The following content originally appeared in issue 60 of Cooler Plus, which you can subscribe to here.
As the competition in what FoodBev Media calls the ‘mix-your-own’ category heats up – a new entrant emerged in the US at the end of October 2015.
Here, we interview Lavít founder and CEO Gian Matteo Lo Faro, about the development and launch of the new Lavít countertop single serve beverage dispenser. A podcast interview is also available here.
Founded in 2011, Lavít is based in New York City. With its stated intention: ‘To revolutionise the cold beverage industry, Lavít has developed a single serve, cold beverage system featuring 100% recyclable, beverage capsules. The Lavít system is an innovative water dispenser that allows users to insert easy to recycle all-aluminium capsules to craft a variety of still or sparkling 12oz beverages that are naturally flavoured, preservative free and deliver only 10 calories or less. Demonstrating a social conscience, for every Lavít capsule purchased, the company commits funds to water charity partners across the globe.’
The Cooler Plus interview
Gian, you’ve just launched Lavít… a new single serve cold beverage dispenser. What’s the story behind the development of the product?
Our story begins about six years ago with a reflection: ‘Why is it that we Americans, who grew up on tap water, are now almost exclusively drinking bottled water shipped from Europe and around the world? Why were plastic ready to drink bottles gaining market share over point of use water cooler alternatives?’
We found the point of use water dispenser market had started to gain momentum but overall the water cooler industry hadn’t been shaken up in a long time. Why isn’t it as ‘cool’ to drink from the water cooler as it seems to be to hold a name brand water bottle in your hand. We wanted to offer this same quality product in a convenient way. We wanted to offer great water from a beautiful dispenser, and additionally offer great tasting beverages made with great water. We also wanted to focus on creating an overall wellness initiative for the health of our customers and do it in an environmentally friendly way. We wanted to then take those efficiency savings created from not transporting and temperature controlled storing of RTD bottled beverages and water and do something good by passing these savings along to people in developing countries who don’t have access to clean drinking water. At Lavít we believe everyone has a right to clean and delicious water.
What’s your background and how did you end up with the development of Lavít?
I’ve worked in a variety of industries from marketing for a large corporation, to cutting edge projects in real estate development but have always been passionate about starting new things and challenging accepted standards. I have always been passionate about people and the environment in which we live.
My dream has always been to innovate for good, while producing high value results. As the founder and CEO of Lavít, I sought a new way to deliver great water and great beverages in a way that’s healthy for customers and good for the environment. After years of testing, many trials and hard work, we have achieved just that: a cold beverage system that we can feel good about.
My love of new projects was kindled during my time at Disneyland Paris where I assisted in bringing a 1,000 room luxury hotel to market, while managing 120 employees. My passion for business management grew when I took a roll managing the sales of a $47 million luxury urban timeshare project and then became responsible for the global marketing and communications activities of a $2 billion division at Schlumberger Industries, where my team and I successfully repositioned the Schlumberger RMS brand in the marketplace.
I soon realised that to be a responsible entrepreneur you needed not only to have the passion but also the will to help create an environmentally conscious world. That’s when I took my experience in the financial property management and marketing industries to create ADG Development, a socially responsible real estate development and consulting firm specialising in the development of environmentally sound high value add properties.
Now with Lavít, my goal is to use my experience to facilitate a transformation of the beverage industry with a new technology that is good for business, consumers and the environment.
How long did development take and what were the key stages and challenges?
There were quite a few challenges we faced. To begin, we started with years of researching the structure of the office coffee service (OCS) and bottled water industries, the pros and cons of existing products, and analysing what we thought was needed in order to create the best product that would resonate both with industry dealers and with end users.
We came up with a list of 30 specific features our unit needed to have in order to create a product that could make consumers healthier and happier and that would capture market share by addressing the needs and desires of our OCS and bottled water industry partners. The list of product features was quite extensive, including everything from how the unit should sound when pouring a beverage, to a contemporary look, ease of use, robustness and ease of maintenance, a competitive price point to similar high-quality point of use water coolers, a truly recyclable-able capsule, no cross-contamination between beverages, a long shelf life for the beverages without the use of preservatives, convenience, and the like.
We gathered the points for our list from countless discussions with OCS and bottled water distributors and dealers, in addition to focus groups with end user customer office managers and buyers in large corporations.
We worked through this list for three years to develop the actual product, hitting walls and finding ways around them and starting over from scratch in some cases, all with the end goal of developing a product we could stand behind. Six years later, here we are. We’ve launched into several markets to some very happy customers.
What’s unique about Lavit?
A lot of what’s unique about Lavít came from years of intense market research. For instance, we decided the capsule had to be 100% recyclable, and not only that, but it had to be easily recyclable, which is why we made the capsules out of pure aluminium with no dirty foil component, so consumers don’t have to go out of their way to recycle them. Our capsules are clean and empty at the end of the drink dispense process, with nothing left over but the same pure aluminium as an aluminium can.
We also brought in a lot of best-in-class industry leaders to study different ways to extract a beverage out of a capsule while keeping the dispenser uncontaminated. We simply could not have any cross contamination between beverages and no bacteria buildup in the unit itself.
Our beverages are all made here in the US, from the highest quality ingredients available. All our beverages are healthy, low calorie and enriched with vitamins and minerals. Our entire focus is offering beverages that are better for you.
What about the drinks themselves? What will the consumer experience?
We are focused on low sugar and no sugar still and sparkling water beverages that taste great and keep consumers hydrated. Something that’s unique about the system we developed, mixing a dry powder with water from the unit, is that the drinks are crafted fresh on-demand, so there’s no need for preservatives in our products. Many of the products you’ll buy in the store have been heat treated or have preservatives in them but because of our technology and model, we can provide beverages without those treatments.
Tell me more about your goal to benefit communities in the developing world with clean water.
The idea is that we’re saving money by not shipping or storing heavy water products and that those savings can be passed along to provide clean water to those that don’t have it. We’re partnering with some really exciting water charities including Charity Water and the One Drop Foundation to help us accomplish this mission.
Here at FoodBev Media, we call this the ‘mix-your-own’ category… You’re competing with other units, from Bonne O to a new generation of machines from SodaStream and the recently launched Keurig Kold. How will Lavít stand out from the crowd?
Lavít is a smart living platform. It starts with clean, fresh water. It is an environmentally friendly system, and it’s conscious of the impact it has on those around it and that it can have on people elsewhere.
Lavít starts with great water. From there we make great beverages all at the touch of a button. The system offers the only easy to recycle capsule. And finally, all Lavít beverages will always be low calorie and preservative free. With Lavít, you’re living lighter on the planet, you’re hydrating, you’re drinking better for you beverages and you’re helping to provide water for thosein need.
What’s next for Lavít?
Right now we’re focused on servicing our customers. We’re currently launching in the commercial market in the office coffee, point of use, bottled water, and foodservice channels and focused on gaining market share, one happy customer at a time.
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