Gregory Sauvage, Jaufre Rouanet and Nabil Hamade met several years ago at an Abu Dhabi trade show focused on the future of sustainable water in the Gulf. Between them they had decades of experience in supplying oil and gas, and fast-moving consumer goods such as soft drinks and they all were like-minded on the need for an urgent transition to renewables.
Jaufre speaks of a mutual feeling that they had a “debt to pay”, in terms of a duty to their own children and future generations.
“So we came up with this crazy idea to make and bottle drinking water in the middle of the desert. But it was possible and we did it,” says Jaufre.
The result, branded as hawa®, is nothing more or less than pure water drawn from the desert’s own suspended humidity. Or, to put as they do: harvested from the sky.
“Everyone talks about sustainability,” says Gregory, “but it has to be looked at holistically, from A to Z, or cradle to grave as we say. Where is your supply coming from? Where is your market? What is your waste?”
Gregory Sauvage and Jaufre Rouanet
Nabil Hamade
In that sense, hawa® is as much process as product, delivering an elemental consumable in a returnable glass bottle for minimal environmental impact. Taste-wise, the water is fresh and light – zero-sodium, low-alkaline – in part because it’s not sitting in a pipeline before being transferred to a plastic or metal container.
“If you look on supermarket shelves for premium water, you find bottles that came from the other side of the planet,” says Jaufre.
Now, with the support of Spinneys, hawa® can offer a viable alternative – what Gregory calls “a product made locally, in an energy-efficient manner and distributed to people close to where they’ll consume it.”
“Spinneys is all about action and so are we. We’re excited that Spinneys is joining us on our journey because this is community water and Spinneys is part of that community.”
