Canadian mineral water label Formosa Springs is returning to the market under ownership of former Flow founder and CEO Nicholas Reichenbach.
Reichenbach has acquired all brands and assets of Formosa Springs Brewery from a group of private investors for an undisclosed sum, Formosa Springs told Just Drinks.
In a release, Formosa Springs said the business has been “reimagined as a modern wellness and hydration brand”.
As part of deal, Reichenbach takes control of Formosa Springs Brewery's drinks manufacturing plant in Formosa, Ontario, which is over 44,000 square feet in size.
The facility has glass bottling capacity of more than 100 million units a year, along with co-packing and contract manufacturing capability for non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverage partnerships.
It also has "future aluminum capacity of up to 100 million cans a year", Formosa Springs said.
The Formosa Springs business has most recently been known as a regional brewery.
Origins of its production site date back to 1870 when German settlers set up a beer brewing operation at the location that also produced mineral water.
In 1981, Reichenbach's father Joseph Reichenbach founded the Formosa Spring Water Company with the Heisz family at the site in Formosa.
Water operations ceased when the site was bought by Algonquin Breweries in 1988. The business converted the facility to beer-only production and rebranded the business to Formosa Springs Brewery.
Following the latest acquisition, beers under the Formosa Springs Beer label will continue to be made at the site with the brewery operating as a tenant under a lease agreement, Reichenbach told Just Drinks.
The new Formosa Springs business however will focus “exclusively on premium mineral waters", he said.
"While we are actively exploring thoughtful expansion into adjacent categories for co-manufacturing partnerships, any future innovations will align with our core ethos of generational wellness and respect for the integrity of the source."
The Formosa Springs mineral water brand will launch in Canada through a direct-to-consumer subscription platform in April and in retail the following month. It will also debut in the US later this year through natural grocery and wellness retail stores.
The waters range will include still, and sparkling mineral variants sold in 750ml glass bottles and 355ml slim cans.
Commenting on consumption trends, Reichenbach said consumers in North America are increasingly seeking “premium, mineral-rich water with provenance” and are questioning the water category's reliance on imports.
"Formosa Springs offers a domestic, bottled-at-the-source alternative with world-class mineral quality, produced responsibly from two pristine aquifers in Ontario. That combination of heritage, quality, and local production resonates strongly in today’s environment," he said.
Asked why he believed the brand can now succeed in Canada and the US, Reichenbach said Formosa Springs is entering the market “from a fundamentally strong position”. He added: “This is not a startup - it is a 155-year-old artesian mineral water source with fully operational, vertically integrated manufacturing already in place.”
Reichenbach stepped down as executive chairman and CEO of water business Flow Beverage in August after the Canada-based water manufacturer had been facing pressure from lenders.
