Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge Sandrini.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2012, after years in marketing in a variety of industries including technology, I was offered an opportunity to enter the beverage business and launch a unique brand of spring water, one with a super high pH and rich in electrolytes — an ‘enhanced’ water.
At the time, alkaline water wasn’t well known and understood outside of the natural foods world. The first year was spent searching for the best quality spring water we could find, and to our surprise ultimately discovered that some of the purest springs in America exist right here in the southeastern U.S., in our own backyard. We then set out to create the finest and most unique brand of water, bottled at a ‘perfect’ 10pH every time. That’s how we arrived at TEN Water.
In May of 2013, we launched into distribution, at that time mainly focused on the natural foods stores — both the larger national chain stores and the mom-and-pops. Customers loved our water because it was the only water with a high pH (above 9) that was sourced from natural springs, not from municipal tap water sources like many bottled waters.
And people also liked the fact that TEN wasn’t shipped in from faraway places overseas but sourced entirely from springs here in the U.S. These special attributes have helped the brand grow rapidly in the short 5 years since its introduction, with sales of TEN growing exponentially each year. Fast forward to today and TEN is found on the shelves of more than 5,000 stores including large grocery stores like Publix, Ingles, Food Lion and Wegmans.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As you can imagine, the beverage industry is a highly competitive business with many brands competing for a limited amount of shelf space. Every day seems to bring a new brand of water and a new competitor. Some very good brands don’t make it and disappear simply because of the difficulty of sustaining the day-to-day challenges.
With so many obstacles, launching a new and unknown brand of water is never a smooth road, but it helps if you have a strong brand with a great concept. Finding distributors to deliver your product to stores and convincing retailers to believe your product will appeal to their customers are the two biggest challenges and can be very daunting for a new brand. However, with patience, determination and the strong belief you have the best product in the market, we overcame these obstacles over time.
With TEN, we introduced a water that was like nothing else in the market, because of the super high pH and the natural spring sources. In fact, TEN Water is so unique it was awarded a process patent. And since many bottled waters can have a hard or metallic taste, we set out to give customers a water that is smooth, silky, pure and refreshing.
Once distributors and retailers gave TEN a chance and realized customers love the brand, the road became smoother. Today our biggest challenge is managing the rapid growth that comes with becoming one of the top enhanced water brands in the U.S.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about TEN Water – what should we know?
TEN Water is one of the premier brands of alkaline water in the United States, sourced from natural springs and rich with electrolytes. TEN is known in the industry for having the highest pH among bottled waters and for its high-quality water sources — TEN is exclusively sourced at some of the finest springs in America with a variety of sources in the southeastern U.S. (Georgia and Virginia).
No other alkaline water is both a 10pH and derived from a spring source. By comparison, most bottled alkaline waters on the market are from municipal tap water sources and purified. TEN is filtered naturally through more than 100 feet of quartzite rock, below the earth’s surface, then bottled at the source at a perfect pH of 10.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
When you have a product you truly believe in and feel will make people’s lives better, you’re on your way to success. I personally drink TEN Water every day, so I understand the quality and health benefits of drinking great quality spring water with a high pH and electrolytes. The most rewarding part of working with TEN is reading all of the emails and comments we get from customers who love this water as much as I do and drink TEN for better health and improved athletic performance/recovery, among other things.
In that sense, our loyal customers deserve a huge amount of credit for wanting to take positive steps in their lives toward achieving health and fitness goals. Our customers care about the quality of the water they drink and it’s because of them that TEN is now in over 5,000 stores and growing.
If you focus on giving people a great product that’s unique and gives people tangible benefits, good things will follow. That’s what we tried to do with TEN, create a strong-one-of-a-kind brand that we believe is the best water on the planet. If you believe in what you’re doing that strongly, others will see it too. Our customers definitely see it and we owe our success to them!
Pricing:
- 1 Liter Bottle: $1.89
- 1 Gallon Bottle: $3.99
- Half Liter Bottle: $1.09
- Half Liter 6-pack: $5.99
Contact Info:
- Address: 3338 Peachtree Road, Suite 3006
Atlanta, GA 30326 - Website: www.tenspringwater.com
- Phone: (678) 389-8800
- Email: ten@tenspringwater.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tenwater
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/tenspringwater/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/tenwater
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
