We caught up with Charlie Brake, Co-Founder of Naughty Water – flavoured vodka Seltzer drinks which are low calorie, vegan friendly, gluten free and feature in a recyclable RTD can.
Why was Naughty Water founded?
The hard seltzer market is fairly new to the UK but one that is predicted to be worth $2.5 billion by the end of this year in the US alone, it’s an exciting, emerging arena and as I’d been looking for a new business venture alongside my friend and fellow Entrepreneur Simon Horth it seemed like the perfect market for us. We wanted to create a seltzer which uses only the finest natural ingredients. We haven’t over complicated the flavours; instead going for those that are current, popular and which will appeal to a wider audience. The branding has also been of paramount importance, and the name ‘Naughty Water’ has enabled us to be a bit playful in terms of design. We’ve created a can that visually transports you to sunnier climes; something we were very much conscious of during the lockdown. We wanted a can design that you almost don’t want to throw away; a piece of art in itself. We also wanted to tick a lot of boxes with our product so it appeals to the health conscious individual. Naughty Water is Vegan, low calorie, Gluten free and Keto friendly.
What makes Naughty Water different?
Naughty Water is low calorie so can be enjoyed by almost everyone, particularly the more health conscious individual who wants to drink alcohol but doesn’t want the hidden nasties often associated with a product. The fact we’re also vegan, gluten free, Keto friendly with recyclable cans means it sets us apart from other brands on the market. We don’t like to take ourselves too seriously and want the product to be a little bit playful and give a gentle nod to summer, holidays, friends, picnics and BBQ’s, something we’ve all been missing the last year.
What have you learnt?
Launching a new business idea during a national lockdown has definitely had its challenges. Almost everything from start to finish has been done remotely and over zoom. That’s meant zoom tasting sessions done with family and friends, having to visualise your product remotely before actually seeing it in the flesh was also pretty daunting. Everything is much slower during lockdown than it normally would be. From opening bank accounts through to registering domain names. Simon’s flair for business has really helped as has being able to call on the expertise of close family who are in business to assist with the nitty gritty. It’s important to have a clear understanding of your product and competitors, not just in the UK but also globally as you need to have a clear plan for expansion very early on.
What are the plans for Naughty Water in the future?
We have just completed our second production run, and have signed one of the UK’s largest wholesalers, with a distribution/logistics partnership also about to be agreed. We have also had international interest in ‘Naughty Water’ from Europe, Asia and even the US, which is home of the seltzer, so the momentum we have experienced so far has been nothing short of overwhelming. Looking to the future, we hope to introduce more flavours, and continue to develop ‘Naughty Water’, making it the ‘go-to brand’ in a category that is set to be a multi-billion pound industry by the end of the year.
