IT’S WELL KNOWN that plastic isn’t good for the environment or for your health.
Now, London-based startup CanO Water believes it has found the solution — and celebrities like David Gandy and Ellie Goulding are on board.
The company, founded by three friends — Ariel Booker, Perry Alexander Fielding, and Josh White, all under the age of 25 — is selling tall cans of water with resealable lids for 99p (€1.16).
The sleek-looking cans, filled with water from a spring in Austria, are already stocked in 320 locations, including Selfridges, Whole Foods, and Fenwick, as well as a number of gyms, hotels, schools, and universities.
CanO Water has also started shipping to China and the Czech Republic, while it is also pitching to supermarkets and corner shops in the UK.
The idea came about when Booker, who was previously a headhunter for banks and hedge funds working in the City, took a trip to Thailand.
“I canoed to this island and the sea facing side of it was devastated — covered in plastic bottles, washed up nets, and rubbish,” he said. “It was a real eye-opening moment for me.”
According to the World Economic Forum, at least eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean every year. Its 2016 report warned that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050 unless major action is taken.
Along with friends Fielding and White, Booker came up with the idea for a canned water product when he returned from his trip to Thailand in 2015. Aluminium is the most recyclable material on the planet, according to the company.
“A couple of days ago we saw a statistic about the top 10 things that are found on beaches, and cans weren’t in there,” Booker said, adding that most people grow up with the understanding that cans should be recycled.
“Aluminium doesn’t lose any of its quality when you recycle it,” White said. “75% of all aluminium we use today was first mined back in the 1800s. It’s infinitely recyclable.”
You might hear plastic is recyclable, but that doesn’t mean a bottle is going to be another bottle. When plastic is recycled it gets downgraded each time…eventually it cannot be recycled anymore.
There are also fewer health hazards involved with drinking water from an aluminium can than from a plastic water bottle, he said.
“When a plastic bottle is left in the car in direct sunlight, chemicals can start seeping into the water and can cause carcinogenic illnesses,” Fielding said. “It’s not 100% safe. The aluminium can is. It’s sealed from light and air.”
The cost of recycling plastic is also incredibly expensive, according to the company. “It actually costs more to recycle it [than to throw it away], which is the main problem,” White said. “It ends up getting dumped because nobody wants to take the cost of recycling it.”
The trio were still working full-time jobs when they started the company. While Booker was working in the city, White was working in events, marketing, and sales, and Fielding had a job as a graphic designer with a background in fashion.
“None of us had a clue about this industry,” Fielding said. “We just had so much belief in the product and the purpose it serves, so we thought, do or die. We quit our jobs and put everything on the line.”
Their first interested retailer was Selfridges.
“Selfridges were planning to get rid of their single-use plastic water bottles. We got a sizeable order that gave us credibility to think: ‘We’ve got something here,’” White said.
Private investment followed, according to Fielding. The three founders each invested £3,000 up front, but CanO Water would not reveal the identity of its other backers or how much money has been ploughed into the business.
“It all happened really quickly from there. It took us six to seven months from the initial idea to the point where we sat with our investors, then it was a matter of weeks until we were in an office running a company.”
They also partnered with London Fashion Week to “test the market” in a space where they could also reach celebrities. It was there that they caught the attention of David Gandy.
“He’s not an official ambassador, but he’s posted about us on social media,” Booker said. “Josh and I had coffee with him a few weeks ago.”
The company now provide the water for Gandy’s salon, which he opened in South Kensington with Larry King.
“David Gandy is someone who actually cares about what we’re doing,” White said. “He’s a very down to earth guy who really cares about the whole problem.”
The company has also received attention from singer Ellie Goulding and McFly’s Dougie Poynter, while Booker recently went to Buckingham Palace to drop samples off for Prince Andrew. Rapper Tinie Tempah went one step further.
“We were introduced to him and the first thing he said was, ‘do you need any investment?’” Booker said. “We were like, ‘thankfully, we’re actually alright.’ It was another mind blowing moment.”
The trio have since been approached by a number of celebrities and brands looking to endorse the company in return for a promotion fee, but refuse to spend big on getting names involved.
We could have spent a couple of million pounds last year if we would have accepted every offer that came our way,” Booker said. “I spoke to Formula E, for example — they wanted £150,000 from us.”
“People like Voss, Evian, and Smartwater are happy to throw £20-30,000 at an event to be there,” he added. “That’s one of the frustrating things — unless it’s the right opportunity with the right people, you’ll just pay money and get thrown to the wayside.”
Even getting charities on board has been a challenge.
“You would think that charities would want to work with you for free because you’re promoting the message… but a lot of them chuck crazy figures at us and it’s a bit disheartening,” White said.
But the company is placing some bets, including in Hollywood. “We’re sponsoring the Vanity Fair Oscars Party, which is a massive opportunity for us,” Booker said.
Still, there are those who argue that refillable bottles are the way forward, suggesting companies should do away with selling water altogether. But CanO Water believe this is an “unrealistic scenario.”
“Refillable is a solution, but it’s not a long-term solution,” Booker said.
“There’s always going to be a need for it [buying a bottle of water, but we’re doing our bit," White added. 'We’re trying to create an alternative so people can have the choice."
Fielding added that the recent shift towards healthier eating among the younger generation has made their job easier.
“It’s important for us to target the younger generations because we are the ones who are facing this problem,” he said. “The last generation was smoking, drinking energy drinks, and eating fast food, but it’s all changing now. Everyone’s vegan, people don’t smoke, and everyone wants to be a part of something good.”
“We’re in a generation where a small David can actually compete against a Goliath,” White added.
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