Unsweetened carbonated soft drink challenger brand CANS is celebrating a host of new wins.

On a mission to create the ‘non-sweet’ category, the fledgling brand first came to the UK market in March, initially launching with a D2C offering.

Now making significant headway with independents, this month will also see CANS entering Harrods with a full shelf takeover and all four SKUs from September. The brand is also celebrating listings with wholesalers including; Brakes, Epicurium, JD Foods, CLF, Delicious Ideas and Mahalo Supplies (RRP: from £1.39).

Each CANS drink is made from pure Alpine spring water, a drop of real fruit, and gently carbonated – with no sugar or no sweeteners. Positioned as a healthy and aspirational alternative to sugar and sweetener laden soft drinks, the brand is also growing its presence in the education sector and will be delivering over 50,000 CANS to university students during Freshers Week. CANS also recently won a listing with Avendra, a key education operator supplying leading Universities, along with NHS Trust retail shops. 

Co-Founder and CEO Dominic Rice says” “We are so pleased to see such a strong start for CANS in the UK market as we continue on our mission to shake up the soft drinks industry by offering a no regrets alternative to sweetened and sugar laden drinks that feels better. It’s fantastic to have the support of Harrods and our wholesale partners to help us further drive distribution for our customers and convert even more consumers to CANS.”

Originating in Prague, CANS has seen strong early success and has just celebrated its two year anniversary, along with the milestone of two millions CANS sold. In just two years, CANS has not only established a strong presence in its home market of the Czech Republic but has successfully expanded not only to the UK but to Slovakia and Germany — pushing forward its new category of non-sweet beverages across Europe.

The brand is the brainchild of three co-founders; Jaroslav Beck, Dominic Rice and Jan Rambousek who came together not to start a company, but to create an alternative to sweet drinks, one that people would actually want to drink and enjoy with no regrets. When they couldn’t find anything that they were satisfied with already on the market, they decided to ‘rethink drink’ and launch their own product.