1. Our work /
  2. Byarozavik
Work 001 · Belarus → United States

We started with Byarozavik.

A traditional Belarusian birch drink - sap tapped for a few weeks each spring, as the trees wake from winter and living water rises from root to tip.

Byarozavik · 500 ml bottle and 12-bottle case · Limited Harvest 2013
Byarozavik · 500 ml bottle and 12-bottle case · Limited Harvest 2013
The 2015 US label · organic birch tree water
The 2015 US label · organic birch tree water
Betula · Köhler pl. 21 · the tree behind the drink
Betula · Köhler pl. 21 · the tree behind the drink

Harvested once a year the way maple is - but never boiled down. Lighter and crisper than coconut water, with a comparable mineral profile. Byarozavik is where GIAB started: a product from one place, and all the work it takes to introduce it somewhere else. The label, the story, the cold chain, the shelf, and the first customers who had never heard of birch water. It premiered at BevNET Live in Santa Monica, launched with Northern California’s independent grocers, and went nationwide on Amazon.

Ingredients on the 2015 label: organic birch tree water, organic cane sugar, citric acid. Flash-pasteurised for shelf life; not from concentrate.

Harvest
March - April, once a year
Origin
Birch forests, Belarus
GIAB role
US import, brand, retail & Amazon
Years
2012 - 2016 active market work
Log
  1. 2012 · DecGoodness In A Bottle founded in California; digital brand plan for the US market.
  2. 2013 · AprSourcing visit to Minsk; product and label adapted for the US.
  3. 2013 · JunFirst placements - Whole Foods grab-and-go coolers, Northern California.
  4. 2013 · NovFirst pallets loaded at the Richmond, CA warehouse; in-store demos, Staff of Life, Santa Cruz.
  5. 2013 · DecBevNET Live, Santa Monica.
  6. 2014 · MarNatural Products Expo West, Anaheim.
  7. 2014 · SepTechCrunch Disrupt, San Francisco; Rainbow Grocery and CrossRoads Market listings.
  8. 2014 · DecBerkeley Bowl demos; nationwide availability on Amazon.
  9. 2015 · JanABC News producer requests Byarozavik for a Good Morning America segment.
  10. 2015 · MarNatural Products Expo West; Unified Grocers show, Long Beach.
  11. 2015 · JulThe 2015 harvest arrives - the ‘Limited Harvest’ label year.
From the archive
Loading the first pallets at the Richmond, California warehouse, November 2013
Loading the first pallets at the Richmond, California warehouse, November 2013
A bottle on the road, San Francisco · April 2015
A bottle on the road, San Francisco · April 2015
Birch Water shirts at Natural Products Expo West
Birch Water shirts at Natural Products Expo West
Demo table, Food Funded · May 2016
Demo table, Food Funded · May 2016
Birch Street, and all is birch · October 2014
Birch Street, and all is birch · October 2014
Limited Harvest, out where it belongs
Limited Harvest, out where it belongs
What it taught us

Three things we still use.

Sampling beats explaining.

Nobody had heard of birch water. A paragraph on the label did less than a cold cup at a demo table, so demos went into the plan before advertising did.

A cooler placement is a promise you have to keep stocked.

Grab-and-go shelves are won slowly and lost in a week. Import lead times, the cold chain and the warehouse in Richmond decided more than the marketing did.

A launch is a decision, not a party.

Each channel taught us something specific: independent grocers about repeat purchase, trade shows about distributors, Amazon about what people search for when they don’t know your name.

Next: a new chapter in birch water.

We are developing a new birch-water brand that builds on our experience with Byarozavik. We’ll share the name and product details as the project develops.

See what else we are working on
Discuss your product