The brand doing something new in soft drinks: fermenting whole fruit, peel included, to create a lemonade category that did not exist before. No concentrates, no flavourings added after the fact, no functional positioning borrowed from a trend. Just a process-first product that pitched Ocado at a trade show and walked away with a listing. We caught up with Jack on what makes Ferment Fizz a category rather than just a product, and why taste is still the most underrated sales tool in the room.

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A lot of brands call themselves pioneers. Swap a few ingredients, tell a new story, slap a new label on it and the word gets used pretty freely. Ferment Fizz's claim is different: a new process, a new category, built from the ground up. What makes that true, and how do you prove it?

“A lot of brands call themselves pioneers because they slightly reinvent something that already exists. We went somewhere soft drinks had not really gone before.

When people think about lemonade, they naturally think about citrus, sweetness and refreshment. Fermentation was never really part of that picture. We brought fermentation directly into whole fruit lemonade, and that completely changed the flavour experience.

We use whole fruit, peel included, and you can actually see that inside the bottle. The natural fruit sediment is one of the clearest proofs of what Ferment Fizz really is. Our "real fruit" is visible to the naked eye before you even read the label.

For years, soft drinks have relied heavily on concentrates and flavourings to recreate what processing removed. We became interested in the opposite idea: what happens if the ingredients themselves create the flavour naturally?

That is where fermentation became exciting for us. It changes acidity, texture and aroma in a way that feels deeper, softer and more alive than standard soft drinks.”

The functional drinks space is booming and Ferment Fizz ticks a lot of the boxes that category trades on. So why not position it there?

“People love simplifications, so it would probably be easier for us to speak only about "function". The category rewards quick messaging around gut health, energy or focus.

But that was never the starting point for Ferment Fizz.

We became obsessed with the process first, because the process changes flavour, texture and the entire drinking experience. We wanted to understand what happens when you ferment whole fruit for lemonade instead of building flavour afterwards through concentrates and flavourings.

The result is something much more sensory than most functional drinks. You smell real fruit first. You get depth from peel, natural acidity from fermentation, and a softer, fuller structure on the palate. The drinks are meant to be enjoyed, not tolerated for a health promise.

Of course fermentation and fibre naturally bring benefits people care about, but for us that is a consequence of doing the product honestly.

We also think consumers are becoming more aware that many "functional" drinks still rely on ultra-processed formulation shortcuts underneath the marketing. We wanted to build something where the ingredients, the process and the taste all align naturally.”

Ocado is on the way. For a brand building from scratch, what does securing that first major listing actually look like, and what did you have to prove to get the conversation even started?

“We were lucky in the sense that we pitched directly to the Ocado panel during the Speciality & Fine Food Fair, so buyers could taste the product immediately while hearing the story behind it.

I actually think taste did most of the work.

Ferment Fizz is difficult to fully understand through words alone because people have never really experienced a fermented lemonade category before. But once buyers tasted it, the combination of flavour and concept became memorable very quickly.

I still remember one comment about the name itself: Ferment Fizz is very simple, but it says exactly what the product is. That was intentional from the beginning. We wanted the product, process and branding to feel equally honest and straightforward.

Of course, partnerships also matter. Working with Indie helped make the listing process smoother and helped us navigate retail conversations more effectively.

But fundamentally, I think buyers responded because the drink genuinely feels different. It creates curiosity first, then the taste makes people remember it.”

You've positioned this as a better default, built for repeat drinking rather than quick hacks. What does that mean in practice for where you're targeting distribution, and who is the Ferment Fizz drinker in their day-to-day routine?

“Our customer is someone who does not want to compromise on flavour.

A lot of fermented drinks are respected more than they are truly craved. Kombucha starts from tea leaves, while water kefir starts from water and sugar. Fruit flavours are often added afterwards.

We approached it differently. We started with the whole fruit itself, and that changes the drinking experience completely. You taste the fruit more clearly, more naturally and more fully because it is the actual foundation of the drink, not an added flavour direction.

That also changes how the body experiences the drink. By default, the bottle already contains what fruit and microbes naturally create together through fermentation. In many ways, part of the work is already done before you drink it — it is gentler, easier to digest and carries more nutritional value naturally unlocked through the process.

The brine also contributes natural salts, which support hydration in a much more balanced way than typical soft drinks.

A lot of people discover Ferment Fizz out of curiosity, but they stay because it becomes an easy everyday choice. It tastes satisfying enough to repeat.”

Distancing yourself from kombucha makes sense if you want a broader audience, but kombucha drinkers are already warm to fermentation and process-led thinking. Are you actively avoiding that consumer, or do you see them as a gateway into something bigger?

“We definitely are not avoiding kombucha consumers. In fact, some of the strongest reactions we get come from people already familiar with fermentation.

I would not even say we directly compete with kombucha. We offer a broader alternative.

Kombucha begins with tea leaves. Water kefir begins with water and sugar. In both cases, fruit is usually introduced later as flavouring.

We begin with the whole fruit itself.

That creates a very different sensory experience from the start. Fruit naturally carries more familiar, appetising and emotionally recognisable flavour than tea leaves or sweetened water alone. So while Ferment Fizz still has the depth and complexity fermentation brings, the entry point is much more intuitive and craveable.

That is why kombucha drinkers often immediately understand what we are doing, but we also reach people who are never fully connected with kombucha flavour profiles themselves.

For us, that is the opportunity: taking fermentation beyond niche wellness culture and making it feel naturally delicious through real fruit.”

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