It took a 20-day wilderness expedition to Idaho into the mountains with no cell phone for senior Spencer Brendel to come up with his latest creation, ATHLEATS Performance Trail Mix.

The mix is designed to sustain athletes during physical activity. Brendel is a co-founder of PlayHard GiveBack, an Idaho-based social enterprise aimed at supporting athletes while also giving back to a charities chosen by those athletes.

Brendel, who also plays on the St. Thomas men’s hockey team, now wants to help fellow athletes get to the next level with peanut butter filled pretzels, chocolate covered raisins, cranberries, banana chips and assorted nuts.

The retreat to the mountains was a part of the process Brendel had to go through to get his grant from the Idaho-based Wild Gift. Wild Gift supports entrepreneurs who fight social and cultural problems at home and abroad.

“(Wild Gift) is helping me out over the next year with $2,000 quarterly disbursements,” Brendel said.

The entire basis for Brendel’s PlayHard GiveBack is what he calls a “buddy-dollar system,” where each dollar that goes to support an athlete is matched with a charitable donation of that athlete’s choosing.

“Through the years of playing hockey and dedicating so much time and effort to the sport, I think it’s good for athletes … to give some of that time back to communities and social projects and causes around the world,” Brendel said.

Those closest to Brendel said this is what he is all about.

“He loves to give back to charities and do social work,” senior and teammate Anthony Moser said. “He’s got a great purpose and a great cause for his product.”

Some may question what a student knows about making trail mix, but Brendel did his homework.

“I worked with a flavor profilist,” Brendel said. “She contacts our new athletes to see what they like. She’ll work with them to choose what works for their sport. Each athlete has a unique ingredient.”

Each athlete brought on board gets to decide which ingredients will go into their bag of trail mix. Brendel believes this will help the product sell better in the athlete’s hometown.

“We want to make it as much of the athlete’s mix as possible,” Brendel said. “We want them to feel passionate about what they’ve chosen … to promote it through their actions and leadership.”

But you don’t have to be an athlete to eat ATHLEATS Trail Mix.

“It has a lot of good stuff in it,” sophomore Emily Miller said. “I’m a pretty active person so I’m all about easy eating.”

Brendel isn’t selling his product on campus now but did try a test sell at senior night for the men’s hockey team with good results.

“It was really well accepted (by the fans),” Miller said.

Brendel recruited Miller and a friend to sell his ATHLEATS Trail Mix at the hockey games and said they moved about 30 units. Some of the proceeds will go to a charity chosen by the men’s hockey team. In an effort to get his product in customer’s hands, he sold a single bag of trail mix for $6 and two bags for $10.

To get permission to sell his product on campus, Brendel has scheduled a meeting with St. Thomas’ Chief Financial Officer Mark Vangsgard, and hopes to sell ATHLEATS at Summit Marketplace and at sporting events.

Brendel is unsure about if he will get permission to sell ATHLEATS at St. Thomas, but his friends said they wouldn’t bet against him.

“Whether it’s hockey or school, he works hard at it, and he fully immerses himself,” assistant men’s hockey coach Parker Burgess said. “That’s why I think PlayHard GiveBack will be successful.”

Those who don’t want to wait for Brendel to get permission only need to find him around campus.

“I always have bags in my backpack,” Brendel said.

Now that the hockey season is over, Brendel will have more time to promote his product and company, including a sales trip in a recreational vehicle this summer.

“I’ll just being going to different sporting events trying to get new retail locations,” Brendel said. “I’m just going on a good old-fashioned grassroots marketing road trip.”

While Brendel said his company is on the right path, he knows there is still much work to be done.

“(ATHLEATS) is definitely still in its infant stage as a company,” Brendel said. “I’m just learning from my mistakes and learning from the challenges.”

Trevor Walstrom can be reached at wals0505@stthomas.edu.