Local youth start own flavored water company in Caz using Skaneateles Lake water

By Jason Emerson

Editor

Two of Central New York’s newest entrepreneurs have created the first flavored water company in the area, and already they are making such huge waves (pun intended) that they are in talks with major regional distributors and even supermarkets such as Wegmans for future distribution.

For these new local business owners, it’s all in a day’s work — after their homework, that is. Because these go-getters are only 8 and 10 years old.

Paige and Taven Reilley, of Cazenovia, will be handcrafting their new product, LoRH2O, in the Nelson distillery of their parents’ beverage company, Life of Reilley Distilling and Wine Company, using water from Skaneateles Lake.

And yes, the kids are making all the decisions and doing all the work themselves.

From choosing where to get the water, to selecting and taste-testing the flavors, creating and designing the logo and marketing, to infusing the water with carbonation and ultimately canning the product, to going on the road to sell, these local kidtrepreneurs are taking their parents’ lifestyle brand and expanding it into a family-friendly direction.

“We came up with it because our mom and dad said that we could maybe have our own business if we wanted to, then we could have something to do and they could have something to do,” Paige said.

“It was important for us to listen to the kids’ ideas. It was just a natural brand extension for us — the kids wanted to offer a healthy alternative to their friends to drink something other than soda,” said Ben Reilley, co-owner with his wife Shioban of Life of Reilley. “This helps round out our portfolio; it’s a better extension of who we are as a family company.”

Taven and Paige, who both said they were “excited” about their new business, have chosen cucumber and ginger beer (non-alcoholic) as they first two flavor offerings for LoRH2O.

“We got cucumber because mom wanted cucumber,” Taven said — although both he and his sister said they do really like the flavor too.

Taven said they will be expanding to more flavors, which they are currently in the process of doing, but they do not have any specific flavors in mind right now.

The process for creating the product is first to collect the water from Skaneateles Lake — which not only has some of the best water in the state and the country, but is also Ben’s hometown — by subcontracting with a Skaneateles business to use their water. The water will be filtered and purified, poured into 55-gallon drums and hauled to the Life of Reilley distillery on Route 20 in Cazenovia-Nelson.

From there, the flavors chosen by Paige and Taven will be infused into the water, after which the concoction will be carbonated using a Brite Tank. The Reilleys are currently in the process of purchasing a canning line, which will be used to can LoRH2O (as well as the LoR upcoming Disco Lemonade canned cocktail beverage) and the logo stickers will be attached to the cans. “It’s pretty easy,” Paige said.

The kids created the logo themselves and the background color can be changed to reflect each different flavor of the water, they said.

LoRH2O will come in four-packs of 12-ounce cans, and should be available across the region and even the state in a short amount of time. The Reilleys already have had discussions with regional distributors and major regional supermarkets, Ben said.

Paige and Taven also will hit the road this summer with their dad to sell their product alongside his — all of Life of Reilley’s distributors have a non-alcoholic portfolio and have expressed an interest in LoRH2O, Ben said — during which they will learn how to network, distribute and market their product, all while traveling the state.

“Our entire business is predicated on growing where we want to grow and traveling as a family,” Ben said. “We didn’t quite think water would be the product leading the charge, but LoRH2O could potentially open doors for the distillery in the future.”

In fact, both public and commercial reaction to the kids’ new flavored water has “by far been bigger than anything we’ve done at the distillery,” Ben said. “It’s the kids — the kids’ story.”

For now, as the Reilleys finalize their water flavors and anxiously await the delivery of their canning line, samples of LoRH2O are currently available every Saturday at the Cazenovia Farmers Market on Albany Street. And now that school has ended, Taven and Paige will also accompany their parents to the Skaneateles Farmers Market on Jordan Street at Austin Park every Thursday to offer samples there as well.

As for the profits from their new endeavor, Taven and Paige said three-quarters of the money will go back into the business, while the other one-quarter will go into their bank accounts. Taven has his eyes on PlayStation4 games while Paige said she already knows she wants a Corvette. Ben and Shioban just smiled.

For more information about LoRH2O, visit lifeofreilley.net or facebook.com/LifeOfReilley, email [email protected] or call 506-5084.