Black CEO Becomes One of the Youngest to Have Vitamin Water Product Sold at Walmart

Hylux – a Black, millennial founded vitamin-enhanced water product – is launching nationwide this week on Walmart.com.

Founded by CEO Lamar Letts in 2016 while he was still a student at Northeastern, the product’s availability on Walmart.com makes Letts, 27, one of the youngest founders to have products sold at the world’s largest retailer. Hylux also launched on Amazon.com earlier this year.   

“We are extremely excited to have Hylux sold on Walmart.com,” said Letts, who is a former track athlete and Long Island native.

“We created Hylux with a mission, and it was born out of need to provide athletes with nutritional hydration as an alternative to sugary sports drinks. To have Walmart be a part of that mission is a major milestone for the company and shows their desire to help people lead healthy lifestyles while supporting Black and millennial founded companies.”

The vitamin water was created as an alternative to mainstream sports drinks after Letts suffered a college athletic career-ending injury that made him re-think his diet. Letts’ condition was known as myocarditis – the inflammation of the middle layer of the heart wall. The wake-up call prompted the then-college-student to team up with a food scientist and work to create the beverage. While Letts initially launched the product from his dorm room, in the last five years the company has taken on notable investors from the National Basketball Association (NBA) and began working with a large beverage distributor- leading to Hylux’s nationwide availability at multiple retailers. 

The launch on Walmart.com came just days before the U.S. observed National Black Business Month in August – a day started more than a decade ago to commemorate Black-owned businesses and organization. Letts hopes the launch will also help encourage people to lead healthier lifestyles. 

“Particularly at a time when more people are reconsidering their lifestyle choices during the pandemic, being mindful of a healthy diet has never been more important – especially in the Black community,” said Letts, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica before he was born. “With our products now being sold on Walmart.com, we know that more people will have access to healthy alternatives.”

Hylux’s unique health benefits include four different electrolytes: B-Complex vitamins, 100% of the daily value of Vitamin C, and more potassium than a banana. The 80-calorie beverage quickly hydrates with both the nutrition of a sports drink and the health benefits of water – all with less sugar than similar drinks. Hylux is a product of Elite Super Foods © Delaware C-Corp.

Walmart.com shoppers can find Hylux in various flavors including strawberry kiwi, red dragon fruit and pomegranate raspberry flavors.