Drink Waters Feature
to meet Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard, who also co-founded 1% of the Planet. It was clear to me that our new venture needs to be a part of that system. Today, one needs to have a social purpose: an ethical and political line in the DNA of one’s business,” Zarka remarks.
Benefiting from social media
Courtesy of Kev Adams, with nearly eight million Instagram followers, Drink Waters makes excellent use of social media channels. “There’s traction because of the bottle. It’s something new. We see this because of the many messages we get on socials. We see that a lot of people like the product and the flavours”, says Zarka. But more than this, Drink Waters uses social media to connect and engage with supporters. “It’s like we’re building a little community. Our community is very important to me. I love it when I get photos of our dented bottles because they’ve been used so much.” Drink Waters not only promotes
its products, but also makes a point of raising awareness of the NGOs it supports. “Our bottles have a QR code, which takes consumers to all the associations that we work with, and they can donate directly into their accounts this way. It’s also a way to bring awareness to the associations. As a company, we also make donations to them, but this is another matter,” Zarka says.
that “retail will continue to be important to us, but it makes sense for us to venture out of the retail space”. With the likes of Club Med, Hotel de Crillon, a Rosewood hotel, and Grouple GM under its belt, it has introduced new bottles. Added to its range of 47cl bottles, Drink Waters now offers 33cl and 50cl options. “The main difference, apart from the size and we’ve the same size of the neck on all bottles, is that the new bottles are rigid. The ones for retail are semi- rigid”, he adds. The rigid 50cl bottle, perfect for
the hospitality sector, was unveiled at this summer’s major festivals in France, including Lollapalooza and Main Square. “This is a little goodie from the festival that people
can keep. It showed us that festival organisers are shifting to greener options.” The next event where Drink Waters will be made available is no other than Paris Olympics 2024.
Alliances for the good of the planet
The first environmental nonprofit the company partnered with was Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose core purpose is to protect and conserve the world’s oceans and marine wildlife. Drink Waters went on to join 1% of the Planet and Plastic Odyssey, another nonprofit committed to reducing plastic waste in the world’s oceans. “A few years ago, I was lucky
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metalpackager.com second life to
the product is the ultimate goal for us. It’s not to sell water,
alternative
but to offer a sustainable
Giving a What’s next for the brand?
Drink Waters harnesses the power of data as much as possible and it uses numbers and results as the baseline for decision-making. The company is focusing on handling “hypergrowth” it’s currently going through. While retail will remain important for “the visibility and volume”, Zarka reflects on a step change in the company’s growth strategy: “We’ve come to realise that boutique shops and high-end hotels allow for a complete end-to-end costumer experience. Giving a second life to the product is the ultimate goal for us. It’s not to sell water, but to offer a sustainable alternative to help ditch single-use plastics,” he says.
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