Veen Waters.
Water from Lapland is tingling the taste buds of waterholics both in Helsinki and around the world. Veen water, sold in a trendy designer glass bottle, got its name from the Mother of the Water in the Finnish national epic Kalevala.
Water bars are becoming more common around the world, and the consumption of bottled water is growing. For some people, bottled water is the only way to drink water, for others it’s just a way to appear trendy. However, a microscopic portion of the seven billion people on Earth wash themselves and flush their toilets with the same water for which some people pay a pretty penny bottled. Among these people are the villagers of Ylitornio’s Aavasaksa who are lucky enough to have Veen water running in their plumbing.
Veen is simply following the lead of Evian, Perrier and Voss. One can only wonder when MADONNA will be seen jogging holding a bottle of Veen water, instantaneously blowing demand through the roof. Granted, Veen isn’t doing half bad as it is. It was originally designed for hotels and restaurants, and made for drinking at the counter of a trendy bar. Not bad at all for an idea conceived in a sauna by a group of army friends.
Veen Waters.
Common threads
Veen’s ideology comes from the mystic Finnish national epic Kalevala. It’s named after the Mother of the Water (Veen Emonen). However, the glass bottle design doesn’t fully conform to Kalevala’s standards. The modern simplicity of the bottle has been awarded the Good Design Award in 2007 and the Red Dot Design Award in 2009.
“Style and fashion are an integral part of Veen and its joint ventures,” states Veen Waters CEO TOMI GRÖNFORS. “From early on, we were heavily involved with a fashion house called Qasimi. Although we come from completely different backgrounds with KHALID AL QASIMI, who was born in the Middle East, we’ve been able to share ideas from the very beginning. Future collaboration has been a given. Even right now Veen is in Paris with Qasimi,” Grönfors says.
Unity is power, and Veen has made its way to the big leagues. Last year Veen was invited to the 25th birthday party for luxury group LMVH’s cosmetics brand Make Up For Ever. “Both parties found the collaboration interesting. Who knows what will happen in the future.”
“Collaboration and partners are always important to us. After all, we’ve worked together with [metal group] Nightwish and [Finnish] artist KAJ STENVALL. Veen has been fortunate to find opportunities for co-operation with similar-minded parties. We’ve managed to fulfill common values through working together.”
Turning wine into water
Veen Waters.
US water specialist MICHAEL MASCHA has said that water is the new wine. Tomi Grönfors is somewhat sceptical of water bars taking off in Finland. “At least in the near future it’s more likely that we’ll see Finnish restaurants and wine bars expanding their selection of water. Water is an important part of the restaurant experience, and in that sense the juxtaposition of water with alcohol isn’t necessarily the best idea for the end consumer.”
You don’t have to go all the way to Lapland’s Aavasaksa to enjoy this luxury water. “Veen is available in many Helsinki restaurants. Some of the most interesting ones at the moment are Postres, run by young chefs, Luomo, which was recently opened, and Sea Horse, which has become somewhat of a classic,” Grönfors lists.
Good luck aplenty
Water is undoubtedly water, but how do you brand tap water from Lapland? “I don’t know if we’ve done much to brand our water as luxurious. I just hope we’ve managed to make clean Finnish spring water into an inspiring product called Veen,” Grönfors shrugs and smiles.
At least the company’s attitude is on point: you can’t win if you don’t try. “We’ve had lots of ideas, tried many things, done foot work, and faced a whole lot of failures. When you do a lot of things, you’re bound to do something right,” Grönfors reasons. “We’ve been very lucky to have received such a warm welcome.”
Grönfors doesn’t admit to being a waterholic. He seems more like a moderate user, although he confesses that he does take water quite seriously. “You always have to maintain a healthy balance and tolerance in life,” he says. “In other words, we are firm proponents of building a full restaurant experience instead of just preaching the gospel of water. It’s the sum of the parts that matter.”
Ps. Next time you’re at the bar, in the spirit of Kalevala, don’t forget to ask Veen for good fishing luck and nice weather. †
Text Petteri Kainulainen
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