After Covid put paid to my gym business, I took a leap of faith... into pure water

As a striker for Liffey Wanderers, AIDAN ROCHE was 2017 FAI Intermediate Player of the Year after his team won the FAI Junior and FAI Intermediate cups the previous seasons. Now the former Longford Town player is trying to score a winner in another competitive field – business. He opened four successful Feel Fit gyms but when Covid shut them down, he decided to branch out into something a bit different. His latest venture is DEFIANT Water.

Tell us about your new business?

DEFIANT water is pure and simple 100% H20, purified seven times.

The idea for DEFIANT water was given a real push when Covid hit and my gym business, Feel Fit, was sidelined during lockdowns. My background is sports and I was concerned by research showing that all water, bottled and tap, contains impurities to some degree.

How hard was it to get funded?

Ridiculously hard and we are still only funded 10% so far. I used savings and borrowed from family initially and still one of my businesses supports the other. For all the talk of an entrepreneurial nation, our banks are very, very conservative.

Toughest challenge?

The business challenges of getting things done don’t faze me but I need support with marketing and consumer education. There is a misconception that water is just water. But just because it is clear does not mean it is clean, and while water is ultimately the optimal health drink, consumers do need to be reassured about what they’re putting in their bodies.

What did you do to meet this challenge?

I believed in DEFIANT and invested in research, operations and product development, launching during Covid. We stayed true to our belief that we need an exacting process with seven-times filtered water to deliver the best product and trade on marketing a brand name, not any unique consumer offering.

How did it do?

DEFIANT is doing a lot better now, getting good traction with multiple buyers now that they understand our position as the ‘alternative’ to existing bottled water brands.

We’re stocked by BWG [foods], Gala and Tesco and hoping SuperValu and Centra, plus Applegreen, will be on board soon.

How tough was the Covid crisis for you?

With the gyms under pressure, I worked harder to build the water product. But it was unbelievably tough to sell as we were totally new and face-to-face meetings with buyers were impossible. We are a convenience product and with offices, gyms and leisure outlets closed, the market was more limited.

How big is the water market?

Bottled water is one of the fastestgrowing products in the soft drinks sector; it’s regularly bought by seven in 10 Irish consumers. Researchers put the Irish water market at €500m, and the UK will reach €5bn annual sales by 2025, so pretty big.

How is going now?

Great. We’ve already launched two new variants: a fruit-flavoured, vitamin-enhanced option, and a natural sports energy range.

How bad for us are sugary drinks? Wow, every bottle does damage. The sugar in particular, with empty calories, diabetes, liver and heart disease, weight gain and rotting teeth – 65g or 16 teaspoons a bottle is sickening to think of.

Why not drink tap water?

Simple – impurities, although tap water is not the worst offender. Chemicals may be present in bottled waters to varying degrees.

But don’t we have plenty of bottled water brands?

Yes, but no… [seven-times] purified water. We are the first.

Are you going to sell in Europe? Absolutely. Our organic growth and the switch of mentality to wanting healthier water will make it a bit easier. We will rollout further afield, hopefully with new investment or bootstrapped if necessary.

What was your first paid job?

A paper run when I was about 14 or 15 but I always had jobs even when I was playing soccer.

Hobby? And does it cost much? Golf, so yes.

Your best investments?

Investing in myself.

Ever buy crypto?

I did, but I didn’t know what I was doing, to be honest. I do believe digital currency is there for the long haul.

Do you invest in a pension or the stock market?

How are they doing? Yes, very good. Still up 8-10% over a pretty turbulent 18 months.