Aqua Libra Flavour Tap×Waracle

Britvic, in its mission to make Aqua Libra the world’s most sustainable water brand, identified a distinct market need for anew approach to out-of-home hydration that resonated with the changing demands of the modern workplace. Britvic recognised that an average workplace consumes 23,000 single-use bottles per year, despite the fact that the majority of people own a reusable water bottle. They sought to drive the change away from single-use plastics to reduce carbon emissions, packaging use and disposal, water use, energy consumption, and refrigerated storage needs, all within a single solution.

Britvic saw an opportunity to leverage its existing Aqua Libra brand, but elevate their offering above the rest of the market with an innovative new solution that met multiple user demands within a single service offering.

We worked closely with Britvic through iterative phases of prototype development, keeping teams small and agile to move quickly. Over a period of 6-8 weeks, Britvic arrived at a ‘string and sellotape’ prototype to test with a friendly customer, whose learnings fed new iteration cycles.

Britvic knew the consumer experience was key, and we worked closely with them to bring the concept to life through rich, vivid design, and digital interfaces. Working together, consumer flows were concepted, prototyped, and trialed with customers.

The rapid prototyping approach ensured that customer feedback was sought at every stage, allowing the team to test and validate potential product and design approaches quickly, and pivot to maintain a development direction which was closely aligned with market and consumer sentiment.

The new Aqua Libra Flavour Tap dispenses filtered water, but what elevates Aqua Libra above the rest of the market is not only offering a choice of still and sparkling water, but a range of natural flavours and functional infusions. This is achieved by an innovative micro-dosing solution which utilises a set of six flavour cartridges, which thetap can combine to offer up different flavours to consumers, as well as the option to add electrolytes to their drink.

The tap can be installed as a standalone unit, just like a coffee machine, or integrated into an existing countertop at a customer’s premises. While primarily aimed at workplaces, it can also be installed for use by the public. The device comes with an integrated touch screen to allow users to select their drink and learn about the packaging saved.

The taps are also fitted with Internet ofThings (IoT) functionality to provide real-time telemetry to both Britvic and the customer. For businesses, a web management portal is included within the service to allow them to track the usage of the taps within their estate, order replacement supplies, such as flavour cartridges or CO2, and evidence the impact they have had in reducing the need for single use plastics.

The product received very positive feedback from customers and consumers. Each flavour cartridge provides up to 2,000 serves, with an average tap eliminating the need for 800 pieces of single-use packaging per week. The flavours offered contain no preservatives, sugars, or calories, and tap into increasing consumer demand for greater variety and convenience in healthy hydration choices when out of the home.

Encouraged by the initial, immediate success of the product, Britvic and Waracle have continued to iterate on the concept, adding the ability for consumers to add functional options such as electrolytes to their drinks, as well as refining the look and feel of both the product and the design to keep up with changing customer and consumer preferences and demands. Additionally, through a partnership with Ocean BottleCo, every flavour dispense funds the collection of 2 pieces of ocean plastic with the equivalent of over 300,000 plastic bottles collected so far.

The product is also proving commercially attractive, with a per-unit cost less than half that of packaged drinks, and even lower than premium bean-to-cup coffee offerings.