Waterloo Sparkling Water is hitting c-store cooler doors and grocery shelves with its first packaging redesign since the brand launched in 2017, backed by what the Austin-based company calls 3X category growth and a 17% rise in household penetration in the first half of 2026.
The refreshed cans and cartons — developed with brand agency CBX — feature more vibrant, saturated colors, sharper flavor-cue graphics, and a more prominent wordmark. The company conducted multiple rounds of eye-tracking studies and tested concepts across a range of creative approaches before landing on the final design. The stated goal: improve shelf stopping power and flavor findability in a cooler set where sparkling water SKUs increasingly compete for the same visual real estate.
What Changed on Pack
"The sparkling water category is more saturated than ever, and most brands are starting to blur together on shelf," said Mark Christou, Principal and Chief Creative Officer at CBX. "Waterloo has always been an intentional choice, built on real flavor and real confidence. This packaging refresh sharpens that story."
The redesign spans all pack sizes — singles, multipacks, and variety cartons — and is rolling out nationally now through both retail and e-commerce channels. The liquid formulas are unchanged: all Waterloo varieties are made with Non-GMO Project Verified natural flavors and purified carbonated water, with no sugar, sweeteners, or sodium.
Why It Matters for C-Store Buyers
For convenience operators, sparkling water has been one of the steadier growth stories in the dispensed and packaged non-alcoholic beverage set. Category velocity has benefited as shoppers trade across from carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks on specific purchase occasions, particularly among health-conscious commuters who make up a meaningful share of c-store morning and afternoon dayparts.
Packaging legibility matters disproportionately at the forecourt and in grab-and-go coolers, where dwell time is short and shoppers make decisions in seconds. A cleaner, high-contrast design that communicates flavor quickly reduces friction in that environment — an argument Waterloo is leaning into directly with its eye-tracking research.
"As we continue to bring more households into the brand, we saw an opportunity to evolve our packaging in a way that strengthens brand recognition across all consumer touchpoints while staying true to what fans already love about us," said Kathy Maurella, Chief Marketing Officer at Waterloo Sparkling Water. "We're building on our 3X category growth and +17% household penetration growth in H1 2026."
The rebrand coincides with a new company website that features improved shoppability and a store-locator tool — useful collateral for single-store operators or chain buyers evaluating placement. Waterloo is stocked at retailers nationwide; for c-store buyers looking at the sparkling water segment alongside adjacent non-alcoholic beverage trends or evaluating cooler resets, the redesign arrives as the brand appears to be pressing a period of above-average commercial momentum.
For broader context on how better-for-you beverages are reshaping the c-store cooler set, see C-Store News' coverage of packaged beverage sales and cooler strategy.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
