Hickory High School teen is CEO of her own beverage company

By Pam Parker Photos courtesy of Niu

Graduating from high school is a big deal this time of year, and Cynthia Torrence, 18, is more than a graduate. Torrence, 18, is more than a graduate. She is a teen entrepreneur with quite a resume – one she started building even before she hit double digits. If you Google her or look her up on Linked In, prepare to be amazed.

She created a low sugar fruit beverage called Niu, which means coconut in Hawaiian, and her product’s fl avors include Tropical Berry, Tropical Flamingo and Tropical Eden.

“In 2011, I was 7 at the time, we were having a block party and fundraiser for our church, and we had a lemonade stand, but I used a pina colada recipe that our family liked,” she said.

Sales were $46, but that was just the beginning. The church pastor, who had diabetes, couldn’t drink the beverage because it was high in sugar and he wondered if the budding entrepreneur could come up with a lower-sugar version with fewer calories.

Torrence and her family craft ed several recipes and eventually settled on a stevia and fruit-based version. “You really can’t taste the stevia. The fruit overpowers it, and taste the stevia. The fruit overpowers it, and it has a delicate sweetness,” she said. The business started rolling along in the family kitchen. By 2016, the eCenter@ LindenPointe business incubator in Hermitage encouraged Torrence to take some business classes during her summers off from school, and she learned to develop networking skills and much more.

The center also introduced the Torrence family to Metabrand of New Jersey. The fi rm took Niu to another level with production and national expertise.

How does someone so young create a brand and keep it going? She comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Niu is just part of the family business called Torrence Avery Lemonade Logistics Scholastic (TALLS). It includes Zion Education Center Inc., in Farrell, which her mother, Dr. April Torrence operates, and a steel-hauling company

Cynthia Torrence was named to the 2022 Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania Class of 18 Under 18.

operated by April’s husband, Kelvin, who is a pipe hauler.

Cynthia Torrence also has two older siblings Brandyn Blackwell and Temarah Harrison.

Erie connections

Torrence said she’s been to Waldameer “a billion times when I was kid,” and she had some pretty important product launches in Erie in 2019 thanks to Brian Slawin, of Ben Franklin Technologies, and Selena King. The 18-year-old has had multiple honors including being named to the 2022 Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania Class of 18 Under 18. She has been involved in ribbon cuttings when Dean Natural Vending machines started selling Niu and when GetGo started selling the drinks along with Whole Foods Co-op and Fat Lenny’s Ice Cream Shop.

What do her friends think?

Everybody is “pretty chill and the teachers are impressed,” she said, but she’s now moving into the role of a mentor at age 18.

Cynthia Torrence poses with cases of the beverage she and her family invented.

She met with Leave No Girl Behind partners in South Africa, thanks to her mom’s connection in a global sisterhood group. “It was inspiring to hear these young women have so much energy and motivation,” she said.

What’s next?

In August, Cynthia Torrence will be attending one of the top historically black colleges and universities as a history major. She also plans to study abroad and expand her company. In her spare time, she loves to read, watch movies and research. “I’m a knowledge girl. I’m a learner,” she said.

According to a news release, Niu is featured in more than 100 stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and Maryland. It can also be found in Dean Natural Vending machines across Ohio and Pennsylvania, and restaurants and grocery stores throughout western Pennsylvania. LEL For more details, visit www.niubytalls.com

3835 W 12th Street Erie, PA 16505 (814) 836-1827

r e l i s h i n c . c o m #shoplocal