Yanni Hufnagel Finds His Footing in the Beverage Industry

Yanni Hufnagel is the CEO and founder of Lemon Perfect. He was born in 1982, in New York. Before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Hufnagel worked as an assistant basketball coach for ten years. Some university teams he worked with include California Golden Bears, Harvard Crimson, Vanderbilt, and Nevada Wolf Pack. He was successful in his coaching career, and many praised him for his tenacity and unique recruiting ability. During his time at Harvard, he led the team to win three Ivy League titles in a row.

Working with college athletes influenced him as a leader. He always wanted to win and was willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve his goals. When he started Lemon Perfect in 2017, he took the same desire and hunger to succeed in his new company. The firm is committed to making the world healthier. All the Lemon Perfect bottles are made from recyclable plastic, and the drink has organic ingredients. In 2019, BevNET recognized the new drink as one of the best products in the market at the time. It has zero sugar, five calories, potassium, vitamin C and no artificial sweeteners.

Although he was inexperienced in the beverage industry, Yanni Hufnagel had to make some difficult decisions in the early production stages of Lemon Perfect. He redesigned the bottle and changed the drink’s formula to make it shelf stable. One day some hawkeyed fans noticed a photo of the Dragon Fruit Mango flavor in Beyoncé’s limo. Even Hufnagel Himself was shocked that the music star was a fan of his brand. She later joined NNS Capital, Beechwood Capital, Goat Rodeo Capital, and Trousdale Ventures in investing $31 million in the brand. The investment took Lemon Perfect’s valuation to over $100 million.

Lemon Perfect’s expansion was a key driver of its financial growth. Hufnagel’s strategy and goal were to increase the sales team and scale the brand’s units to over 40,000 in 2022. In 2021 the company’s revenue stood at $21 million, a significant rise compared to previous years. The number of employees also increased to boost the company’s operations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people bought Lemon Perfect drinks because of limited competition. This helped develop the brand’s popularity.

Yanni Hufnagel is the CEO and founder of Lemon Perfect. He was born in 1982, in New York. Before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Hufnagel worked as an assistant basketball coach for ten years. Some university teams he worked with include California Golden Bears, Harvard Crimson, Vanderbilt, and Nevada Wolf Pack. He was successful in…