Believe or not! This drinking water sold at Rs 100 for half a litre is black in colour

Black might not be a usual or even preferred colour of water but a Vadodara-based company is out to change all that. The colour is not the only unusual bit about Evocus - as it is called. Prepared and bottled by AV Organics LLP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emerald Group, the black bottled drinking water is touted to have natural electrolytes, antioxidants and minerals that detoxify the body. Along with a high pH value, Evocus also improves metabolism, as stated by the company.

All the medicinal benefits and unusual look does not come cheap. A 500 ml bottle of the black drinking water is priced at Rs 100. The product is available in a pack of six and 24 and is rolled out on some of the leading e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Snapdeal and Big Basket as well as the company's online platform.

AV Organics, the maker of Evocus was co-founded by Aakash Vaghela. A Symbiosis University and Regent College graduate, the co-founder and MD conceptualised the idea of Evocus around two years ago. He stumbled upon the idea of alkaline water and soon realised that it was not a popular concept in India. He sought help of nutrition and wellness expert Nobert Chirase to create a similar product for India. "I set up an R&D team and a pilot facility in Vadodara to create water using these minerals by infusing it and enriching the water. After much research and trial and error, we created our own formulation, that is Evocus," said Vaghela to BusinessToday.In.

Talking about its pricing, Vaghela states that it is not an ordinary beverage but one with more than 70 minerals infused in it. While stating the benefits, Vaghela added, "In today's India, people are increasingly health conscious, and they are willing to pay for products that they feel will provide short and long term health benefits."

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The founder states that the process of preparing the product is not a simple one. Once the minerals are extracted from a deposit in Texas, US, it undergoes a refining process at a plant there. The mineral deposit concentrate is imported to Vadodara, where they use their own proprietary formulation and infuse it with pure water at a HVAC clean room environment plant. The whole process is automated and untouched by hand, states Vaghela.

Vaghela is currently the seed investor of the company and has invested around $1 million to set up product research and a fully-automated manufacturing cum bottling plant. The facility based in Vadodara is 50,000 sq ft. "For any company to grow, capital investment at every stage is important. We will be looking forward to other investors at the right time," he said.

While Vaghela agrees that the product is a niche one, he plans to take the product to smaller cities gradually. They are progressively launching in the top 20 cities and are heavily banking on social media to drive curiosity. "Curiosity is one part of the pull to Evocus. We also aim to educate consumers on the benefits that Evocus provides, build engagement with them and do so interactively," he added.

"Plans for tie-ups with youth centric events, sports events along with participation in F&B industry forums are also in the pipeline for enhancing consumer consciousness, brand awareness, knowledge, confidence and conviction," he said.

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