In 2021, Nestlé announced it had acquired premium alkaline water brand Essentia in a move that underlined the strength of the high-pH bottled water segment.
But as the Swiss conglomerate swiftly integrated its new purchase into its pre-existing network, much of the Essentia team that had led the brand to become the top selling bottled water in the natural channel sought out a new home. By the end of the year, they found it.
That October, Eternal Water announced it had named a slate of eight Essentia veterans to executive positions. Among them were VP of Marketing and Brand Tahne Davis, VP of National Accounts Craig Miller and VP of Sales Chris Schons. Flash forward to today, and the brand is now sold in over 65,000 stores nationwide and is emerging as one of the largest players in the alkaline waterl subcategory.
Founded in 2008 by CEO Karim Mashouf, Eternal Water is a natural alkaline bottled water brand which sources and bottles its naturally alkaline spring water from its facilities in California and Tennessee. The brand’s product portfolio is minimalist, only offering unflavored still water in 600 mL, 1 L, 1.5 L and 2.5 L varieties in single-serve and multipacks.
Over the years, the company has taken a slow-and-steady approach to growth, experiencing its first major leap forward in 2018 when it began building out a network of DSD distributors to accompany its direct and wholesale distribution model. But it was the investment in personnel in 2021 that has now helped rocket the brand’s presence nationwide.
“I want you to imagine yourself in a maze,” Mashouf said. “If you don’t know how to get out of the maze, it’s going to take you a lot longer; you have to go down every corridor, you have to try every door. Well, these guys have to map through the maze.”
Mashouf said that the expanded sales team has helped the brand to avoid mistakes while their relationships and built-in trust with retailers have opened numerous new doors for the brand in retail.
Tahne Davis noted that after the Essentia sale, many members of its former sales team were impressed by Eternal Water’s product, noting taste and unique packaging and branding as traits that attracted them to the brand.
“At Essentia we learned that you have to work really hard, you have to put a lot of effort in, and it’s the relationships that you make that really make an impact,” she said. “Our biggest strength is our people.”
Chicago-based market research firm Circana reported the non-flavored still bottled water market in U.S. MULO and convenience retail accounts grew 4.8% to $15.6 billion in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2023.
Bulk and jug waters were up 10% in the period to $2.3 billion, and within that segment Eternal Water’s bulk products grew 50.1% to around $28 million. Data on the brand’s single-serve offerings was not available.
Since the Essentia acquisition, alkaline water has remained a strong segment within the overall water category. A 2021 report from Beverage Marketing Corp. projected the segment would reach around $1.3 billion in 2023, up from barely $95 million in 2015. Although the category has also seen some notable players drop off since that report was released; for instance, The Alkaline Water Company, maker of Alkaline88, has been fighting to reverse declining revenues and has received Nasdaq notices for late filings. But others, like Eternal and Hawaii-sourced naturally alkaline brand Waiakea, have continued to rise.
The category is even attracting more attention from strategics: last year, PepsiCo announced Gatorade Water, an unflavored enhanced alkaline water line. Smartwater has also hopped aboard with an alkaline variety last year.
The bottled water category has also experienced major disruption in recent years from the emergence of sustainably packaged brands, from canned products like Liquid Death to reusable aluminum bottle brands such as PATH and Proud Source to brands such as ZenWTR using bottles made from ocean-bound plastic.
However, in spite of the numerous new launches and innovations to enter the space since its founding, Eternal Water has been reticent to innovate itself; Mashouf said he doesn’t see a need for it. The brand uses PET plastic bottles, which Mashouf and Davis said they believe provide a better flavor and mouthfeel than metal bottles or cans, and offers no flavors or sparkling options.
“Even if you look at our ACV in MULO, I think it’s like 46% or something like that. That still doesn’t mean we have all packages everywhere, so there’s a lot of same store sales growth ahead, as well as new pipeline and authorization growth,” he said. “Hence, the need not to innovate. We’ve got all the major packages and SKUs that you would want in our category.”
Despite rising consumer sentiment favoring sustainably packaged and sourced brands, Mashouf said there’s been no sign that Eternal Water is losing much business due to its use of plastic, instead noting that sustainably packaged waters remain a significantly smaller part of the category than brands using plastic.
Instead, Davis noted that Eternal Water encourages consumers to recycle its bottles, while its use of a local water source helps reduce freight costs and emissions.
“You can theorize all you want about what the consumer wants, but they’ll tell you in how they spend,” Mashouf said.
As Eternal Water continues to push ahead, it’s now looking to expand its presence outside of conventional retail and into convenience stores. Mashouf noted that the brand has primarily focused on grocery, big box and mass retailers to date – an area where the company has around 70% ACV and no intention of slowing down – but although Eternal is in some national convenience chains, namely Circle K and Quik Trip, it has largely left c-stores untapped with just 6% ACV in the channel.
While Mashouf sees a large runway ahead for Eternal Water’s growth, and the company will continue to invest and scale, he’s in no big rush.
“We’ve seen a lot of waters come and go,” he said. “And I think because of what we stand for, and what we’re about and the way we go about doing it, I feel like there’s lots of longevity. We’re not trying to win a sprint, this is very much a marathon. We plan on being around and building a brand with longevity.”