Tell us more about your operation.

ONE54 South Africa is a proudly South African retail brand-building business based in Cape Town. Neither the raw material supplier nor ONE54 South Africa owns any farms. As a start-up, we run very lean and outsource most of our business functions.

We have an operations manager who runs the day-to-day operations of the business, and a regional sales manager in Gauteng. Outsourced functions for ONE54 South Africa include marketing, finance and professional services, sales and merchandising, route-to-market consultancy, warehousing and distribution, as well as product manufacturing and transport.

Where and when didA1 start? And why?

A1 Fruit Water began with a vision to offer a healthier alternative to sugary drinks while providing a refreshing hydration experience. Our citrus-driven range of natural sparkling water (lemon, mandarin and grapefruit) is infused with real African fruit that gives you a hit of refreshing flavour.

A1 Fruit Water aims to bring ‘hydration by nature’ to the South African market, becoming health-conscious South African consumers’ first choice when it comes to fruit-infused sparkling water.

A1 Fruit Water is made in South Africa, and we are committed to supporting the South African economy. We work with farming partners located in Hoedspruit’s subtropical mango- and citrus-producing region in the north of the country.

Every A1 Fruit Water you buy supports the South African economy, farmers, factories, drivers and distributors. This is value that starts in South Africa and stays in South Africa; every purchase makes a real difference.

How and why did you choose the three flavours, lemon, grapefruit and mandarin?

Having decided to work with a select local raw material supplier, we have been limited in our ability to collect the primary raw material that makes up A1 Fruit Water due to the fact that the equipment needed to extract the fruit juice for later distillation is currently only available in one facility.
With continued growth being a driver in the ONE54 SA business, installing the necessary equipment at other facilities to allow for a range expansion of the A1 Fruit Water brand is being constantly investigated.
Processing plants are designed to be fruit-type specific. Our raw material supplier’s core focus is citrus fruits, and it is also in their plants where the equipment to extract
and capture our distilled fruit water raw material are.
The supplier does, however, also have specific plants for apple, pear, litchi, mango, papaya and guava. Our ambition is to launch new flavours shortly, once the necessary equipment is available at some of these other facilities.

Please explain the extraction process.

The fruit is picked on farms in Hoedspruit, then transported to our trucks and loaded onto a weighbridge. Each piece of fruit receives a tracking number, allowing us to trace it back to the exact orchard for 100% traceability.

Next, the juice is concentrated and transferred to the evaporator machine. Here, it’s sprayed over hot tubes, causing the water and steam to evaporate and condense, collecting the essence of the fruit in tubes above the conveyor belt.

As the process continues and moves down the line, more water is extracted, resulting in clear fruit water that maintains the fragrance and taste of the original fruit. This forms the core raw material for A1 Fruit Water.

The distilled fruit water is then sent to our production facility in KwaZulu-Natal, where it is mixed in the bulk chiller and run through our canning line where some light carbonation is added.

Each can is then pasteurised to preserve shelf life and to avoid the need for any preservative. Cans are then packed into cases of 24 to be dispatched to service our national store footprint.

The equipment used for citrus processing is similar to other fruit processing equipment and is available for purchase from most equipment suppliers.

Unique to the Fruit Water raw material is the process of capturing the real distilled fruit water along the heated tubes during the fruit concentrate manufacturing process, which is then stored in drums for distribution.

What makes A1 Fruit Water different from other fruit products?

A1 Fruit Water stands out for its refreshing flavours, sugar-free composition, and zero-calorie content. Unlike many sparkling beverages, it contains no sweeteners or preservatives, providing a guilt-free indulgence for health-conscious consumers.

Further to this, and possibly the most unique element of A1 Fruit Water, is that it is made using real African fruit juice, which is distilled, captured and filtered during the fruit concentrate manufacturing process and then used as the core raw material when making A1 Fruit Water.

What happens to the wastewater and fruit waste?

Fruit wastewater is treated at the facility, and if within the required regulations, reintroduced into the public water system. This wastewater is also often used to clean the facility to ensure it is being used as effectively as possible.

There is minimal fruit waste, with fruit being graded from top export grade to local consumption grade to fruit that is used for juicing and canning. Once the fruit has been graded and moved through the various stages of possible use, there is very little waste left.

What is left can be used to make compost or animal feed.

Can you tell us about your corporate social investment involvement? Do you support any NGOs? How do workers benefit?

We are still a small start-up business that currently only provides the financial benefit of the purchase of the raw material from the farmers as an additional income stream. We do have plans of giving back to the communities from which we source our raw materials as soon as we are able to do so.

In the meantime, we do look to be charitable in other ways when we have the opportunity to, with our latest contribution coming in March on World Water Day to the Alexandra Water Warriors to help with their efforts to clean up local water infrastructure. (See alexandrawaterwarriors.org.za.)

What are your plans for the future?

We have bold plans for growth in the local market, including the continued roll-out of the A1 Fruit Water product into more stores. There will be an opportunity in the near future to expand our offering by introducing more flavours as the equipment is available at our partner facilities.

We are also looking at potentially growing the A1 beverages brand to include more offerings outside of A1 Fruit Water, so watch this space! Core to all of this, we will stay true to our mission of creating and capturing value on the African continent to help support our local farming communities.