KANSAS CITY — Beverage innovation has often been defined by new flavor profiles and line extensions, but the category is seeing potentially disruptive applications as entrepreneurs and established companies bring innovations featuring functional ingredients, sustainable attributes and twists on traditional ideas to market.
For example, the founders of Oatly and Fiji Water have partnered to develop a functional sparkling water brand called Good Idea. Bjorn Oste and Rickard Oste of Oatly and Doug Carlson of Fiji Water invested approximately $9 million in research, product development and third-party, double-blind clinical studies in support of the beverage.
“We’ve spent over seven years building the technology and perfecting the formula behind Good Idea,” Bjorn Oste said. “We saw an opportunity to make an impact on the long-term health of Americans while also delivering to them a beverage they can enjoy all day, every day.”
Health and sustainability are the key attributes behind Waterdrop. The brand was founded by Martin Murray, Henry Murray and Christoph Hermann to inspire consumers to drink more water while tackling the environmental footprint of the conventional bottled water industry. The company claims to have replaced up to 30 million plastic bottles to date in four years on the market.
“Encouraging people all over the world to drink more water and less sugary beverages — that is the mission of Waterdrop,” said Martin Murray, chief executive officer. “It has been proven that drinking enough water has innumerable health benefits. We want to shake up the beverage industry as we know that filling and transporting sugary beverages in plastic bottles is simply outdated. We are now over 100 passionate, young people who want to develop Waterdrop into a global brand.”
