Formosa Springs relaunches mineral water brand with retail expansion plans
As consumer demand continues to shift toward premium, purpose-driven and wellness-oriented hydration, Formosa Springs is relaunching a 155-year-old Canadian mineral water brand, positioning it for expansion across convenience, grocery and hospitality channels.
The company officially relaunched this week following a strategic acquisition led by wellness entrepreneur Nicholas Reichenbach. Formosa Springs says it is reviving one of North America’s oldest mineral water sources, drawing still and sparkling water directly from an artesian spring in Formosa, in southwestern Ontario.
Homecoming
Water is bottled at the source and naturally filtered through limestone and mineral-rich geological strata beneath the historic property, according to the company.
“This is a personal and family homecoming,” said Reichenbach, founder and chairman of Formosa Springs, in a media release. “I am honoured to carry forward a 155-year legacy and reintroduce Formosa Springs as the next great premium mineral water brand for Canada and the U.S. We are building this company for the next century, with uncompromising purity and deep respect for where the story began.”
The initial product lineup includes still and sparkling mineral water in 750-millilitre glass bottles and 355-millilitre slim cans, with further products in development. A direct-to-consumer subscription platform is scheduled to launch in April, followed by wider distribution across Canadian food, convenience, mass and hospitality channels beginning in May.
The relaunch comes as the North American bottled water market continues to shift toward higher-value, wellness-oriented offerings, with consumers increasingly seeking premium and domestically sourced alternatives.
1870 roots
Formosa Springs operates a 44,000-square-foot beverage manufacturing facility on a 10-acre site in Formosa, Ontario. The vertically integrated campus includes glass bottling capacity exceeding 100 million units annually, with future aluminum canning capacity of up to 100 million cans per year. The facility also supports co-packing and contract manufacturing for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage partners.
The brand traces its roots to 1870, when German settlers established a brewery built around a naturally occurring artesian spring. In the early 1980s, Reichenbach’s father, Joseph Reichenbach, alongside the Heisz family, founded the Formosa Spring Water Company, bottling and distributing the water across Ontario.
Now locally owned once again, the company says it aims to position its southwestern Ontario spring as a domestically sourced alternative in a $109-billion category often dominated by imported mineral waters, while building a long-term presence in Canadian and U.S. retail.
For convenience retailers, the relaunch signals growing supplier focus on premium bottled water as a higher-margin alternative to mainstream hydration brands.
