How the luxury industry is cashing in on bottled water
Singer Katy Perry loves ‘Frequency’ spring water, but is just one of the people with a taste for high-end types of nature’s vital resource, says Toby McCasker
Over the past few years, an unusual and conspicuous sight has become commonplace in the cafes and eateries of Sydney’s inner suburbs in Australia: Frequency H20 Alkaline Spring Water.
The water, which costs A$3.30 (US$2.35) for a one-litre bottle, proclaims to be infused with the sound, light and literal frequencies of three very abstract “flavours”: Love (528Hz), Lunar (210.42Hz) and Rainbow (430-770THz).
Last year, Frequency became the first Australian water in nearly three decades to be placed first in the best bottled water category of the prestigious Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition, held in the United States.
Frequency’s creator, Sturt Hinton (not a typo; he’s ironically named after Australia’s Sturt Stony Desert), meets me in his local vegan fish and chip shop. It’s one of 400 stores he personally delivers his product to whenever stocks run low.
“It’s about lifting the spirits of the world, you know what I mean? And lifting my spirits,” he says.
He was inspired to create Frequency H20 after a lengthy bout of crippling depression.
“Just bringing delight to people, and it delivers this promise to consumers through having something so high quality and people can taste it,” he says.
“They can feel the difference. It’s clean, it’s light, they just love it. They love the idea. What a wonderful concept. Beautiful water.”
The story of Frequency H20 was enough to pique the interest of American singer Katy Perry (whose management requested it during her Witness world tour, which ended last August), Paris Hilton (now following @frequencyh2o) and the Australian pop duo, The Veronicas – identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso – who share their appreciation online with such vigour they could be unofficial brand ambassadors.