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A Q T I* - A Healthier Replacement for Soft Drinks

A Q T I* - A Healthier Replacement for Soft Drinks

A Q T I* - A Healthier Replacement for Soft Drinks

A Q T I* - A Healthier Replacement for Soft Drinks

A Q T I* - A Healthier Replacement for Soft Drinks

A New and Traditional Drink for an Active Lifestyle.

A New and Traditional Drink for an Active Lifestyle.

A New and Traditional Drink for an Active Lifestyle.

A New and Traditional Drink for an Active Lifestyle.

Maxim
Maxim
Maxim
Maxim
0 Campaigns |
Project to be outside of Russia, Russian Federation
$0 USD 0 backers
0% of $115,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Concept
The project team has not yet produced a working demo for their concept. Their ability to successfully produce a prototype may be affected by product development or financial challenges.
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Overview
The world is heating up and people need more refreshments while becoming more discernible in their choices. There is a centuries-proven drink consumed in mass quantities in Eastern Europe. It tastes great, provides wellness benefits, and is an all-around drink for any occasion. It is a favorite staple of hundreds of millions belonging to the same diet and climate environment as in other parts of the world where it has been virtually unheard of, and this will change with the launch of A Q T I®

The Project

NOTE: the above image is an artist's rendition and the actual color of the product may vary.  AS EXPLAINED BELOW, WITH A Q T I® YOU GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS - AN EASY DRINKING AND GREAT TASTING REFRESHMENT PLUS AN EXCELLENT SOURCE OF HYDRATION AND IMPORTANT MICROELEMENTS.  Right now there's just no equivalent mass beverage in the developed markets, and it's time consumers there stopped missing out on this opportunity!

To be clear: this is not yet another tale of an 'Innovative New Drink'.  In fact, it is an innovative but traditional and well-established drink.

Just in case you don't particularly enjoy reading this project description, maybe you'll like some pics I took out of my window showing a few atmospheric phenomena - apols for the basic site/pic format (were compressed and cut to fit).  Here they are: www.imv.im ... , and now on to more substantive stuff.

While any project can go under for an infinite number of reasons, there really is no good reason why, with just the right management and basic funding, this project would be less than watertight since there is a clear gaping hole in the Western market for such product, filling which only requires a smarter marketing approach than what has been exercised to date.  I would be glad to hear what you think of this.

The original drink is called Kvass (some languages have local variations) which is a derivative of 'fermented' or 'brewed'.  As the name suggests, it is made by a fermentation process, with primary ingredients like rye, barley or wheat, yeast, and malt.  Kvass is typically sweetened with sugar, though it uses much less than a cola, and sugar can be replaced with another natural sweetener for an 'organic' recipe.  The product may be (depending on the ingredients) labelled as 100% NATURAL.  Basic info on Kvass: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass.  Relevant info will be posted on the forthcoming website at www.aqti.one, www.aqti.eu, and www.aqti.us.

While there are varieties of Kvass, its classic version looks and tastes like a cross between a Coke and a beer, more like the former, but with moderate sweetness, and slightly sour and mellow and refreshing taste.  It may contain insignificant amounts of alcohol – in the range of 0.1-0.5% - and is a non-alcoholic drink for all intents and purposes.  Here's a very brief overview of the Eastern European Kvass market: http://www.fdbusiness.com/kvass-east-europes-tr....

I won’t even go into the drink's wellness properties – just google ‘health benefits of kvass’.  Suffices to say for now that it contains naturally occurring vitamins and other microelements and is excellent for hydration.  Variations of mass produced Kvass may also have probiotic properties.  I might add that due to Kvass’ Vitamin B content you can actually feel its positive effect.

There aren’t really any well-known examples of analogous beverages except maybe the more peculiar and exotic tasting Kombucha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha).  Despite those features, Kombucha is already omnipresent and rather commonly consumed in the West, where Kvass is virtually unknown to the general public.  See the pictures of Kombucha filled shelves I recently took at a major US supermarket chain - and that was in one of the most 'conservative' US states - but apparently not in terms of consumer choices!



The Kombucha market in the US has been growing recently by something like 40% YOY. 



There is no reason why Kvass shouldn’t become at least as popular as Kombucha in the West.  The basic Kvass has an all-around commonly accepted taste.  Diet wise, unlike Kombucha, it contains the same ingredients which form the basis of the Western traditional diet.

The Solution

Use the traditional Kvass technology to produce an authentic yet 'innovative' beverage destined to disrupt the established markets.

What about the name?  Develop a new brand name designed to appeal to wider audience.

Easy as it sounds?  Not quite.  First off, considering the trademark registration hurdles, almost all imaginable generic names are taken.  After some extensive research though I managed to locate possible alternatives of which the following best option was chosen: A Q T I®.

This name has the following main advantages: it is short, easy to remember and distinguish, represents the concept of an active lifestyle, and is well brandable design-wise as you can see from the basic logo presented on this page, the label currently being work in progress.  The first two letters make a (not so) subtle reference to 'aqua' which is of course Latin for 'water', as entrenched in mass consciousness thanks to Coca-Cola's BonAqua and similar drink related names.

In particular, the A Q T I® name has been registered as a European Union trademark.  The trademark registration page: http://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/trademarks/017641424.  Just in case the relevant database is temporarily unavailable, here's an abstract from the trademark registration certificate:



To illustrate the inherent difficulties of the branding process, when applying for that trademark, I had to fend off a major wine producer consortium whose lawyers attempted to block the application but upon certain negotiations were successfully convinced to refrain from filing an opposition with the patent authority.

The Kvass technology is of course in the public domain so no IP issues there.  The idea is also to eventually develop an innovative and more organic recipe and/or different varieties.

A more soft drink like variety of A Q T I® might be based on the traditional Greek Tsitsibira drink which is essentially a kind of ginger Kvass.  Information regarding that product variety will be added if and when a decision is taken to that effect, meanwhile please see e.g.: http://www.greencorfu.com/tsitsibira-the-ginger....

Challenges

It is therefore safe to say that there is potentially a huge market niche for Kvass in the Western world.  Yet there are some obstacles – notably the weird-sounding name and the overall exotic nature of the beverage.  (Same goes for Kombucha but that’s a different story.)  Kvass is typically marketed as an 'authentic' and traditional drink – here’s a picture of one of the many and newly released authentic themed Russian Kvass drinks called “Family Secret”.



Yet another obstacle is, needless to say, the saturation of the developed beverage markets and the prevalence of traditional soft drinks there.

But, speaking of the latter, the things are changing.  The trends in the developed markets are the growth of health, energy, and fitness drink brands and decreased consumption of typical soft drinks.  Healthy beverages are taking center stage, especially drinks that emphasize positive health benefits.  Another trend is attempts at authenticity.

In fact, A Q T I® can be marketed to soft drink consumers as a “Healthy Substitute for a Coke”, also because it is similarly colored and tastes almost the same – or better!

Project Launch

This project is planned to be carried out with the participation of Union Kitchen in Washington DC, USA.  Union Kitchen is a leading food & beverage business accelerator located in Ivy City, Washington DC.  It runs acceleration programs for dozens of F&B startups operating from its premises and beyond, manages its own food stores and distribution network, and has launched many successful startups a significant number of which already achieved stellar growth.  More information on Union Kitchen at https://unionkitchendc.com.

The Ivy City area has recently developed into a vibrant F&B hub including established breweries and distilleries, and more planning to set up shop there.

The production may be also originally based in Europe.  Since there is some, even if limited, production of Kvass in several EU’s Eastern member states, notably in the Baltics, that may be the starting point, especially if as a first step A Q T I® is made by ordering product batches from an existing Kvass producer.  Other possibilities include Bulgaria (also an EU member) which is attractive from a tax planning perspective, as well as Western Europe, and the decision will be taken based on a number of factors and upon consideration of specific commercial opportunities.

The Kvass technology is uncomplicated and ingredients are readily available and inexpensive.  The economics of a basic Kvass type beverage project in approximate terms (subject to specific conditions and other details) are as follows.

The net cost of equipment with the capacity of 1000 liters/day is under or in the range of US$ 40K - 50K.  Such an equipment set occupies an area of about 70 m2 = 750 sq feet.

1000 liters/day translates into 2000 standard half-liter or 16 ounce bottles per day, i.e. about 600K bottles per year.  Assuming a retail price of US$ 2.00 per bottle, in a direct sales scenario that means yearly revenue of US$ 1.2 M.

While initial CAPEX and marketing costs can be significant, the margin on this product is usually (e.g. where it is traditionally produced) quite high, meaning in the upper double digits or up to 100%.  In a realistic scenario, taking into account a wholesale price and other expenses, for the current project it should be closer to the more typical profit margins in the food and beverage sector.

Whether the project is structured initially as placing production orders with established Kvass producers or purchase or lease of equipment and premises will depend on the level of investment.  Generally, under any scenario, the funds for this project will be allocated as a contribution to: forming a basic project team to include technology and marketing / logistics specialists, production, and requisite product certification, distribution, and advertising, etc. expenditure.

The marketing focus will be on health conscious consumers.

Right now I am prevented by the site rules from offering any kind of 'profit sharing' or stake in the project for purposes of this campaign, however, this is potentially a multi-million dollar market and project, which will likely present further significant investment opportunities, and I intend for obvious reasons to give priority to investment offers from the initial project backers, including a certain discount on the project's then current 'market value'.

In addition, this project can be potentially of interest to venture funds or other investors, therefore, notwithstanding the legal notice below and on the same conditions, please share this information with any relevant contacts you might have.  If that results in investment into the project, you will be entitled to a percentage of any funds received (a reasonable amount would be no less than 10% and that can be also subject to an additional arrangement) and you may treat this as a binding offer on my part.

Please note that you can access this campaign via the following URL shortener: www.tec.one/best.  I may be also contacted via 'Contact us' at (both sites work in progress) www.aqti.one or www.tuner.one/about, and I don't have 'social network' profiles as I prefer other types of engagement and communication.

*  *  *  *  *

* The name A Q T I® and any of the related content are, or may be, protected by copyright and/or trademark laws and treaties.  The above project description and related communications, and any ideas or concepts presented herein or therein, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise used except for your personal or internal information purposes.  Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

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