TRIP Gave Celebrities Equity Instead of Cash — and Built a Soft-Drinks Phenomenon
TL;DR: London-born TRIP, co-founded by Olivia Ferdi and Daniel Khoury, replaced the CBD in its drinks with a magnesium-and-botanical 'Mindful Blend' after a 2023 UK ruling, used an 'equity-for-advocacy' model to enlist stars like Kendall Jenner as shareholders, and is projecting roughly $200m in 2026 revenue at a reported $550m valuation.
TRIP is a lesson in turning a near-death regulatory shock into a growth story. The London brand, co-founded by chief executive Olivia Ferdi and Daniel Khoury, built an early lead in CBD drinks — reportedly around 88% of the UK CBD-drinks segment at its peak — before the UK Food Standards Agency slashed the recommended daily CBD intake in October 2023 and retailers pulled products from shelves.
The pivot that saved the business
Rather than fight the ruling, TRIP re-engineered the product. In early 2024 it launched a 'Mindful Blend' built on magnesium, lion's mane, ashwagandha and L-theanine — ingredients without CBD's regulatory baggage. The result: non-CBD lines reached over 90% of revenue within 14 months, and CBD now accounts for under 3% of sales. A brand defined by one ingredient survived by making that ingredient optional. For any founder, that is the masterclass — your category can be regulated away overnight, but your customer relationship and brand need not be.
'Equity-for-advocacy': the marketing model worth studying
TRIP's most copyable idea is how it pays for fame. Instead of writing large endorsement cheques, it gives talent equity. Kendall Jenner joined as a shareholder and global ambassador; Joe Jonas, Jamie Laing, Sophie Habboo and Madeline Argy also hold stakes. The incentive flips: advocates now want the brand to win because they own a slice of it, and their posts read as belief rather than paid promotion. It is cash-efficient for a scale-up and far more authentic than a one-off sponsored post — a model any ambitious smaller brand can adapt with revenue-share or affiliate equity.
Distribution and the discipline of claims
The brand now sits in roughly 20,000 US retail locations and has pushed into the mainstream fizzy-drinks aisle across the top dozen UK grocers — the hardest real estate in retail. That expansion came with a warning shot: in July 2025 the UK Advertising Standards Authority banned several TRIP ads for implying health benefits it could not substantiate. The current 'Calm in the Chaos' campaign leans on mood and subjective imagery rather than medical claims — a reminder that in wellness, how you say it is a compliance decision, not just a creative one.
The numbers, handled honestly
TRIP is projecting around $200m in revenue for 2026 and carries a reported valuation near $550m, up from over $300m in late 2025 after a $40m Series C. Those are investor-cited figures, not audited results, and the brand's own claim that only Coca-Cola, Red Bull and Monster have added shelf space faster measures the rate of gain, not total volume — the giants still vastly outsell it. But the trajectory is real, and the playbook — survive regulation by re-formulating, buy advocacy with equity, and earn shelf space the hard way — is one of the most instructive in UK consumer brands right now.
TRIP is my kind of growth story — it got punched by regulation and turned it into a reinvention. The equity-for-advocacy model is the bit every founder should steal: instead of renting a celebrity's attention for one post, you make them an owner who genuinely wants you to win. That's cheaper, more authentic, and it aligns everyone. Just keep your claims clean — the ASA is watching. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The takeaway: don't rent advocacy, align it — giving talent equity turns paid posts into genuine belief, and a regulatory shock into a reason to reinvent.
If your category were regulated or disrupted tomorrow, is your brand strong enough to survive a change of ingredients?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: BriefGlance, The Grocer, Retail Gazette, and funding announcements (figures investor-cited; verified across multiple sources).
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
