Build a Functional Water With Real Flavour
We supply the fermented base and the technical support to help you develop, test and launch your functional water.
Our fermented bases are already in thousands of drinks sold by leading retailers.
Our bases are the foundation behind your next winning functional water
- Body without sugar
Natural body and roundness, so the drink doesn't read as thin.
- Natural acidity
Fermentation gives the drink its sharpness, so you don't need to add synthetic acids.
- Works at low inclusion
Our published formulations use the base at around 2% to 3% of volume.
- A cleaner back label
A fermented base replaces a list of added acids and additives, and the back label is where shoppers in this category decide.
We can help you build your next functional water
There are three main types, and each one is made differently. We can help you win in all of them.
Juice-based functional waterA little real juice adds flavour and colour. The trick is real fruit taste while keeping sugar and calories low.
Extract-based functional waterNo juice. Flavour comes from natural extracts, so it has to taste natural, with nothing to hide behind.
Flavoured seltzerFizzy and light, with just a hint of flavour. Small slips in sharpness or aroma stand out straight away.
From idea to shelf
At each stage, you'll know what happens next, what we need from you, and what you'll get.
- 01
Book a call and tell us your idea
Can this work?1 day to 1 week
- 02
Develop and test
What will it taste like?2 to 4 weeks
- 03
Make sure it works at scale
Can we make it in larger volumes?1 to 2 weeks
- 04
Scale and launch
How do we get it ready for sale?Ready to launch
How we help you get functional water right at scale
Everything is harder in this category because there's so little in the drink. Almost no sugar and almost no solids means nothing to hide behind.
Our bases take these problems off your line.
Talk to us about your line- The flavour has nowhere to hide
In a fuller drink, sugar and body cover small mistakes in acidity or aroma. Here they don't. The gap between tasting of nothing and tasting of flavouring is small, and it moves with every change you make.
- Low sugar, at its most extreme
Sugar gives body, softens acidity and holds a flavour together. Functional water has almost none, so that body has to come from somewhere else, or the drink tastes thin.
Where functional water brands can win
Give your water real bodyMost functional waters taste thin. A fermented base adds a soft, round feel with no extra sugar, and that turns a first try into a repeat buy.
Make the benefit feel realStrict rules limit what you can claim on pack. Real fermentation gives shoppers something they can taste, and that does the convincing for you.
Take the shelf space sugar taxes free upEach time sugar rules tighten, retailers look for low-sugar drinks to fill the gaps. Launch before the UK change in January 2028 and you're first in line.
Win on the back of the packShoppers in this category read labels closely. Swap added acids for a fermented base and your label gets shorter and cleaner.
Functional water: everything has to work at 2%
Functional water is the hardest brief in the drinks aisle and the one that looks easiest.
The second-largest functional segment
Functional water is the second-largest of the eight functional beverage segments, inside a market already past $220bn.
The growth is coming from function, not hydration
What sells now is water with one clear benefit. Probiotics make up about 35% of the functional ingredients used.
Sugar regulation helps this category more than any other
The UK levy drops its threshold to 4.5g per 100ml in January 2028, and functional water starts on the right side of it.
Download the Functional Beverages Guide
Market intelligence, formulation strategies and ready-to-blend recipes, all in one free download.
- Where the global functional beverage market is heading, and which segments are moving fastest
- The formulation decisions that set your product's commercial ceiling before you go near a retailer
- 10 ready-to-blend recipes across nine functional categories, built for production
Talk to our team about your functional water
A 30-minute call, with no obligation. A rough idea is enough.
- Whether a fermented base suits your functional water, and which one
- What it would take on flavour, sugar, cost and timing
- The next step, if there is one
Our articles on functional water
The functional beverage aisle looks different now. Ten years ago it was thin, niche and mostly kombucha. Today it's the fastest-growing part of soft drinks,…
1 October 2026Read the article
Most new beverage products fail before reaching retail. Here's the product development process the brands scaling successfully are using, and where it starts.
6 July 2026Read the article
The functional beverage market is forecast to reach $300bn by 2030. Here's what the data means for producers, brands, and co-packers building for growth.
3 July 2026Read the article