Arising from their participation in Monash University’s Fastrack Accelerator program, three students from Monash have launched a conscious alcoholic seltzer brand.
Called Wonki, the alcoholic seltzer is the brainchild of Gabriel Tucker, Max Moolman and Bridget Lansell, who have had the vision to transform misshapen, landfill-bound fruit into quality drinks with the help of local manufacturers such as Farmers Pick for produce sourcing, Market Juice for juicing, and Gypsy Hub for the final manufacturing.
With these industry connections, the Wonki team was able to trial the manufacturing process from start to finish, and educate themselves on the pressing Australian landfill crisis through the knowledge of local experts.
Wonki’s alcoholic seltzers are the first in the Australian beverage market to not only be sourced from fruit and but also successfully preserving the fruit in the process. The product contains five per cent alcohol and comes encased in fully-recyclable packaging.
Wonki’s seltzer flavours will change as the seasons do, pending what fruit and vegetables are readily available at the time. It also contains low-sugar alternative to traditional alcoholic beverage options and allows consumers to support Australian farmers on a mission to divert valuable produce from landfill.
“We wanted to create an environmentally-sound method of making sure perfectly edible produce makes it off the farm, unlike the other 25 per cent that typically does not, a way of ‘doing the world a flavour’, if you will,” co-founder Gabriel Tucker said. “We’re also uni students, so premium beverages that boast a cool aesthetic and fresh taste excite us, naturally.”
Wonki will be up for pre-sale on crowdfunding platform Pozible on Wednesday 29 March, as it hopes to make further inroads in the marketplace from the revenues it generates from the presale. The team hope to raise $30,000 by Friday 14 April 2023.
