WTRMLN WTR: We’re creating a totally new category
One product generating a lot of buzz at the show was WTRMLN WTR (watermelon flesh, watermelon rind, and lemon – with no added sugar, water or flavors), which brand owner World Waters reckons is sufficiently distinctive to add a refreshing new twist to the functional beverages category.
A cold pressed, high-pressure processed product with a 45-day shelf life, WTRMLN WTR is unusual in that it is a 100% juice rather than a ‘water’, but has a lot less sugar than most juices (60 calories, 12g sugar per 8floz serving vs 100+ calories and 20g+ sugar for an equivalent amount of orange juice) but still packs an impressive nutritional punch (740mg of potassium, 540mg of L-Citrulline, an amino acid for muscle recovery; and 9.5mg of lycopene).
On the production side, World Waters presses and bottles the product (made from US-grown watermelons) at its own facility in upstate New York and then transports it up to a high pressure processing (HPP) facility before it its transported on to retail customers.
According to marketing boss Jeff Rubenstein (formerly with Vita Coco), the show was a big success for the brand: “We came here with limited distribution and we’re leaving with national distribution and a couple of strategic partners. People love the fact that it has taste and functionality and you don’t have to compromise – we’re creating a sub-category of hydration.”
Co-founder Jody Levy told us: “It’s a totally new category.”
