The Redesign
Waterloo Sparkling Water is rolling out its first packaging redesign since the brand's 2017 launch, updating cartons and cans across all pack sizes at retail nationwide. Developed with brand agency CBX, the new look features more vibrant, saturated colors, stronger flavor cues, and a modernized brand mark — all intended to improve shelf visibility and flavor findability in an increasingly crowded sparkling water aisle.
The timing is deliberate. Chief Marketing Officer Kathy Maurella cited 3X category growth and a 17% increase in household penetration in the first half of 2026 as evidence that the brand has momentum worth protecting — and amplifying — at retail. "With CBX as our partner, we captured the flavor experience consumers expect from Waterloo and made it even easier to discover and shop our portfolio," Maurella said.
Shelf Competition
Mark Christou, Principal and Chief Creative Officer at CBX, framed the redesign explicitly around competitive pressure. "The sparkling water category is more saturated than ever, and most brands are starting to blur together on shelf," Christou said. "This packaging refresh sharpens that story, giving the brand a more vivid, recognizable identity that lives up to what's always been true."
For buyers and foodservice operators stocking RTD beverages, the point is practical: Waterloo conducted multiple rounds of eye-tracking studies and tested a range of creative concepts before landing on the final design. The process was built around maximizing stopping power at shelf and reducing the time a shopper needs to locate a specific flavor — a meaningful consideration as multi-flavor sparkling water sets expand in both retail and on-premise environments. Operators tracking beverage industry trends will recognize this as a broader pattern: better-for-you sparkling water brands are investing heavily in packaging as a primary growth lever.
What Stays the Same
The formulas are unchanged. Waterloo's full portfolio is crafted with Non-GMO Project Verified natural flavors and purified carbonated water, with no sugar, sweeteners, sodium, or calories. All products are packaged in aluminum cans with BPA-NI liners — a detail that continues to resonate with health-conscious consumers and on-premise accounts positioning around sustainability.
Alongside the packaging rollout, Waterloo launched a redesigned website at drinkwaterloo.com with improved shoppability and store-locator functionality. For restaurant and hospitality operators evaluating RTD beverage programs, the combination of updated shelf presence and digital tools makes the brand easier to source and merchandise. As the independently owned Austin-based company pushes for broader household penetration, the redesign signals that Waterloo is treating packaging as a commercial asset — not just a cosmetic update — heading into the back half of 2026.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
