The city of Hamilton has been harboring a secret, or at least an unknown attribute for most who live outside its confines. For Erik Loomis and Satinder Bharaj, former Procter & Gamble execs-turned-startup-founders, this discovery led to the formation of their recently launched business, Pahhni, a premium bottled alkaline water brand.
Pahhni, since its official debut last August, has grown its retail footprint to 230 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana – mostly sold at convenience stores but also specialty food outlets, restaurants and gyms. There’s also a direct-to-consumer market.
Loomis said the goal is to grow the brand well beyond the Tri-State, despite the fact the bottled water market is super saturated – and that gaining traction with any new brand can prove difficult.
He thinks Pahhni is in prime position to challenge Essentia, which considers itself the American “pioneer of ionized alkaline water,” for market leadership.
Their secret sauce? The city’s award-winning water supply.
‘The best tasting water in the world’
Bharaj, a 27-year P&G vet, homed in on Hamilton water in a roundabout way.
He was part of the team that evaluated P&G’s early 2000s acquisition of Pur, a line of water purification products, and led all engagements with regulatory bodies like the National Sanitary Foundation and more.
That expertise segued into a scientific advisory board role with the now-defunct Pipeline H2O accelerator in Hamilton, which worked to commercialize water-tech startup ideas from around the world.
Hamilton’s water, he learned, had twice been named the world's best-tasting tap water at the prestigious Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition, billed as “the Academy Awards of Water.” It’s sourced from 210 feet underground via the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer, which extends north of Dayton to the Ohio River.
The water is naturally filtered by sand and gravel, before Hamilton starts its own water treatment process.
“Hamilton has the best-tasting water in the world,” Bharaj said.
Loomis said he and Bharaj had always talked about doing something together. The two met on Loomis’ first day at P&G. Overall, he logged 12 years at the company, later jumping over to Pfizer to work in the pharma company’s consumer health business.
A role at London-based GSK followed. The latter position required about 80% travel, and when GSK prompted Loomis to relocate, conversations kicked up with Bharaj again.
“We sat down for many months, and then I just said, ‘Let’s just do it,’” Loomis said. “You hear all these stories about entrepreneurs and startups. The biggest thing I take away from that is you can plan forever. Most people never do it. We took the leap.”
Pahhni was officially formed in January 2021, the company name a play on the word pahni, which means water in Bharaj’s native language. Production started a year and a half later in August 2022.
As expected, the company has planted its roots in Hamilton. Pahhni has a long-term lease for a roughly 7,200-square-foot space at 315 Dayton St., in the city’s downtown German Village. The office includes a semi-automatic bottling line, storage space and a loading dock.
As a two-man team, they can produce around 6,000 to 7,000 bottles a day in a seven-hour shift. Pahhni's MSRP is $2.49, but price varies by retailer.
Loomis said its differentiator – what makes it different than other brands like Alkaline 88, Core and BodyArmor, which this year inked Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to a multiyear sponsorship deal – is its propriety filtration process, which uses natural limestone.
That's where Pahhni achieves its alkalinity.
Other bottled alkaline water brands use reverse osmosis to purify, Bharaj said, later ionizing the water, which involves adding back in chemicals, such as sodium bicarbonate, magnesium sulfate or electrolytes and salt.
It’s a trade secret they’re keeping close to the vest, much like Coca-Cola does with its top-secret formulation.
“Basically, we start with the best, put it through our proprietary process and make it slightly better,” Bharaj said. “There's a health aspect to it. Alkaline water actually helps bring the body back to homeostasis. There’s a hydration aspect. There are clinical studies that show alkaline water hydrates you faster than regular water. Then there's the taste."
Pahhni is currently self-funded, but Loomis said they are considering a venture raise. The company will eventually look to expand its offerings: adding flavored waters, maybe even energy drinks to the line. The money would help fuel that next phase.
He sees the company, in the next five years, growing to a team of 30 to 40, with multiple distribution centers and sales staff around the country.
Bharaj said Pahhni sits in a prime position.
“We feel very happy about where we are at this point in our journey, and we are getting a lot of positive feedback,” he said. “We know there’s something here.”
