch'd Energy, the original patented natural caffeine gummy brand founded in 2015 by John Pinelli. The move marks a significant expansion of NBC's better-for-you portfolio into the functional energy category, the company says.

Punch'd Energy reportedly pioneered the caffeine gummy category with a patented formula made from green coffee bean caffeine, real superfruit, and 100% all-natural, organic ingredients. Free from artificial additives, high-sugar formulations, and synthetic stimulants, Punch'd aims to offer consumers a genuinely customizable personal energy experience. Individual gummies allow consumers to personalize their intake from 10 mg all the way up to a full 100-mg pack, putting performance in the hands of the person reaching for it. The brand's portfolio includes single-serve packs, 50-count pouches, and a 200-gummy jar purpose-built for large-format retail, including club store environments like Costco, where Once Upon a Coconut recently launched its Coconut Water + Chocolate line across the Southeast and Texas.

"Punch'd isn't just a great product, it's a category-defining one," says John Chiorando, CEO of both The Neighborhood Beverage Company and Once Upon a Coconut. "The idea that energy should be personal, portable, and clean is exactly how we think about hydration. Bringing Punch'd into the OUAC family means we can put the power of real, natural energy into more hands, in more places, at the formats that make sense for how people actually live."

"Once Upon a Coconut doesn't just sell products, they build movements," says John Pinelli, founder and CEO of Punch'd Energy. "What John Chiorando and this team have done in the coconut water space is exactly what I set out to do with Punch'd: prove that clean, real ingredients can outperform the junk on the shelf every single time. This partnership isn't the end of the Punch'd story... it's the chapter where we actually go big. Punch'd has spent ten years building this for the consumer who deserves better, and now we have the platform to reach them."

The acquisition pairs Punch'd Energy's patented formulation and category-first positioning with Once Upon a Coconut's rapidly expanding retail footprint, investment-backed infrastructure, and proven playbook for scaling better-for-you brands into major national retail chains.

Related: Awake Chocolate grows its revenue by 55%