Hangover-busting' supplementary drink targets European growth

Hangover cure? Apparently so as one US start-up claims the consequences of a heavy night could be resigned to the past for Europeans, should the brand debut on this side of the pond.

Following a brand overhaul – including a new name – Sure Shot, formerly Safety Shot, is touted by its president Jordan Schur as the next big thing in drinking culture.

“This brand is really about a movement in culture, it’s a lifestyle we’re promoting and actively creating a new approach to how people drink and manage their lifestyles in a healthier way,” he says.

The product launched in the States, under its original name, towards the end of 2023 and reportedly sold out. It contains a blend of vitamins, minerals, and botanical ingredients that, Schur claims, are natural and have been specifically formulated to combat the effects of alcohol consumption in as little as 30 minutes – including cognitive function, wellbeing, and even lower blood alcohol levels.

“It’s hard for people to believe they can drink a product that’s good for them, that is also natural and lowers blood alcohol levels rapidly,” he says.

But how does it work? Schur is quick to shroud the product with secrecy, making clear there are formulation protections in place to prevent competition from using the recipe.

However, chief operating officer and co-inventor David Sandler gives a vague description of its workings. “It works in a few different mechanisms,” he says. “There’s no one fix to everything, it’s like allergy medicine – no single ingredient [we researched] was likely to be able to solve the increase of alcohol and how you feel the next day. It’s taken years to develop.”

How does it feel using the product as a drinker? “It first helps to improve focus and cognition. You start to feel like you’re coming round,” continues Sandler. “We’ve put ingredients in [the product] that reduce the alcohol from being absorbed after you’ve been drinking. It will reduce the amount of alcohol that you’re assimilating. We’ve included ingredients that help to break down alcohol faster.”

The ingredients used are all “GRAS” (Generally Recognized As Safe) ingredients, they both say, with confidence that they are natural. Other ingredients in the drink are claimed to combat the negative side effects of alcohol post-consumption, such as a build-up of toxins, fatigue, and even headaches.

“Nobody believes it,” Sandler says when asked if it’s real. “I didn’t when I was introduced to the original concept. It’s never been done before. When a first happens, nobody ever believes it.”

But Schur has confidence that consumers’ lack of faith won’t be an issue. “We don’t have to worry about that, people will drive [a great distance] to a destination for something they want.”

Of course, Sure Shot has science to back its credentials. The business recently published the results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled test that focused on the effects of alcohol before and after Sure Shot’s consumption. Blood alcohol levels were tested by researchers every 30 minutes after alcohol was consumed, with breathalyzer tests also included. A reduction in blood alcohol levels was noted, as well as test participants reportedly feeling better after taking Sure Shot.

The science of hangovers is not fully understood, however. Some scientists have therefore thrown doubt on the efficacy of Sure Shot. Though in a world where younger adult drinkers are consuming less alcohol or none at all, questions about the longevity of a product like Sure Shot must also be called into question.

Again, Schur doesn’t seem phased by this. “You still have [young adults] walking out of clubs at three in the morning and buying breathalyzers and then taking our product and going from slurring to being [more competent] in 30 minutes.”

This type of activity is already making the rounds on social media, he says, adding while there may be a reduction in the number of people drinking, there is no doubt alcohol consumption won’t be disappearing any time soon.

With this, Schur outlines expansion plans for the sub-one-year-old business. “We are expanding in Europe and China,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of middlemen and distributors asking to buy containers of these things and we’re going to start fulfilling these orders and expand.”

The business is “well-capitalized” to grow quickly, with Schur confident his product could be on the shelves of convenience stores and supermarkets in multiple territories within a matter of weeks or months, rather than years.