Former Lancaster students launch new 'hard seltzer' alcoholic drinks range

Brother and sister duo, Fabio, 28, and Francesca, 25, Bruni, who attended the university between 2009-2012 and 2012-2015 respectively, have defied the odds and launched their business during an unprecedented pandemic – a big enough task in normal market conditions.

Two Brooks is a range of alcoholic sparkling waters produced in Britain.

They are made with 100 per cent natural ingredients and are "low alcohol, low calorie, low in sugar, vegan and gluten free".

As fans of sparkling water, the two young, entrepreneurial siblings – now based in London – left their influential jobs in the M&A insurance and political risk insurance industries after seeing the growing interest in the category during business trips made to the US; the emergence of the category was the perfect opportunity for them to create a business around a product they love.

With the US hard seltzer (alcoholic sparkling water) market expected to reach $2.5bn in value in 2021, attention has quickly turned to the potential of the UK market to follow suit.

Fabio, a Business Economics graduate, felt his career in M&A Insurance was never going to satisfy his desire to be his own boss.

He said: “After my last trip to the US with work, and seeing how popular hard seltzers had become, the decision to write a business plan for an alcoholic sparkling water began in mid-2019.

“I was intending to go it alone, until I learned over a family dinner that Francesca was thinking of moving jobs and the decision to join forces was quickly landed on – Francesca’s creative mind was the perfect complement to my analytical skill set and the rest is history.”

With only the founders as decision makers, progress was swift and Loon Water, the holding company, was incorporated in November 2019 and less than six months after, the Two Brooks range was developed and more than 25,000 cans produced.

Francesca, who studied politics, philosophy and economics, says the siblings owe a lot to their time at Lancaster University.

She said: “Our time at university really instilled a sense of determination and self-awareness in our own capabilities, and that was always encouraged by our tutors and peers.

"We’d love to come back and chat to the current students about our experience and maybe inspire some to take a leap themselves.”

And on their radical new drinks brand, Francesca adds: “While it might raise a few eyebrows as any new alcohol category can, alcoholic sparkling water fills a gap in the market for spirit/mixer drinkers who want to venture beyond their usual drink and try something new.

"Plus, with the rise of cocktail culture, flavour innovation in the gin category, and the premiumisation of canned alcohol driven by craft beer, alcoholic sparkling water has the perfect launchpad in the UK.”