Maltese micro-family business FizzAid has entered into a strategic partnership with US brand Drinkmate to advance home carbonisation across Europe.

FizzAid was launched around four years ago as a part-time gig between Daniel Briffa and his wife Nadia Briffa.

Mr Briffa tells WhosWho.mt that the idea emerged after he received a carbonisation machine as a gift and recognised its potential to cut plastic bottle waste, only to find out there weren’t many affordable options in the Maltese market

After researching the market and speaking with other small businesses overseas, the Briffas were put in touch with some small wholesalers and started selling a range of home carbonisation syrups, soda makers, CO2 cylinders and accessories.

“We started importing the products ourselves with a very, very low profit margin,” he recounted.

“We even ran at a loss for the first two years and we were close to giving up, but then larger manufacturers and wholesalers started contacting us and so we pushed harder.”

“Malta is very small and, after a lot of discussions, we managed to obtain pricing that is adequate for the Maltese market.”

He said that FizzAid was contacted last year by US-based Drinkmate, which describes itself as the world’s second-largest supplier of home beverage carbonisation machines.

Drinkmate granted FizzAid sole agency rights for its products in Malta for an initial one-year period, with the partnership also extended to Gozo through a collaboration with Charlie Christ Abela’s Fizzy Gozo.

When the agreement expired earlier this year, the US brand approached FizzAid with an opportunity to expand its presence across several European markets.

This means that Daniel and Nadia Briffa are now Master Distributors for Drinkmate across Italy, France, Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Poland, with potential for further expansion.

FizzAid’s mainland European distribution operations will initially be based out of a Slovakian warehouse, although Mr Briffa said it eventually intends to open an office in each country

Drinkmate Vice-President Kristyn Ristaino said FizzAid was chosen to represent the US brand in its European expansion because of its “strong ethical and moral values, not only towards business but in general”.

“The customer care towards their clients exceed people's expectations due to their direct and down to earth contact with people and customers, and that is the image and level of service we want to portray,” she said.

Mr Briffa said FizzAid was ultimately born out of a desire to reduce plastic waste ending up in the sea.

“It's hard going fishing or being out at sea and seeing plastic bottles floating, and even harder seeing people dump plastic waste on the ground or in the water,” he said.

“We need to stop this, together. Having a soda maker at home removes the need to buy bottled water and soft drinks, along with the burden of carrying full bottles and disposing of empty ones.”

"Expanding across Europe with Drinkmate feels like a natural next step in our mission to make sustainable beverage options standard in every household and I'm proud to lead that change with my wife and family from Malta."