ZenWTR, the sustainably-packaged bottled water brand created by beverage entrepreneur Lance Collins, is sporting a new look and a new format this week with the launch of a 16 oz. Alumi-Tek bottle and rebranded designs for its core line.
Founded in 2020, ZenWTR’s has highlighted its use of “ocean-bound plastic” from Asia as its primary differentiator. The brand’s bottles are made with 100% recycled plastic sourced from waterways and beaches that would otherwise end up in the ocean and the company claims that every 1 liter ZenWTR bottle contains around five recycled bottles rescued from “at-risk coastal environments.” Last year, the brand received a Plastic Negative certification verifying that it removes more plastic than it puts out into the world.
This latest brand refresh now aims to call more attention to that mission: a gradient color design “evokes the look of the ocean” and includes the slogan “Save our Oceans” on each bottle. The new look was designed by Paula Grant, founder of Suite 9C and creative director for ZenWTR.
“From the start, ZenWTR has had [two] guiding tenets: One, that we’ll bring consumers the most premium, ultra-pure, refreshing water and, two, that it will be available to them in uniquely sustainable packages that, in one way or another, help us to work to preserve our oceans,” Collins told BevNET in an email. “[Led] by those tenets, we redesigned our primary packaging to (more) directly communicate our values and mission so there’s no question as to what ZenWTR is about.”
Collins, who previously founded Keurig Dr Pepper-owned premium bottled water brand CORE, currently serves as the brand’s CEO overseeing day-to-day operations. ZenWTR’s previous CEO, Bryan Crowley, moved to the chief executive role at tequila beverage maker Casa Azul Spirits – another Collins product – in 2021.
This year, ZenWTR named former Beanfields CFO Greg Gilbert as its CFO, joining the company from an interim finance lead position at Liquid Death, as well as incoming COO Ben Horner, who comes to the brand from BodyArmor, which Collins also co-founded.
ZenWTR is distributed through a partnership with Molson Coors Beverage Company; the brand is currently available nationwide in retailers including Whole Foods, QuikTrip, Circle K, CVS, H-E-B, Kwik Trip, Meijer, Publix, Sprouts, Terrible Herbst, Walgreens and all banners of both Kroger and Albertsons.
“In the near future, we’re focused on supporting our current retail partners and growing our business there, while continuing to gain authorizations at additional retailers,” Collins added. “We’ve also had success in the Food Service and On-Premise channels with key partners like Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, and are looking forward to expanding our footprint in those channels as well.”
In addition to its focus on recycled plastic, ZenWTR is also now moving into another on-trend sustainable water format: aluminum. The brand is testing a 16 oz. Alumi-Tek bottle this summer, with the aim of a wide launch in 2024. The company said the metal bottles are made with 73% recycled aluminum and are themselves “infinitely recyclable.”
According to Collins, the move into metal packaging fits with ZenWTR’s goal of representing the “Pantheon of Sustainability,” offering a variety of better-for-the-planet alternatives to single use PET.
“While this package isn’t made from rescued ocean-bound plastic like our flagship rPET bottles, we’re working with the Plastic Credit Exchange to support programs that rescue and recycle the equivalent of [five] ocean-bound plastic bottles for every Alumi-Tek bottle sold. No one else is doing that,” Collins wrote.
The rebrand and Alumi-Tek launch will be accompanied by a summer marketing campaign, built around the message that ZenWTR “Tastes Good, Does Good and Feels Good.” Collins said the integrated campaign will include digital and out of home advertising, retail and shopper market and national field marketing efforts, the latter with a focus on the Los Angeles and Northeast markets. The brand will tap into a “diverse group” of social media influencers for online ads with a cross-platform media drive.