This audio is generated automatically. Please let me know if you have any comments.
Waiākea Hawaiian Volcanic Beverages wants to be more than just a bottled water and small-batch coffee company with the goal of revolutionizing the way the beverage industry approaches sustainability.
After becoming the first beverage company to use 100% recycled plastic in 2012, now more than a decade later it is a pioneering first again. These are labels printed with algae-based ink. Hawaii-based Waiākea says it is the first in the world to implement and commercialize a label with pigments developed after four years of research in collaboration with Living Ink Technologies, Actega and NextGen Label Group.
“For us, innovation has always been about going far beyond the traditional meaning of devising creative products or marketing solutions,” Waiākea CEO Ryan Emmons said in an email. “Our goal is to use Waiākea as a catalyst for change and create better standards not only for bottled water, but beverages and CPG in general.”
Traditional carbon black-based inks are derived from petroleum and a significant portion of the 33 billion pounds produced each year are used in printing, Waiākea said. Replacing the global supply of black pigment with Waiākea’s ACTExact UV Black Algae ink would take approximately 25 million cars off the road.
Waiākea refuses to maintain exclusivity or IP rights to its technology and instead uses partners to open source its ink and provide access to brands across the industry. We plan to expand to additional pigments in the coming years.
Emmons, who founded Waiākea in 2012 with his cousin Alex Preston and friend Matt Meyer, said the company created the first commercially available recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottle. We have also developed tracking software to help minimize the shipping footprint of your products.
Waiākea’s Oceanplast bottle material comes from coastal communities, which means there is a high risk of plastic entering the ocean, Waiākea said. The plastic is washed and broken down until it is transformed into rPet pellets, which are ultimately remade into new bottles.
Bottled water is the largest beverage category by volume in the United States, primarily led by Perrier, Aquafina, and Dasani.
While other startups are trying to compete against competitors by focusing on functional ingredients or other unique features, Waiākea is trying to stand out with sustainability. Later this year, the company plans to launch a limited line of glass with recycled content designed for reuse, Emmons said.
“We really want to establish ourselves as an environmental technology leader in our field,” Emmons said.
Although sustainability is a primary focus, the brand also incorporates electrolytes and other hydration benefits that are popular with consumers. The water is naturally filtered through 14,000 feet of porous volcanic rock, making it alkaline and rich in electrolytes.
The company sells bottled and sparkling water and small-batch coffee in 45,000 retail stores across the continental U.S. and Hawaii. The brand is targeting overseas distribution, including Australia and Japan.
Earlier in the year, Waiākea closed an $11 million funding round that included investment from a group of professional athletes, including Tetairoa McMillan of the Carolina Panthers, Devin Williams of the New York Mets and Jerami Grant, formerly of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Waiākea’s other athlete investors include Aaron Judge, Myles Garrett, Klay Thompson and other Hawaii-based athletes. Partnerships with athletes don’t typically allow the company to reach customers who share the company’s sustainability mission, Emmons said.
Waiākea continues to double down on its sustainability practices, even as more companies keep their practices quiet in a polarized political environment. Emmons said the company’s sustainability efforts are why consumers choose the brand because they want products that align with their values.
“It’s much easier to be consistent when it’s reflected in your company ethos compared to a large public company that focuses on quarterly earnings,” Emmons said.
