The Associated Press

Baseball players and truck drivers who chew sunflower seeds at work no longer have to down a cup of black coffee or a Red Bull for an extra energy jolt. A South Dakota company is infusing sunflower seeds with caffeine and other boosters commonly found in energy drinks.

"A lot of people chew sunflower seeds to stay awake and give them energy, and we just thought we'd combine the two of them," said Tim Walter, president of Carpenter-based Dakota Valley Products.

Sumseeds, so-named because they add ingredients to seeds, have been in development for about a year. The seeds are grown in North Dakota and Kansas and shipped to the company's Willow Lake plant, where caffeine, taurine, lysine and ginseng are added.

The 100 gram bags sell for $1.99 US, about twice the price of normal sunflower seeds. The company is working to get them into nationwide distribution.

Sumseeds are being sold at a Sioux Falls drugstore chain and should soon begin appearing on shelves in Minneapolis and the U.S. southeast. A major convenience store chain is testing the snack in 10 of its stores, and Dakota Valley Products also is getting international interest from as far away as New Zealand, Walter said.

Males 18 to 30 make up the largest market for in-shell sunflower seeds, and many of them chew and spit while playing outdoor activities or watching television, he said. They're also a favorite of truckers, who eat them during long trips.

Sunflower seeds became more popular in baseball in the 1990s when the minor leagues banned tobacco products from clubhouses. The new supercharged seeds will be the official sunflower seed of the Sioux Falls Canaries, who begin their American Association season in early May.