Beverage Startups
The Story Of Microdrink Waterdrop
Staying hydrated is vital for our bodies, however, consumption of the recommended daily dose of water can seem like a challenge for some. Waterdrop® has created the world’s first microdrink to help; a compact sugar-free cube containing the finest fruits and plant extracts to help enrich water and make it easier to consume. Today, I have the pleasure of talking with Martin Donald Murray, CEO and founder of waterdrop®.
How did the whole story of waterdrop® begin and who inspired you?
Growing up, my grandfather was a huge inspiration to me, an entrepreneur who taught me a large amount about business, setting goals and what it means to be a good person. Years later he inspired me to create waterdrop®.
As part of my earlier career, I was often away on business trips and struggled to find a drink on the go that wasn’t full of sugar or packaged in unnecessary plastic. That’s when, in 2015 I came up with the idea of a microdrink, a sugar-free compact cube, providing a smarter and more enjoyable way to drink water. Since then, our aim has always been to help people drink more water and stay healthy.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA – AUGUST 19, 2019: CEO Martin Donald Murray of Waterdrop, Vienna.
Waterdrop® has 9 different flavours, including the newest release – NERO. Can you tell us more about the whole line?
We wanted to be all about choice. Each innovative recipe is developed through intensive research and in the end we really want each flavour to be one of a kind and to be perfect. At the heart of each recipe is the aim to enhance the taste of water using the best real fruit and plant extracts from high-quality ingredients sourced from all over the world.
If you are lacking energy, BOOST can help with a rich taste of blackcurrant, elderflower and Brazilian Açaí containing vitamin B6, B12 and C, if you are feeling under the weather DEFENCE with vitamin C helps keep your immune system fit and if you need to RELAX we even have that covered.
We wanted to ensure we were offering the perfect flavour and vitamin combination for whatever the day throws at you.
Let’s talk about NERO. After being successful during a limited edition run you’ve recently bought this product back full time.
NERO was initially developed to give extra focus when it’s needed the most. Due to the current climate and with many of us working from home, it’s easy to feel lethargic when spending an increased amount of time indoors. With energy lagging we decided it was the right time to bring it back. We included flavours such as guarana, cola nut, blackberry and activated charcoal to create a unique product and it’s our first microdrink to contain natural caffeine and one we are really proud of.
It is a challenge to create a good-tasting functional drink. What difficulties have you had so far?
Each microdrink has its own special blend of vitamins and superfoods, these superfoods are combined with well-known flavours such as lime, current, peach and cranberry. We have deliberately made all our microdrinks sugar-free because the excessive consumption of sugar can have various negative effects on the body. Ensuring our products taste good and don’t contain sugar has been a challenge, but thanks to our rigorous testing and a special manufacturing process, no fructose is contained in any of our products, making them completely sugar-free.
In order to give our products a slightly sweet taste, we use a tiny amount of sucralose, which has zero calories and therefore no influence on blood sugar levels.
What is the biggest achievement waterdrop® has reached so far?
There are countless milestones and records at waterdrop® that we keep on breaking. You never know at the beginning if it will be successful, so we celebrate every win, no matter how small. A major milestone for me was the opening of our first shop on Mariahilferstrasse in Vienna, Austria, which made everything even more real.
From a sales perspective, we’ve celebrated every first, from our first €1,000 day up to the hundreds of thousands per day when we launch a new product.
Personally, the growth of the team has always been the biggest achievement for me. One person will be behind every business, but it’s the team that brings our success. I love looking around the table on a Monday morning and seeing now over 30 people, every single person who joins our team helps drive us forward and shapes our culture and this should always be celebrated.
2020 is very hard year for the whole industry. What measures have you taken to decrease the impact of COVID-19 outbreak?
We are doing all we can to cut unnecessary costs which is obvious in theory but harder in practice as unnecessary can mean so many things depending on the business you are in. As countless other companies, we had to close our shops and incurred many unforeseen costs. However, there is also a lot of opportunity at the moment, traditional media costs have decreased due to bigger players pulling out and we are pivoting our plans to reflect this. We plan to invest in traditional media, open flagship and pop up stores and start creating content for YouTube, in the hope of connecting with consumers on a much deeper level to build long standing relationships.
Credit – © Sophie Biebl
What advice would you have given yourself before you started out in the beverage business?
Trying to disrupt an outdated industry is always going to be hard and when it comes to entrepreneurship you often only hear stories of success, but naturally also stories of failure. I think it’s easy to have an unrealistic impression of how much hard work is needed when starting a new business, regardless of the industry.
Looking back, I’d tell myself to be realistic and to believe in myself. Every idea has the chance to succeed if you believe in both yourself and the idea. It’s important to surround yourself with people who support you 100% in everything you want to do.
For more information visit Waterdrop’s website.
