Belu (company)

Belu is a UK based drinks company. The company claims to produce carbon-neutral and ethically-sourced bottled waters and filtration systems, and to donate 100% of its profits to WaterAid.
History.
Belu was founded in 2004 by film maker Reed Paget as an environmentally friendly bottled water business. Before launching Belu, Paget was “looking at ways of engaging the business community in addressing environmental issues.” Investors included Body Shop co-founder Gordon Roddick, environmentalist Ben Goldsmith and Chris Cooper-Hohn, hedge fund manager.
Belu was the UK’s first completely carbon neutral bottled water.
Reed launched the UK’s first compostable plastic bottle in 2006, to go alongside their existing range of glass bottles.
Despite sales growing from £8,000 in 2004 to £2.7 million in 2008, Belu's road to profitability was disrupted by the financial crisis that year. To help maximize profits, Paget appointed Karen Lynch, previously Barclays Branch Marketing Manager, as a new MD in 2010. Lynch switched Belu from direct distribution to wholesale and in 2011 she re-launched the Belu brand. The new model proved to be transformational, their revenue having grown 40% between 2010 and 2012.
Concerns over the recycling of the "Bio Bottles" led Belu to launch an RPET bottle, with the highest percentage recycled plastic content of any water bottle on the UK market.
Belu's original bottle design was done by the acclaimed London design firm, Lewis Moberly and won numerous awards. However, in 2011 Lynch engaged the design agency This is Real Art to generate a new bottle design to better suit their targets in the HORECA market.
Material sources.
The water is sourced from Wolverton, Church Stretton, Shropshire. and two other springs: Montgomery Springs, Montgomeryshire and Iceni in Cambridgeshire. The plastic for Bio Bottles was made from corn starch sourced in the U.S. state of Nebraska.
The business.
Trade practices.
Belu does not import or export its water, keeping food miles and therefore carbon dioxide emissions to a minimum.
Social impact.
As of 2013, Belu supports 29 Full Time Equivalent roles. When selecting their water sources Belu favours rural areas in order to have greatest social impact by creating and sustaining employment in these rural areas.
In 2012, Belu was part of the arc initiative.
Social Enterprise UK.
Belu are members of Social Enterprise UK and also support the Buy Social Campaign, which encourages social enterprises to buy from each other.