Many
friends and parents often ask me how I came up with the idea for
Wateroos. This is our story.
Like many parents, my husband and I had made the decision early
on not to give our toddler sugary drinks such as juices and sodas.
And like most moms today, I’m busy and on the go with my
family. With no other options, I found myself constantly toting
around my daughter’s water-filled sippy cup. And those cups
leaked inside my purse and other bags more than I care to mention.
I
knew there had to be a better way. We needed a beverage that our
daughter would want to drink and that also offered the convenience
of existing packaged juices and sodas without the sugar, sweeteners
and calories. Then one day, I had a light bulb moment. If I could
find a way to put water beverages in a juice-box-type container
and make it really fun for kids to drink, my problem would be solved.
And I might help out a few other parents along the way. It seemed
so simple I couldn’t believe it!
I figured I could draw upon my years at technology startups to
help me launch and manage the business so I set out to learn about
the beverage industry.
A short time later, my family and I were out to dinner at a local
diner. While my husband was chasing my daughter around the restaurant,
I played around with words and letters on a little notepad and
came up with the name Wateroos. It seemed
so perfect - it shouted ‘water!’ and at the same time
was fun and childlike.
Next, we did some formal market research just to be sure that Wateroos
would be a product parents would embrace. All of the friends I
spoke with loved the idea but I needed a little extra reinforcement.
The results of our research study were exactly what I had hoped
for. Yes… this was something parents really wanted!
Now the fun began. We devised the Wateroo-ligans - a crew of cute
characters who live in and love the water – and decided to
put games on the back of the drink box. We thought this might be
just enough to make water fun for kids to drink so that they ask
for our healthier product over sugary juices and sodas.
We also worked hard to get our fruit-flavored waters to be as delicious
as possible without sugar or artificial ingredients. Our refrigerator
was over-flowing with samples and there were lots of ‘taste
tests’ among friends, family and their children! Finally
we all agreed on some great-tasting flavors and were ready to put
our delicious beverages into our fun new packaging.
We were so excited when the first-ever box of Wateroos came off the
line at our manufacturing facility. And our daughter got to be the
first child to drink our new Wateroos products – what
fun!
Wateroos was born!
And better yet, a few months later,
Wateroos was being sold for the
first time on store shelves at the local grocery store where we
shop. Imagine the smile on my face as we walked down the juice drink aisle and
my
daughter shouted "Look Mommy, Wateroos".
Now we’re working hard to get Wateroos on more store shelves
across the country so that parents everywhere can feel good about giving their kids
this great-tasting, healthier beverage. And you can help. Simply print
out the card on the Where
to Buy page of this Web site, bring
it to your local grocer, and let them know that you want Wateroos!
We also continue to explore new flavor options for Wateroos and think about ideas for other healthy kids’ products. We’d
love to hear from you! Tell
us your ideas and what you think about
Wateroos!
Wishing you dry handbags and happy children.
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