Meet Joey DiRocco, Flavorman's Youngest Client

Meet Flavorman's youngest client—12-year-old Joey DiRocco, Brand Ambassador of Sparklytes! Over several months, the Flavorman's Beverage Architects collaborated with Joey and his parents, Justin and Francesca Navarro, to develop a line of flavored hydration beverages for Sparklytes. This project was curated entirely through Joey's creative mind, love for sports, and philanthropic drive.

When Joey pondered the early ideas of what would become Sparklytes, he began researching "How to make a hydration beverage." This led him to find and choose Flavorman as his custom beverage developer to bring this vision to life. With his parents' support, Joey coordinated everything from discussions with our Business Development team to spending an entire Friday in our lab, where the Sparklytes team finalized their formulations. Joey, Justin, and Francesca agreed that their experience with Flavorman exceeded their expectations, and they felt warmly welcomed when walking through the Beverage Campus doors.

Sparklytes' brand mission is to encourage consumers to spread kindness, awareness, and the importance of a healthy lifestyle. To underscore this mission, Joey prioritized using all-natural ingredients and sweeteners in the formula, including coconut juice, lemon juice, monk fruit, and other carefully selected components. During their Lab Day at Flavorman, they tasted, reviewed, and finalized six flavors for their drink line: peach-mango, lemon-lime, blue raspberry, blueberry lemonade, cherry, and orange.

When asked about his dreams for Sparklytes' future, Joey envisions a successful venture that allows him to give back to his parents and donate to a non-profit called Easterseals Massachusetts. This organization provides essential services for adults and children with disabilities, and their work has significantly impacted Joey. Born with a visual impairment called congenital nystagmus, Joey received help from the specialists at Easterseals MA to assist in his reading and writing. Their support and being taught to use Assistive Technology Devices transformed his educational experience for the better, which ultimately drove the ambition behind Sparklytes.

Justin and Francesca are thrilled to take these recipes from Flavorman and scale them up to commercial levels. Both come from a background in the technology field, with a family-owned venture called "Sparkworx",a business consultation company. Despite being new to the Beverage Industry, they are excited to meet new people and learn the ins and outs. These proud parents completely support Joey's creative vision: "We want Joey to be successful and eventually take over the family business. But as parents, this is our way of giving back to him.