Featured image for REFIX Is A Seawater-Based Recovery Drink

REFIX Is A Seawater-Based Recovery Drink

by Casha Doemland on 01/31/2019 | 3 Minute Read

For some, drinking a beverage made of 20% Galician salt-water might be a tough sell, but in reality, it’s one of the healthiest recovery drinks just introduced to the market, sans all the sugar. Founded in 2015 by Raúl Anta, REFIX began as a way to give monetary value to the natural ecosystems. As he was working in the Os Miñarzos Marine Reserve, he realized he could start extracting the seawater in that ecosystem, use it as the principal ingredient in REFIX and turn a profit.   

"The coasts of Galicia generate 3% of Spanish GDP thanks to fishing," says Raúl. "By extracting sea water, we are creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly product while also increasing the monetary value of the marine preserve protected by Natura 2000, the largest network of protected areas in the world."

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From there, Raúl spent six months with his brother, Lois Anta in the kitchen concocting different ratios of ingredients, with Galician seawater being the most important. Eventually, they landed on a mixture that includes one part seawater with four parts spring water,  a touch of 100% natural lemon juice from Spanish lemons and Stevia to balance some of the salt.

“We chose to use Stevia because it's a sweetener that is extracted from plants and doesn't raise the blood glucose index for diabetics,” states Raúl.

That said, the Stevia doesn’t cancel out the salty flavor entirely. This was also one of their biggest challenges and a central reason as to why they opted to market the benefits of the beverage to consumers.

"When people try REFIX, they expect a sweet taste similar to 100% of current recovery drinks like Gatorade, Powerade and Coca-Cola. Instead, they get a surprise when they taste the seawater with an acid hint of lemon and a sweet kick of stevia," states Raúl. "All of which results in a drink filled with magnesium, potassium, calcium, chloride and sodium."

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According to their website, "REFIX restores and replenishes your body at a cellular level. Sodium regulates the distribution and volumes of fluid in the body while potassium promotes the transmission of nerve impulses and is indispensable for cellular metabolic functions. Calcium and chloride both stabilize and maintain blood pressure."

So now that you've got an entirely different kind of recovery drink on the saltier side of things, you've got to market and brand it appropriately.

Raúl reached Madrid-based creative studio Naranjo-Etxeberria to create the designs as they were friends of his brother Lois. At the end of the day, they created a simple label with the brand name REFIX wrapped around the beverage. The bold, minimal design stands out amongst recovery drinks, and it doesn’t hurt that they managed to bottle their drinks sustainably in glass.

Lastly, for their target demographic, they opted to market the products to skaters as it's a culture he and his brother have been a part of since they were children.

“There's also not a healthy drink that supports the world of skateboarding at the moment, and being that this is a sector that combines sport and fashion, a drink like ours is very necessary,” chimes in Raúl.

So while you might not be shredding a half-pipe anytime soon—at least that’s what we think the kids are still calling it—Refix is just the latest recovery drink to hit shelves, and not only will it most certainly catch your eye, it’s the only Galician salt water out there.

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via: FoodBev