Viveau’s simply delicious beverage ready to spring into market

What do you get when an award winning chef and food product developer decides to go into business with a trailblazing winery owner? A simply delicious and purely Canadian beverage.

“We created our business because there was a gap in the market for a healthy, flavored beverage,” said Ted Grant, President & Co-founder of Viveau. “We wanted to create a low-sugar, low-fructose, flavoured carbonated beverage and were committed to health in a bottle.”

The result is a two or three-ingredient, yet fully flavourful blend of fresh-pressed fruit and sparkling mineral water. The beverage is based on a popular European drink called Schorle, which combines apple juice and mineral water.

Ted and his business partner Hanspeter Stutz recognized the strength of Schorle in the rise of the foodie culture and the trend toward healthier food and beverage options. They decided to put a Canadian twist on the German-style beverage.

Proudly Nova Scotian, Viveau is committed to sourcing local ingredients from the province’s growers. “We take fruits from the Annapolis Valley and Oxford-area blueberries combined with purely-Canadian mineral water to create something healthy, refreshing and simply delicious,” said Ted.

The product is set to provide a boost to two co-packing facilities in the region, supporting employees at both locations and at Nova Scotian farms.

Recognizing Perennia’s work in the food and beverage industry, Viveau looked for their guidance on technical aspects to get their product shelf-stable at room temperature storage.

“I have a background as a Michelin Star chef and a food product developer, but needed support with shelf-life testing,” said Ted. “Perennia advised us on the food science aspect and helped us adhere to bottling regulations.”

With strict measures in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), BRC Global Standards (formerly British Retail Consortium) and other levels of certification, Ted said that Perennia helped them put the right processes in place and establish production flow. “We came to them with the product formulation and are now shelf-stable and following industry guidelines.”

Viveau is now jumping in with both feet and picking up steam in domestic and global markets. They’re establishing commitment from buyers in Asia and are on their way to landing agreements with Sobeys, Sysco Canada and Costco.