Page 19 - Food & Drink Magazine April 2019

A BETTER OPTION
Why the excitement over packaged water, you may ask? What is JUST Water? Perhaps the best answer is to start with what it’s not. It is not, nor does it purport to be, the ideal solution to reducing beverage packaging waste. But since bottled water remains in demand, and purchased in high volumes, finding a better solution to a plastic bottle is a decided step in the right direction.
This is the view of Ira Laufer, CEO of brand owner JUST Goods. Laufer was commenting on the uptake of the brand in its US launch market, and then in the UK. He says JUST Water has garnered a lot of international attention in the face of the “depressing matter of plastic pollution”.
“What we have in JUST Water is a solution that allows 100 per cent spring water to be bottled close to or at source, in a container that is made from a combination of FSC-certified paper and plant-based materials.”
Andrew Pooch interjects to clarify the pack’s precise composition: “The paper-based carton is made from eighty-two per cent renewable resources – fifty-four per cent of the paper is made from Forest Stewardship Council certified and/or controlled wood sources and twenty-eight per cent is made of plant-based materials – the cap and shoulder.
“In packaging converting terms, there is around a seventy per cent reduction in carbon emissions over the lifecycle compared to a standard plastic bottle based on US LCA studies,” Pooch says. Furthering the sustainable production argument, Pooch adds, “And the shape of the finished pack also makes it space efficient on pallets and on shelves.”
RIGHT: Jaden Smith made a star appearance for the JUST Water launch.
LEFT: JUSTifiably proud: Andrew Pooch, MD Tetra Pak Oceania (far left) with the Tan brothers, William, George and Ben, the co-directors of Slades Beverages, the co-packer of the product.