Veteran beverage entrepreneur Lance Collins announced this month his latest venture — ZEN WTR — a bottled water brand he hopes will help clean the world’s oceans by using recycled packaging.
ZEN WTR is a line of 9.5 pH alkaline waters packaged in recycled rPET bottles sourced from “ocean plastic” salvaged from the coast of Thailand. ZEN WTR’s packaging was developed by CarbonLITE, a California-based sustainable plastics producer in which Collins is a partner. The bottled water is the first release from parent company Zen Essentials, of which Collins is the founder and CEO.
“We’re trying to help with climate change by setting an example in CPG,” Collins said, noting that the brand will be targeted at millennials and Gen Z consumers. “[As a culture] we have to clean up the ocean, switch to electric-powered cars, and we have to improve our carbon footprint for the planet. We’re investing in that plan.”
ZEN WTR is currently rolling out in the West Coast and Southwest regions with retailers including H-E-B, Whole Foods, Walmart, ampm, 7-Eleven, Kroger, Safeway, and Target. The water line is available in 1 Liter ($1.99-2.49), 23.7 oz. ($1.79-2.19) and 16.9 oz. ($1.49-1.79) formats and is available in 1 Liter six-packs in grocery stores for $10.99. As well, the brand is preparing to launch cans, aluminum bottles and flavored sparkling waters in the near future.
The company, Collins said, is working with distributors including Columbia Distributors, Kalil Bottling, Varni Bros, John Lenore & Co., and Nevada Beverage, all of whom he previously worked with on Core Hydration, and will utilize a hybrid distribution model for direct shipments to mass, grocery, convenience, food service, military & direct-to-consumer channels.
ZEN WTR is one of a slate of packaged water brands — some new, some already in existence — that have prioritized and publicized sustainability efforts in recent years. Last June, All Market Inc. launched Ever & Ever in aluminum bottles. Meanwhile smaller brands in recyclable packaging, such as Liquid Death and Proud Source Water, have brought new capital in recent months and reusable bottled water brand Pathwater has expanded its platform with new product lines.
Collins, who last year launched performance energy drink brand Adrenaline Shoc with Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), said ZEN WTR is currently his main focus and as CEO will be hands on in the day-to-day leadership and decision making. The brand is an independent venture and Collins is also the largest individual investor, though he noted the company is “well capitalized” with several other individual and corporate investors whom he declined to name.
Zen Essentials currently has about 15 full time employees, including collaborators from Collins’ past beverage brands such as former Core SVP of operations Jonathan Ballas as president, among others. Elsewhere, Megan Lavorato, former Picnik director of operations, serves as VP of operations.
Though products first hit store shelves in February, the brand’s expansion has now been fast-tracked by the U.S. outbreak of coronavirus strain COVID-19, Collins noted. Due to surging consumer demand for bottled water, early sales of ZEN WTR have overperformed and several retailers have requested the company move up its launch date in order to meet demand. Among them, the brand has received global authorization for Whole Foods next month.
“These are tough times with all the calamity that we’ve gone through, and I feel bad that we’re launching this project right now, but we’re well capitalized and I have a lot of investors behind me who support this mission,” Collins said. “I’m not trying to take advantage of [the outbreak], but it’s initiating the launch much faster than we wanted.”