Meehan Family Investments Moves From Vodka Soda to Brain Health

Paul and Melissa Meehan built NÜTRL Vodka Soda and sold it to Labatt in 2020. Their family office has now led the seed round for PONO Wellness, a Vancouver brain-health start-up. IHR looks at how the Meehans invest, what happened to NÜTRL after the sale, and what brands and stores should settle now.

By IHR Editorial Team, November 11, 2026

How Paul and Melissa Meehan choose brands, what became of the last one they built, and what a supplier or store should settle before working with the next.

NÜTRL Vodka Soda went from launch to a sale to Labatt in about three years, and its two founders owned all of it. On November 10 their family office, Meehan Family Investments, led the seed round for PONO Wellness, a Vancouver brain-health start-up that has not yet sold a unit. The cognitive aisle now has an investor whose record is building a brand and passing it to a far larger company.

Terms were not disclosed. The family office takes one seat on PONO’s board, and both Meehans become strategic advisors. PONO plans to launch its first product, a focus drink mix, online in early 2027.

The third deal of 2026 is unlike the first two

The Meehans have announced three investments in eight months. Set side by side, the PONO deal stands apart on every line.

The alcohol deals bought into brands that were already selling. The wellness deal funds one before its first sale, and it comes from the family’s own office instead of the platform built for drinks. PONO’s release says the investment complements the Meehans’ wellness portfolio. Neither the release nor the family office’s website names another wellness holding.

Meehan Family Investments backs a name, a promise and a person

Paul Meehan has spent more than 30 years in consumer brand marketing. He ran a creative agency in Vancouver and took control of the Goodridge & Williams distillery in 2013. NÜTRL followed in 2017.

His public comments on each 2026 deal use the same test. On ChillyOnes he praised the name itself as a valuable trademark. On PONO he cited a great name, a simple promise and a founder who sweats the detail. The family office’s website describes its method as partnership with founders, with marketing and strategy help alongside capital. PitchBook lists it as a single-family office with one investment professional.

Richard Pollock built Ener-C into a 15,000-store brand

The person in this case is Richard Pollock, and his record explains how a company with no sales attracted a lead investor.

In 1999 he founded Vitascorb Supplements and took the Canadian licence for Emergen-C, the American vitamin C drink mix. In 2013 he co-founded Ener-C through Pauling Labs as a non-GMO alternative. Ener-C earned NSF’s Non-GMO True North certification in 2017 and launched a sugar-free version across Canada in January 2021. By late 2021 it was in more than 15,000 retail locations in 11 markets, from Canada and the United States to Australia and the United Arab Emirates. That figure comes from a Blender Bites release naming him to its advisory board.

His exit ran through a partner. Pauling Labs formed a joint venture with Australia’s Martin & Pleasance in 2016 and later merged into Martin & Pleasance North America. PONO’s release ranks Emergen-C and Ener-C first and third among vitamin C brands in Canada, though it names no data source and IHR could not confirm the ranking.

Pollock says he has known the Meehans for more than 20 years and that Paul Meehan worked with him on Ener-C’s brand design. Both of his earlier brands grew up in health food stores and pharmacies, the channels his sales arm said it served. PONO is his first to start online.

A seed cheque written on those terms is a bet that brand craft, more than formulation, decides who wins the focus category. Established supplement brands should expect a competitor that looks and markets like a drink.

What Labatt did with NÜTRL is the part to study

When Labatt bought Goodridge & Williams in January 2020, the distillery had 15 employees and NÜTRL sold in five provinces from British Columbia to Ontario. Neither side disclosed the price. Paul Meehan put its share at close to half of the vodka soda segment. Labatt said it would use its distribution to take the brand national, and kept him on to lead innovation and marketing.

Anheuser-Busch then carried it south. NÜTRL entered 11 American states in late 2021 and went national in 2022. The brewer has since cited Circana data ranking it second among spirits-based seltzers in the United States. In 2026 it became the hard seltzer sponsor of the FIFA World Cup.

NÜTRL sold in five provinces when Labatt bought it. Within three years its new owner was selling it across the United States.

That path matters to anyone who stocks or competes with a Meehan-backed brand. The early stockists prove the product. If a strategic buyer arrives, the same product then reaches every chain, and the independent’s head start ends. Price, territory and exclusivity are easier to settle at the first order than after a sale.

The cognitive aisle carries a risk the drinks aisle never did

A vodka soda makes no health claim. A focus product in Canada lives or dies on licensed wording, and drinks-style marketing leans on words the licence does not contain.

PONO’s release targets brain fog. Health Canada’s Cognitive Function Products monograph, dated January 30, 2026, permits claims on cognitive function, memory and attention. Its claim tables include neither “brain fog” nor “mental clarity”. The pack image issued with the release shows 75 mg of caffeine a stick, while the monograph’s alertness claim applies at 100 to 200 mg per dose. The caffeine monograph also bars relaxation claims on any caffeinated product.

The money is still chasing the category. Allied Market Research valued Canada’s nootropic supplement market at US$86.3 million in 2022 and projects US$156.8 million by 2032. Health Canada has also shown industry a proposed registration pathway that would let monograph-based products reach market without pre-market review. Investors who know branding better than licensing will need regulatory help early, and stores that repeat a start-up’s pitch at the counter inherit its wording. IHR’s report on unauthorized peptides showed where that leads.

What to settle now

1. If you manage a cognitive brand, review your own claim language this quarter. A well-funded entrant draws competitors’ and regulators’ attention to the whole aisle.
2. If an investor-backed start-up asks for a listing, ask who sits on its board and what happens to your terms if the brand is sold.
3. Get the price policy in writing before the first order, and compare it with the brand’s own website price.
4. Ask for the Natural Product Number and use only the licensed wording on signage. IHR’s piece on four brain-health customers shows how to merchandise on evidence.
5. Watch the two Meehan vehicles separately. Alcohol deals have come through me&brands and wellness through the family office.

The family office has not said whether PONO is a single bet or the start of a wellness portfolio, and its next announcement will answer that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are Paul and Melissa Meehan?

Paul and Melissa Meehan are Vancouver entrepreneurs who co-created NÜTRL Vodka Soda at their British Columbia distillery, Goodridge & Williams. The distillery also made Tempo gin, Bitterhouse aperitifs and Sid vodka. Labatt Breweries of Canada, part of Anheuser-Busch InBev, bought the business in January 2020 and kept all of its staff.

What is me&brands?

me&brands is the beverage alcohol investment and brand-building platform the Meehans founded. It announced a strategic investment in Los Sundays Tequila on June 24, 2026, and is leading that brand’s Canadian launch along with a tequila soda. It is separate from Meehan Family Investments, which made the PONO investment.

How much did Meehan Family Investments put into PONO?

The amount has not been disclosed. PONO’s release says only that Meehan Family Investments is the lead investor in the seed financing. It does not give the size of the round, the valuation, the stake acquired or the names of any other investors.

What is PONO Wellness?

PONO Wellness Inc. is a Vancouver company founded by Richard Pollock, who is its chief executive. Its first product, PONO Energy Focus, is a drink mix in single-serve stick packs aimed at mental energy and focus. The company says it will launch online in Canada and the United States in early 2027.

This is independent editorial analysis by IHR Magazine. It references PONO Wellness and its investors as an example of capital moving into the cognitive category and is not an endorsement. PONO’s product has not launched; verify NPN status and licensed claims before stocking or promoting any product.

Sections: Brain Series Business News