Interview with Dhruv Trivedi, co-founder of Bounce Back Drinks
Find out how missing an important meeting after a night out inspired Dhruv Trivedi to create Bounce Back, the world’s first post social replenishment drink.
What is Bounce Back?
Bounce Back is the world’s first post social replenishment drink that showcases soft drinks in an altogether more upbeat, positive light.
Too often soft drinks are seen as a frivolous non-necessity with no real purpose or nutritional worth. When you consider that the average empty soft drink contains between five and seven key ingredients, including water, it’s interesting to note that Bounce Back is a science-based formula of 17 hard-working vitamins, minerals and amino acids that dovetail seamlessly with our body’s inbuilt restorative system while you sleep.
Who is your ideal customer?
30+ urban living souls with a frenetic work-life balance who fully embrace Friday night (and a few other nights besides) but have full-on, unavoidable family commitments (footy practice, swimming lessons for kids…) that can’t simply be swerved or ducked for the sake of an impromptu lie-in.
Why Is Bounce Back so relevant today?
Because modern lifestyles have never been so hectic or unrelenting and there’s never been a time like now when we’ve expected so much from what we eat and drink, both in terms of great taste and nutritional worth.
Today we have a much better grasp on how our body works and how best to maximise its potential and so Bounce Back is a brand that embraces not shirks away from sound scientific know-how, while delivering great taste in a convenient, fridge-friendly format.
What missing occasion does Bounce Back fill?
Bounce Back is a truly tailored adult soft drink with a clear usage occasion, namely post-social replenishment.
What inspired you to create Bounce Back?
I was furious one morning when I overslept and missed an important meeting following a late night of impromptu socialising. It made me wonder how many pivotal moment opportunities are lost the world over on a daily basis because well-intentioned consumers stayed out a little longer than they originally anticipated.
This seemed the perfect moment to pull upon my bio-chemistry background and come up with a credible liquid solution. This was a drink with a clear vision and clearly defined functional benefits so I returned to my old university faculty to pick their brains about how best to tackle this problem.
Here I was introduced to my future Bounce Back co-founder Vandana who having recently completed her Masters in Biotechnology and was now actively seeking openings to utilise her knowledge to innovate using food technologies.’
Move forward a few months and Bounce Back won a national start-up initiative in Bangalore, which resulted in us being invited by DIT (Dept of Industry & Trade) to participate in their prestigious Sirius programme where the UK government sought to track down the very best entrepreneurial talent from around the worlds.
2,000 applicants were whittled down to 70 teams and we were one of the winning beneficiaries which is when we headed to Scotland.
What could be the next big drinks trend?
Key life-stages also need underpinning for both men and women with thoughtful, single-minded food and drink solutions made readily available (pregnancy, menopause…) at everyday affordable price points.
The bigger vision in a nutshell is to deliver functional drink efficacy in tandem with traditional soft drinks values (mass market convenience and engagement). Bounce Back has the scope to become a positive force in a historically shallow and one-dimensional soft drinks category.
What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
There’s a worrying lack of education among consumers regarding what goes on in their bodies when they ‘socialise’ and how Bounce Back can help address the imbalance. Our ‘early-doors’ decision to opt for thin can packaging means we’ve had to subsequently work hard not to be being pigeon-holed as yet another generic energy drink.
Where we sit in store is also an ongoing quandary because we’re so very different from all our soft drink peers so don’t conform to traditional soft drink outposts (traditional soft drinks, grab-and-go, beers wine and spirits).
And your best learning from lockdown?
There were many setbacks; spiralling aluminium costs, complex production processes. But the simple overriding truth remains that today consumers are more responsive than ever to food and drinks that make their full-throttle lives a little easier.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Every small ‘life setback’ has the scope to fuel a future opportunity. The road to long-term, tangible success is long and winding, however it’s the countless barriers, challenges and pivots that opened our eyes to ever greater opportunities.
What food or drink brand do you admire?
Has to be the legendary Innocent, because not only did they bring long overdue depth and aspiration to a category historically dominated by bland commodity offerings, they also engaged with consumers in a light-of-touch informal tone that educated without ever patronising.
Today Innocent straddles every imaginable juice occasion from reduced natural sugar and super smoothies with added vitamins to deep cleanse and extra fibre – pretty inspirational really!
What’s next for Bounce Back?
Showcasing soft drinks in an altogether more thoughtful and beneficial light, while securing far-reaching distribution so that the wider public has real access to an all-encompassing functional drink.
Find out more about Bounce Back.
