How this flavored water is making a splash in the competitive soft drink industry
Hint water CEO and founder Kara Goldin talks to FOX Business' Stuart Varney about their no-calorie, no-sugar-added beverages.
Fourteen years ago, Kara Goldin was drinking a dozen cans of diet soda a day. After realizing the extreme toll the drinks took on her body, and recognizing her health was in jeopardy, she decided to take control while satisfying her cravings.
“I realized that I wasn't as healthy as I wanted to be,” Goldin, the CEO of Hint water, told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” “There were a few different issues: energy, I'd gained a bunch of weight, my skin was terrible.”
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Goldin, who worked at AOL before founding Hint in 2005, began to drink plain water when she realized the toll the soda was taking on her body. In order to stay with the newfound habit, she experimented by adding diced fruit to the water, which provided a flavor and natural sweetener -- a decision that would eventually blossom into Hint.
“Hint does not have sweeteners in it,” Goldin said of the zero-calorie beverage. “No sugar, but also no Stevia. None of these other sweeteners in it. And so it's just fruit-based with water. We have a carbonated version and we now have a kid’s box version.”
Hint water has seen a sales growth of over 50 percent in the last few years and total sales are estimated at more than $100 million, she said. Their standout market — what makes them so popular in such a highly competitive industry — is the appeal in health benefits and social prompt to drink more water.
“In addition to being flavored water, that's really the core difference. People are looking for options to help them drink water," she said. "There are a lot of things out there that sort of claim health, whether they’re diet drinks or vitamin drinks, but people are really looking and they know to drink water so that's where hint falls into place.”