OLFUS, Iceland (November 9, 2010) — Icelandic Water Holdings ehf, makers of the award-winning CarbonNeutral® natural spring water from Iceland, announced today that the company has raised an additional $8 million in equity funding from private investors to invest in its growing sales force in the United States and to strategically develop its Icelandic Glacial brand in new markets, including China.
This has been a standout year for Icelandic Glacial; the company boosted its US sales through a variety of landmark agreements including those with leading travel concessionaires HMSHost and OTG, Squaw Valley USA ski resort, Food Lion & Bloom Supermarkets and with Hilton Group Hotels. Meanwhile it also increased its global reach through new distribution agreements with leading beverage distributors in Russia and China.
“Icelandic Glacial has been tremendously popular with consumers, making it the fastest-growing super-premium bottled water in the United States. We are delighted to receive this injection of capital to help us expand our business both in the United States and abroad, allowing us to bring our outstanding water from Iceland to even more people across the globe,” remarked Jon Olafsson, chairman and co-founder, Icelandic Glacial.
Icelandic Glacial uses 100% natural green energy in the form of geothermal and hydroelectric power to fuel production. Icelandic Glacial’s label and plastic bottle are 100% recyclable. Earlier this year, the company’s water source was declared certifiably sustainable by Zenith International, Europe’s leading food and beverage consultancy.
For more information about Icelandic Glacial, visit www.icelandicglacial.com.
# # #
About Icelandic Glacial Natural Spring Water
As the world’s first CarbonNeutral® certified bottled spring water for both product and operations, Icelandic Glacial delivers a water of exceptional purity to consumers with a “net zero” carbon footprint.
Located in Olfus, Iceland, Icelandic Glacial is an environmental pioneer in the industry. The company uses 100% natural green energy in the form of geothermal and hydroelectric power to fuel production. The source of Icelandic Glacial is the legendary Olfus Spring, a naturally replenished catchment zone formed during a massive volcanic eruption more than 4,500 years ago, and which has been deemed certifiably sustainable by Zenith International, Europe’s leading food and drinks consultancy.
Icelandic Glacial was named “Best Water of 2007” by industry experts BevNET, and also received accolades for the “Best Sustainability Initiative” at the 2007 BottledWaterWorld awards.
Icelandic Glacial is distributed in the United States by Anheuser-Busch, which took a 20 percent ownership stake in the company in July 2007.
For more information on Icelandic Glacial, go to www.icelandicglacial.com. Follow us on Twitter @IcelandicWater.