A sustainable alternative to plastic water bottles is proving successful with customers and companies looking to reduce their plastic usage.
Callum Mather created Everdurance after noticing just how many plastic bottles were used at the 2019 Great North Run. Only 25% of the 120,000 single use bottles were recycled, creating an enormous amount of waste.
After researching the issue, he initially began designing drinks sachets which could be recycled and received funding from North Star Ventures to work with a London start-up to create the drinks. Then, as lockdown hit, he began researching different options. With a year to complete research and development, Callum came across Tetra Pak cartons that can be a sustainable alternative to plastic bottles. He realised they were ideal for businesses to easily reduce their impact on the planet and stop using plastic bottles.
Tetra Pak is a combination material made of cardboard, aluminium and bioplastic and can be recycled with its parts used again. The cartons also keep the drinks cooler for longer and are made with paper from FSC certified forests.
After creating his product out of Tetra Pak cartons, Callum began driving around the North East with pallets of water, flavoured water and juice and completing door-to-door sales of his products in shops, restaurants and hotels.
Through this process, he was able to be stocked in around 27 sites across Tynemouth, North Shields and Gateshead. Many were keen to reduce their plastic sales to customers and noticed that Callum’s cartons were selling much quicker than traditional plastic bottles of water.
Callum, founder of Everdurance, said: “Being stocked in so many shops was a fantastic start for the business and with such recognisable locations as The Grand Hotel in Tynemouth stocking our products, it felt reassuring to know other people wanted to make a sustainable difference too.
“We found that driving the deliveries personally was creating a lot of pollution, so now we cut out the middleman and deliver straight from the distribution centre. We also realised that supplying to so many shops was not sustainable and so we only supply a select number of locations where the need is greatest.”
Having expanded in 2022 and taking on additional members of staff, Callum was able to focus on larger partnerships, such as supplying General Electric Renewable sites for their catering facilities and supplying Beamish Museum for their cafes and restaurants.
Everdurance also sell wholesale to companies across the UK and with their partnership with Radnor Spring, have a wide range of beverages available.
The aim of Everdurance is to replace plastic water bottles and so they only stock to places where that is possible. Places such as primary schools will never be stocked: “Children at primary schools get their drinks from plastic jugs at lunchtime and so there is no need for us to add to their system. Secondary schools where students buy their lunches are a better option as we can actively replace plastic water bottles rather than add to the issue.”
With an office in the Incubator building, which is owned by Northumbria University and provides office space for five years to budding students and graduates, Callum has found a community of other small businesses.
“It has been great to make so many friends and business connections at the Incubator and receive mentorship from well-versed business owners. I have also had the opportunity to attend the Santander X Entrepreneurship Awards and met with like-minded business owners from across the UK.”
Looking to the future, Callum has a range of sustainable and recyclable stationery, tote bags and clothing he is hoping to sell to even more customers and is also looking to expand the reach of his original water bottle product to reduce plastic usage across the North East and beyond.
Find out more at: https://www.everdurance.com/
