It started with an allergic reaction.
Nearly a decade ago, while Luis Manta was a sophomore midfielder on the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team, he realized that the sports drinks he had spent years consuming were actually harming him. His body was sensitive to one of the dyes used to give those drinks their appealing colors, and Manta was determined to find an alternative.
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“The team had me drinking coconut water, but I absolutely hated coconut water,” he says. “I figured there had to be another natural product that’s just fruit and water.”
A quick Google search led Manta to Korean pears, which are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Inside his campus apartment, he started blending the pear juice with lemon and water. Manta guzzled the homemade concoction during practices, and then began handing out extras to teammates, along with friends at parties and in the gym. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and soon Manta realized he had a business idea at his fingertips.
With the support of professors in SLU’s Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, Manta began building the company that would become Seoul Juice. Now, the business Manta started in his dorm has gone national. The hydrating beverage is available at convenience stores and grocers—including Dierbergs Markets—in more than a dozen states. And Manta, who grew up in Arizona and now lives in Southern California, hasn’t forgotten the important role that teammates, mentors, and charitable advisors in St. Louis played in getting Seoul Juice off the ground. His goal is to eventually move the company headquarters to St. Louis.
“We wouldn’t exist without the City of St. Louis and Saint Louis University,” Manta says.
Although the company’s origins can be traced back to the sidelines of SLU’s Robert R. Hermann Stadium, Seoul Juice is marketed as more than merely a sports drink. Sure, athletes with national profiles, including United States Men’s National Team forward Jordan Morris, Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, and former college basketball stars Hanna and Haley Cavinder are working to pitch the product. But Manta believes the combination of taste and health benefits, such as electrolytes and potassium, make Seoul Juice appealing to several demographics.
“We want to be an everyday kind of hydration option, as opposed to focusing on athletes,” Manta says. “But I think athletes are looking for more natural hydration alternatives, too, so it works for a lot of different people.”
In St. Louis, bottles of Seoul Juice can be found in shops like United Provisions, The Wine & Cheese Place, and Saint Louis Hop Shop, among others. But landing a deal with a major grocer like Dierberg’s was a major win for Manta and company.
“We’ve gotten so much love from the St. Louis community,” Manta says. “It’s just so cool how our drink is outselling a lot of big brands because the community is so engaged with helping us out. They love the product, too, which helps. But just being so St. Louis-proud has been really cool.”
