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Red Whey Paves the Way for Recovery

A Forestville company now has a foot in the game with University of Wisconsin – Madison sports, at least when players step off the field.

Country Ovens has created a line of cherry products for athletes, with the help of the UW – Madison Athletics Department and the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research.

John Dettmann, Director of Strength and Conditioning for UW –Madison’s athletic department, had been using cherry juice to help athletes recover after games for years. But Dettmann grew up in Algoma, and he wanted those cherries to come from the university’s home state.

“I’m a Wisconsin guy and had a connection via a friend of mine who worked at Country Ovens,” Dettmann said. “I decided to create a business relationship with them and buy our cherry juice out of Door County – and not Michigan or New York.”

Country Ovens created a snack pack of nuts and berries and small bottles of cherry juice and cherry juice with whey protein, called Red Whey, for UW – Madison athletes. The cherry juice comes from Door County and the whey protein comes from Luxemburg.

“[Red Whey] has everything that an athlete would need in order to recover from a strenuous workout,” said Jeremy Paszczak, Country Ovens marketing coordinator.

Kimberlee Burrington of the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research said whey protein is one of the best for muscle recovery and cherry juice has antioxidants, potassium and carbohydrates that also help athletes recover.

That’s why Dettmann wanted to get a product like Red Whey to UW – Madison athletes. It’s all about recovery.

“You get much faster muscle recovery if you combine carbohydrates and protein,” Burrington said.

Most sports drinks, like Gatorade, don’t have protein and just help athletes replenish electrolytes, or salts, lost during strenuous exercise. Red Whey is unique because of its protein and juice combination, Paszczak said.

“I think this is something that’s going to open up a whole new genre of performance beverages,” Paszczak said.

Once Country Ovens can get a good supply of the products, Paszczak said they plan to market to other high school, college and professional sports teams.