Isle bottled-water firm hooks up with mainland distributor

The deal puts the company's product in thousands of stores

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

Hawaiian Natural Water Co. has agreed to form a new company with a Phoenix distributor, a move that Hawaiian Natural says will bring its bottled water to thousands of stores in the West and Midwest.

Hawaiian Natural yesterday said it is partnering with Food for Health Co., a subsidiary of Omaha-based Amcon Distributing Co., to form a new distribution company. Food for Health is a distributor of health and natural foods to retailers throughout the western United States.

William Wright, Amcon chairman, said the company has great expectations for the new venture.

"The addition of Hawaiian Springs Natural Water as our premium water gives us a very special product with tremendous sales potential."

Marcus Bender, president of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Natural, said the move is part of the company's strategy to strengthen relations with established distributors and team with others to enter new markets.

Hawaiian Natural bottles its water at its source, a well on the lower slopes of Mauna Loa on the Big Island.

The company went public in May and its stock, traded on Nasdaq, has declined more than 60 percent since closing at $5 a share on its first day of trading. In trading today, it hit a low of $1.87 1/2.