Adam Westaway calls his family’s latest spring water venture a “step into the future”. He could just be referring to the family water business, started 30 years ago with water coolers and bulk water and now moving into branded water in bottles and cans. But this new venture, Little Hampton Spring Water, also taps into the idea of Australian spring water having regionally-specific qualities and flavour profiles, similar to famed European water brands like Evian, Perrier and San Pellegrino. This may be the real step into the future for Aussie spring water.

The idea for Little Hampton Spring Water was born after the three families which make up the business’s second generation purchased a spring on pristine farmland in the tiny town of Little Hampton, near Trentham. Spring water in this part of the world already has a well-established reputation for purity and health-giving properties but Westaway says they were amazed at the quality of the water the spring produced.

“The excitement we had about the spring was about its quality and purity,” he says. “It’s filtered through volcanic rock and so the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids, referring to traces of organic and inorganic matter in the water) is incredibly low. The water is silky smooth and clean across the palate and so we started to think about packaging it as a single spring water, similar to single vineyard wines.”

Little Hampton will be positioned as a premium brand but Westaway has no time for high-end bottled water that can sell for up to $80 a bottle.

“There’s no water in Australia with a premium presentation at an affordable price,” he says. “Our approach was that it had to be available and affordable to as many people as possible or otherwise it had no value for us so it will retail for around $5 a bottle.”

This goal requires a finessed balancing act, particularly as the family decided that Little Hampton Spring Water had to be packaged using the most sustainable model available. This meant no plastic bottles. Instead, the spring water in both natural and lightly carbonated forms, would be sold in completely recyclable aluminium cans and 750ml glass bottles. They also want to protect the farmland surrounding the spring.

“We want it to remain farmland,” says Westaway. “So we’re not going to build a factory or anything like that. We’ll do the bottling at our facility in Melbourne and leave the property as a small working farm.”

The label will not include flavoured water, just pure spring water and the carbonated version which will have a very light sparkle so it remains “below the burp line”.

The business has already had some success with the single spring idea. The family own multiple springs around Australia, including one in far north Queensland that’s the source of their Babinda Springs label. They’ve also entered some of their packaged water in the Berkeley Springs International Water Awards, held annually in the US and have won prizes. Westaway holds out high hopes for future glory.

“We’ll pop up there with Little Hampton in a year or two,” he says. “And we’re looking for a number one.”

There are plans for a “water door” on the property and an annual Open Day where the water will be highlighted alongside food made from locally-grown produce. For Little Hampton Spring Water, this step into the future is looking bright.

Little Hampton Spring Water

Glenlyon - Little Hampton Rd, Little Hampton

@littlehamptonspringwater

sales@littlehamptonspring.com.au

littlehamptonspring.com.au

STORY BY MICHAEL HARDEN

PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER