New organic carbonated drink: Grouper

Liron Cooper and Yuval Grudak are a couple of entrepreneurs who developed an independent soft drink brand 'Grouper' - the organic carbonated drink made from organic fruit, minerals and gas, and will be the first of its kind in Israel. They both left their careers in the business field to devote their time and energy to promoting an agenda for the healthy consumption of beverages, with the aim of creating a change of mind and with the aim of producing a healthy, natural and accessible product for everyone.

The development of the product took about two years and included precision of the flavors and their balance, adapting the product to the market, reducing the amount of calories, finding the right raw materials including choosing the bottle (degradable glass), young and innovative design and branding. The entrepreneurs' appeal to work in the health sector came from a personal place. According to them, consumption of healthy products on a daily basis is based on the understanding and familiarity with the world of healthy nutrition and its importance for the body and soul. Awareness of this has been increasing in recent years, therefore, the entrepreneurs decided to bring the alternative to a healthy drink to Israel as well.

The entrepreneurs are in advanced talks with a number of key distributors in the market and the first ones to sign a distribution agreement with them are the icing on the cake. The product will be sold at an estimated cost of NIS 9. The "Grouper" entrepreneurs say: "We want to be the pilot for introducing the field to Israel. The fixation of the major manufacturers in the beverage market in Israel can and should be broken. We intend to prove that the consumer is ready to consume natural and less harmful products. This happens in many other fields such as cosmetics, unprocessed food, Fashion from natural fabrics, and of course areas of protection for man and nature such as green construction, and a transition to vehicles powered by electricity or natural gas, but it makes sense that this will also happen in the soft drinks market."

Ronan Avisher, who has held senior positions in the Central Beverage Company for the past 12 years, Israel's largest soft drink company, as CEO of Carlsberg in 2016-2019 and CEO of Mashkar in 2016-2008 and in addition as VP of the IBBLS alcohol arm of the company in 2001- 2008. He has experience in the local consumer products and beverages market and the introduction of new products to the market and has extensive knowledge and connections in international markets. Avisher liked the idea for the organic drink "Grouper", the visibility of the product, the differentiation and the adaptation to consumer requirements, and because there was a good connection with the entrepreneurs from the first meeting , he decided to be a part of the project and invest time, knowledge and connections, to help "Grouper" successfully return to the soft drinks market in Israel.

"Currently, the production is carried out in Europe because it is not possible to produce in the existing factories, but in the future we hope that the bottling of the products will move to local production. The production abroad allows us to reach foreign markets easily, and we even receive inquiries from several parties that we are not currently promoting because it is important for us to make the penetration The first in the Israeli market." The entrepreneurs share: "Our product is suitable for marketing in health stores and for people who are looking for a healthier replacement for existing soft drinks that they consume today. The main goal of "Grouper" is to bring about consumer change and be on every shelf, refrigerator, and table in Israel, adding that, during the development of the flavors, we performed dozens of taste tests and some of them were even photographed. If we were to describe the taste in words, we would say that it is fruity, lively, light and sweet with a natural aroma."

"We are the first company that operates in the start-up model in the world of beverages in Israel, the power is in the community and in creating a product that will be a good alternative for healthy consumption. One of our goals is to create a knowledge and information center for proper consumption and a healthy lifestyle and, in addition, to involve our community of investors and supporters in the company as much as possible" . The entrepreneurs explain. After extensive research and two years of developing and finding solutions for production outside of Israel, "Grouper" successfully completed a crowdfunding project at Headstart and moved to the public stage on Headstart's FUNDIT platform. So far, the promoters have raised 1,433,324 shekels for the "Grouper" brand and the fundraising process will continue until they reach the goal, which is 4 million shekels. https://invest.fundit.co.il/project/1259