Now That's Refreshing: 22-Year-Old's Hawaiian Bottled Water Grows 4000% in 3 Years

Forbes / Personal Finance
Forbes / Personal Finance

Bottled water may be one of the most hated players in the beverage game, but it’s one of the most popular drinks among consumers.

That’s where Ryan Emmons (Laguna Blanca Class of 2008) saw his big opportunity: a huge hole in the market was just waiting to be filled by a company with a trifecta of socially conscious components.

He nailed all three by creating a sustainable product with unique health benefits and environmentally friendly packaging that gives back to communities in need.

Ask the founder of Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water about what it was like breaking into the premium water scene, though, and he will tell you it’s an “old boy’s club.”

“Everyone in the industry is over the age of 50. There are a few young beverage entrepreneurs, and we’ve all gravitated toward each other because we had to,” he said. “When you’re new, people won’t give you the time of day.”

Now, plenty of people are taking Emmons seriously: his company has grown 4000% since he co-founded it in 2012 at the age of 22.

With an annual growth rate of 170%, the company went from 2,304 cases to 122,400 cases sold annually over the course of three and a half years. The steady climb came as the result of accounts and local distributors signing on quickly, followed by larger, national-scale players like Whole Foods.

Currently, the company has a $10 million valuation.

Surrounded by 10 million square miles of ocean—the exact amount in dollars that his company is now worth—Waiakea Hawaiian volcanic water originates through both snowmelt and rain on the pristine snowcapped peak of the active Mauna Loa volcano.

The source is one of the purest environments on Earth.

After passing through 14,000 feet of volcanic rock, the water becomes rich in minerals like magnesium, potassium, and calcium, which are all good for your skin, hair, bones, and nails.

The drink is electrolyte and alkaline rich, which helps support the balance of fluids in the body, and studies have shown that naturally alkaline water can even help fight osteoporosis and help aid the symptoms of acid reflux.

The company’s compound annual growth rate is also pretty rich, which has put Emmons in a perfect position to share the wealth.

For every bottle sold, 650ML of clean water is donated to communities in need through their charity partner, PumpAid. To date, 500 million liters of water have been donated to disadvantaged rural communities in Africa as a direct result of their efforts.

By partnering with a co-packing facility in Long Beach, California, they’re able to bottle the water in an eco-friendly way. It does have to travel 2,500 miles in high-grade, stainless steel tanks to get there, but Emmons maintains that those vessel emissions are offset but the packaging process.

Made entirely from recycled bottles (rPET), it takes 85% less energy to manufacture Waiakea bottles, and the “young” water source only takes 30 days to regenerate—that’s a recharge rate of 1.4 billion gallons a day.
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