Health

This B.C.-based company has created Canada’s first hangover-free “functional” mocktail

In Good Company hits the fast-growing mocktail market with a drink that’s packed with prebiotics and vitamins.

By Kristi Alexandra /

These days, it seems there’s a non-alcoholic option for every spot you used to be able to get a drink; by now, most restaurants have a few zero-proof cocktails on the menu, there are mocktail brands like Edna’s recreating alcohol-free versions of the classics (like palomas and mules) and popular wine companies like Glimmer are giving legacy wineries a run for their money in taste with their zero-proof vintages.

Making a wine or a mocktail that tastes as good as the real thing—without the effects of alcohol—is one thing; but making a mocktail that adds to the experience—well, that’s new.

Enter In Good Company, a line of functional, zero-proof mocktails. The company, which launched just five months ago, produces non-alcoholic drinks infused with adaptogens, nootropics, prebiotic fibre and clean caffeine.

“We wanted something that went beyond just a non-alcoholic option,” Chantel Vandenburg, co-founder of In Good Company, tells BCBusiness. “Our drinks have things [that are] good for the brain, good for the nervous system, great for the gut. They’re really meant to give you a mood boost and a little bit of energy without the crash.”

Each can contains 50 milligrams of green coffee bean extract, four grams of prebiotic fibre and natural compounds that promote relaxation and mental clarity. 

“It’s functional in every sense,” the 35-year-old entrepreneur says. “A lot of people are drinking less, but they still want a buzz and a lift in energy or mood.”

Vandenburg’s idea came from her own journey to sobriety. 

“After I got sober, I tried every non-alcoholic drink out there,” she says. “A lot of them were full of sugar, and none of them made me feel good. I thought, ‘Why can’t there be something that tastes great, has functional benefits and actually leaves you feeling better the next day?’”

After that lightbulb moment, she and her co-founder Jess Stoller got to work. Nearly a year-and-a-half of product development later, they finalized their first line—four select mocktail flavours: The Comeback, 21 Coastline, Capitol Peak and Holy Smoke—and partnered with Calgary-based BevMax to manufacture it.

Chantel Vandenburg and Jess Stoller.

“We had no business being in beverages,” Vandenburg laughs. “We just made a billion calls, talked to food scientists and figured it out.” 

The duo made a big break this summer when it launched a dry bar inside the Badlands Tent at the Calgary Stampede, serving thousands of festival-goers. 

“Even drinkers were coming back for more,” says Vandenburg, noting that “zebra striping”—putting a non-alcoholic drink between every alcoholic drink—has become a popular technique for staying sober longer. 

“It showed that this isn’t just a sober drink. It’s for anyone who wants to feel good and stay sharp.”

The B.C.-founded, woman-owned brand has already sold through its first 54,000 cans, being stocked at select Fairmont Hotels and SOBR Market, an online non-alcoholic bottle shop that ships anywhere in Canada.

“People are drinking less, but they still want to connect, socialize and celebrate,” Vandenburg says.

Kristi Alexandra

Kristi Alexandra

Kristi Alexandra is the managing editor, food and culture, at Canada Wide Media. She loves food, travel, film and wine (but most of all, writing about them for Vancouver Magazine, Western Living and BCBusiness). Send any food and culture-related pitches to her at [email protected].