How Pre-Diabetes Helped One Founder Build a More Intentional Beverage Brand  

The better-for-you beverage space has exploded over the past few years, so it takes a solid vision for a new brand to stand out. For Perfy founder Vasa Jurich, that vision stemmed from a difficult time in his own life—and the desire to create a community for others in similar situations. 

In 2017, after his mother received a cancer diagnosis and he was met with a string of other losses in his life, Jurich felt like his life (and his health) were spiraling out of control. “I developed some terrible habits, put on a bunch of weight, and developed pre-diabetes,” he says. “I needed to climb my way out. And in doing so, I wanted to help others going through what I was going through.” 

The Grief-Health Connection 

Everyone deals with grief in different ways. 

Jurich knew that he needed help with losing the weight he had put on and reversing his pre-diabetes diagnosis, so he checked himself into a camp in Carlsbad, CA that was focused on “rigorous training and lifestyle changes”. “I took a loan out to afford it, but it was the right choice,” he says. “That was my first step.” 

There, he learned about managing blood sugar spikes and using physical activity to take control of his weight, and he finally felt ready to continue with these lifestyle changes when he returned to his normal life. 

The progress was slow-going, but when his mother later lost her battle with cancer in December of 2023, Jurich realized he needed to change his habits—for good. “After I lost my mom, something woke up in me,” he says. “It took some time, but finally one day I decided to get back to normal. And when I flipped that switch it happened fast.” 

“Grief broke my relationship with my health,” he says. “And then rebuilt it.” 

Perfy: Low-Sugar, Adaptogenic Sodas 

During this time, Jurich was laying the foundation for what would become Perfy: a line of better-for-you sodas designed to “boost your mood, not your blood sugar”. The name was a way to honor Jurich’s mother; when he was a toddler, he called her “perfy” because he wasn’t able to say “perfect” or “pretty,”  and it became a longstanding inside joke between the two.

Perfy was the culmination of everything Jurich had learned during his time reversing his own pre-diabetes, and a way to do something good in a food industry dominated by what he calls “Big Soda”. 

Here’s what sets Perfy sodas apart: 

• They’re low in sugar. Perfy is up to 95% lower in sugar than conventional sodas (based on the brand’s calculations, their sodas have 2g-4g per can versus up to 50g in conventional sodas). Instead, they’ve replaced cane sugar and high fructose
  corn syrup with real fruit juice, stevia, and monk fruit.
• They’re made with mood-boosting ingredients. Perfy sodas are made with nootropics and adaptogens that boast a variety of mood-supportive benefits. In each can, you’ll find L-theanine, ashwagandha, and turmeric, all of which are safe and effective for use over time. 
• They’re lower in calories. Each can of Perfy contains only 20 calories, while conventional sodas can contain nearly 200 calories. 
• They’re a better-for-you alternative to “Big Soda”. Unlike other up-and-coming beverage brands, which are quite different from the sodas many people are used to, Perfy is made for people who love soda, but don’t love the negative health effects. Because of this, the flavors are familiar (think: Cherry Cola, Dr. Perfy, and Fruit Punch) and they’ll satisfy the same cravings—without the sugar crash. 

Why Perfy? 

“Perfy isn’t a gut health soda, and it doesn’t spike blood sugar,” Jurich says. “That’s our claim to fame. “We’re making something taste delicious without any metabolic impact.”

Aside from the obvious health (and soda craving-busting) benefits, Perfy also stands out because of the brand’s focus on creating a community around diabetic and pre-diabetic customers. Jurich says that on Perfy’s social media, he tries to follow every Type 1, Type 2, or pre-diabetic he can find to better understand his customer base. “I want to know their lives, their troubles, what helps them, and see if somehow Perfy can be part of that conversation,” he says. 

Big Soda could never replicate this type of care and community—and Perfy’s thoughtful ingredients are one way Jurich aims to help improve new customers’ lives. “Every ingredient in Perfy sodas was intentionally selected to provide flavor and/or mitigate blood sugar impact,” he says. “There’s only so many things we can say with the limited real estate we have on a 12-ounce can, but that’s what I would say in a conversation with our customers.”