Cizzle Brands Corporation Recognized by UNFI Canada as One of the Fastest-Growing Brands in its Network; Appoints CPG Veteran David Giancoulos to Board of Directors

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 30, 2026--

Cizzle Brands Corporation (Cboe Canada: CZZL) (OTCQB: CZZLF) (Frankfurt: 8YF) (“ Cizzle Brands ” or the “ Company ”), the vertically integrated sports nutrition company that is elevating the game in health and wellness, is pleased to announce two important milestones in support of its continued growth: (i) recognition by UNFI Canada, a division of United Natural Foods, Inc. (“ UNFI ”), as one of the fastest-growing brands in UNFI Canada’s supplier network, with CWENCH Hydration™ awarded for the fastest growth in average monthly case movement since launch; and (ii) the appointment of David Giancoulos, a North American consumer packaged goods executive with more than 25 years of experience scaling beverage and consumer brands, to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective May 1, 2026.

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CWENCH Hydration™ Recognized by UNFI Canada as one of the Fastest-Growing Brands

UNFI Canada is Canada’s largest distributor of natural, organic, kosher, and specialty foods, operating four distribution centres across the country and serving more than 5,000 retail customer locations on behalf of over 850 vendor brands. Recognition within UNFI Canada’s supplier network is a meaningful indicator of brand performance, retail demand, and on-shelf velocity across one of the most diverse and competitive grocery channels in Canada.

CWENCH Hydration™ has been recognized by UNFI Canada as one of the fastest-growing brands in its network, awarded for the fastest growth in average monthly case movement since launch. The recognition validates the strength of the CWENCH Hydration™ brand and the rapid pace at which the brand is being adopted by retailers and consumers across Canada.

This recognition follows a series of significant Canadian retail and partnership milestones for CWENCH Hydration™, including expanded distribution at Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Walmart Canada, Circle K, Petro-Canada, and Pure Hockey, alongside a deep and growing footprint within Canadian grassroots and elite sports communities. Together, these tailwinds are translating into the kind of measurable, repeatable shelf velocity that UNFI Canada’s recognition reflects.

David Giancoulos Appointed to the Board of Directors

Cizzle Brands is also pleased to announce the appointment of David Giancoulos to its Board of Directors, effective May 1, 2026. Mr. Giancoulos is a North American CPG executive and proven commercialization leader with more than 25 years of experience scaling brands, building route-to-market platforms, and driving revenue growth across highly competitive consumer categories. He brings a deep understanding of the retail, distribution, and commercial landscape across Canada and the United States, with a strong track record of turning strategy into execution and accelerating enterprise value.

Throughout his career, Mr. Giancoulos has held senior leadership roles with leading consumer brands including Mark Anthony Group, Rockstar Energy Drink, Red Bull, Flow Water, and BioSteel Sports Nutrition. Most recently, he served as General Manager, Liquid Refreshment Beverages at Mark Anthony Group, where he led the Canadian non-alcoholic beverage portfolio and strategic growth initiatives. Previously, Mr. Giancoulos was instrumental in bringing BioSteel’s ready-to-drink platform to market and helped lead the brand’s commercial expansion across Canada and the United States through major retail growth, strategic partnerships, and route-to-market execution.

Mr. Giancoulos is recognized for identifying high-potential growth opportunities, building winning commercial strategies, strengthening distribution networks, and helping brands scale quickly across competitive markets. His expertise spans sales leadership, go-to-market execution, customer development, innovation commercialization, strategic partnerships, and organizational growth.

Management Commentary

“To be recognized by UNFI Canada as the fastest-growing brand in their network based on average monthly case movement since launch is an enormous validation of what we’re building with CWENCH Hydration™,” said John Celenza, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Cizzle Brands Corporation. “UNFI Canada sits at the centre of one of the most diverse and competitive distribution networks in the country, reaching thousands of independent retailers, conventional supermarkets, and specialty stores from coast to coast. A recognition of this kind reflects real, measurable consumer demand at the shelf, and it’s a testament to the strength of our brand, our team, and the deep partnerships we’ve built with the retailers and sports communities that have championed CWENCH from day one.”

“We’re equally excited to welcome David Giancoulos to our Board of Directors,” continued Mr. Celenza. “David is one of the most respected commercial leaders in the North American beverage industry, with a remarkable track record of scaling brands, building route-to-market platforms, and winning at retail across Canada and the United States. His experience at Mark Anthony Group, Rockstar Energy Drink, Red Bull, Flow Water, and BioSteel maps directly onto the next phase of Cizzle’s growth, particularly as we accelerate our U.S. expansion. We’re fortunate to have him in our corner as we continue building a category-leading platform.”

“Cizzle Brands is building something genuinely differentiated in the sports nutrition space — combining strong consumer brands with a vertically integrated platform that few emerging companies can match,” said Mr. Giancoulos. “CWENCH Hydration™ has clearly built real momentum with retailers and consumers, and the broader portfolio has significant runway ahead. I’m excited to join the Board and support John and the team as they accelerate the next phase of growth across Canada, the U.S., and beyond.”

About Cizzle Brands Corporation

Cizzle Brands Corporation is a vertically integrated sports nutrition company that is elevating the game in health and wellness. Through extensive collaboration and testing with leading athletes and trainers across several sports, Cizzle Brands has launched three game-changing brands: (i) CWENCH Hydration™, a better-for-you sports drink that is now carried in over 6,200 locations in Canada, the United States, and Europe; (ii) Spoken™ Nutrition, a premium brand of athlete-grade nutraceuticals that carry the prestigious NSF Certified for Sport® qualification; and (iii) HappiEats™, upgrading everyday eats with high-performance foods such as Sport Pasta™ and SnakStars™ Sport Bites. It also owns and operates The CWENCH Hydration Factory, a manufacturing facility that produces CWENCH Hydration and other leading beverage brands in Tetra Pak packaging. All Cizzle Brands products are designed to help people of all ages achieve their best in competitive sports and in living a healthy, vibrant, active lifestyle.

For more information about Cizzle Brands, please visit: https://www.cizzlebrands.com/

For more information about CWENCH Hydration™, please visit: https://www.cwenchhydration.com

For more information about Spoken™ Nutrition, please visit: https://www.spokennutrition.com

For more information about HappiEats™, please visit: https://www.myhappieats.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,

CIZZLE BRANDS CORPORATION

“John Celenza”

John Celenza, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, such as, but not limited to: expected financial results, manufacturing efficiency, new products of the Company and potential sales and distribution opportunities. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and phrases such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other risk factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include risks related to increased competition and current global financial conditions, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks, regulatory risks, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by law, to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.

CWENCH Hydration™ has been recognized by UNFI Canada as one of the fastest growing new brands in the UNFI Canada Network.

MUNSTER, Germany (AP) — President Donald Trump has again threatened that the United States could reduce its military presence in Germany, a key NATO ally and the European Union’s largest economy. Europeans have heard this before.

Trump's social media post on Wednesday followed comments by Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the U.S. was being “ humiliated ” by Tehran as it slow-walks its diplomacy over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.

Trump has mused for years about reducing America's military presence in Germany, and has recently repeatedly railed against NATO for the its refusal to assist the U.S. in its two-month-old war.

U.S. allies at NATO have been waiting for the Trump administration to pull troops out since just after it came to office, warning that Europe would have to look after its own security, and that of Ukraine, in future.

Depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations, around 80,000-100,000 U.S. personnel are usually stationed in Europe. NATO allies have expected that U.S. troops deployed after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in 2022 would be first to leave.

Germany hosts several U.S. military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from U.S. wars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq are treated. U.S. nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.

Ed Arnold, an expert in European security at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the U.S. gets a lot out of its presence in Germany — like logistics and support for Middle East combat operations — and was unlikely to withdraw.

Trump’s post is most likely “bluster,” he said.

“There is a difference between the military view and the political view,” Arnold said. “The issue with some of these threats is that they are not quite as galling as they were a couple of years ago.”

NATO and the German government did not immediately comment.

Merz, visiting troops at a military training area in Munster, northern Germany, on Thursday, did not directly address Trump’s comments, but alluded to working “shoulder to shoulder for mutual benefit and in deep trans-Atlantic solidarity,” and said his government over the last year has “made great efforts to strengthen Germany’s security.”

RUSI’s Arnold said Europe is more concerned about issues like a U.S. redeployment of Patriot missile systems and ammunition from Germany to the Middle East, and notifications to NATO countries such as Estonia that orders for American weapons will be delayed as the U.S. government is prioritized.

A senior Western official told The Associated Press they were not aware of any discussions between the U.S. and Germany or other allies regarding the possibility of troop reductions in Germany.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, noted that Europe and Germany, which recently announced its new military strategy, is taking more responsibility for security on the continent.

Last October the U.S. confirmed that it would reduce its troop presence on NATO’s borders with Ukraine. The move to cut 1,500-3,000 troops came on short notice and unsettled ally Romania where the military organization runs an air base.

The U.S. administration informed the allies early last year that it has been reviewing its military “posture” in Europe and elsewhere. The findings of that review had been due to be made public in late 2025 but still have not surfaced.

However, the U.S. did commit to inform its allies in advance about any changes to ensure that no security gap is created at a time when Russia is increasingly confrontational.

Many European leaders believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin might try to launch an attack elsewhere in Europe by the end of the decade, especially if he wins his war on Ukraine.

The U.S.-Israel war on Iran only made the prospect of a withdrawal more likely, and a flurry of meetings has been held between administration officials, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European leaders since the conflict started on Feb. 28.

Over the last year, European allies and Canada have understood that they will have to provide Europe’s conventional defenses. The main U.S. contribution to NATO deterrence going forward will be the presence of American nuclear weapons and some troops.

The Trump administration has previously caused confusion in Europe with announcements of changes to defense support.

In September, plans to halt some security assistance funding to European countries along the border with Russia were greeted with confusion as some Baltic defense leaders said they had not received official notification.

Beyond the uncertainty over U.S. personnel, the allies have gotten used to Trump’s outbursts, having weathered insults as “cowards” or hearing NATO branded as a “paper tiger” by their most powerful ally in recent weeks.

Repeated threats to leave altogether, or over things like defense spending, have inured them to social media posts that Trump might be considering some action or another.

The real damage to NATO unity was done by Trump’s fixation on Greenland, and his intent to annex the island, which is a semiautonomous part of ally Denmark, including sending family members and administration officials there.

Burrows reported from London and Cook from Brussels. Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

FILE - President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House, March 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, drives in the armoured fighting vehicle Boxer during his visit to the army at the Bundeswehr base in Munster, Germany, Thursday, April, 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz drives in the armoured fighting vehicle Boxer during his visit to the army at the Bundeswehr base in Munster, Germany, Thursday, April, 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)