Iris Nova is deepening its presence in the sparkling water category, announcing yesterday a distribution partnership to bring U.K.-based brand Something & Nothing to the U.S.
Something & Nothing will launch in 12 oz. cans in three flavors — Yuzu, Hibiscus & Rose, and Cucumber — this month at select retailers in New York and Los Angeles, and will be available nationwide via Iris Nova’s direct-to-consumer platform.
“Iris Nova have a family of amazing better-for-you drinks, a fantastic distribution network and a huge DTC customer base of modern consumers that utilise Iris Nova’s technology platform for seamless ordering,” said Olly Dixon, co-founder of Something & Nothing, in a press release. “They are the perfect partners for us to enter the US market with.”
Speaking with BevNET earlier today, Iris Nova founder and CEO Zak Normandin said that Something & Nothing presented an interesting opportunity to step into an emerging white space within sparkling beverages. The brand uses grape and lemon juices as a base, complemented by a variety of extracts, botanicals and other juices. Yuzu contains 43 calories per 12 oz. can, while Hibiscus & Rose has 56 and Cucumber has 40.
“They are tackling not only the seltzer category but the emerging category of beverages that cater to consumers that are not looking for just natural flavors or fruit juice and sparkling water,” he said.
According to the company, Something & Nothing has grown its direct-to-consumer business by 300% during the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.K. The brand recently closed a £450,000 funding round in which a number of influential cultural figures participated, including Mixcloud co-founder Nikhil Shah and Resident Advisor co-founder Nick Sabine, among others.
Something & Nothing joins fellow British brand DASH Water, a premium positioned sparkling water infused with real fruit, and unflavored Miracle Seltzer in Iris Nova’s portfolio of carbonated waters. Rather than bringing in a new type of consumer, Normandin said Something & Nothing gives existing seltzer drinkers another distinctive option within the category.
Something & Nothing is also planning to release an alcoholic hard seltzer later this fall, but it will not be distributed through Iris Nova.
According to Normandin, in order to compete with more established players, canned beverage brands need to keep price point low and offer multipack formats. Something & Nothing, which is priced lower than Iris Nova’s other sparkling brands, is ideally placed to do that, he said. The product is available online in 12-packs for $34.99 for one-time purchase, with a $5.04 discount and free shipping included for recurring orders. Individual cans will be carry a suggested price of $2.49 each.
“This is very different from the way a lot of other can beverage brands have been built over the last few years, which is really with consumers buying single cans off the shelf,” he said. “If you look at any canned beverage brand that has been built to scale, it has always happened in multipacks. We are pushing all our brands in that direction and Something & Nothing is definitely part of that strategy.”