Waterdrop | Bringing a Global Hydration brand to Australia | Catherine Dix

We sit down with Catherine Dix, who brought the global sustainable hydration brand Waterdrop to Australia and New Zealand through an innovative joint venture partnership.From agency operations to launching a disruptive FMCG brand in a market halfway across the world from head office, Catherine shares the raw, unfiltered journey of bringing Waterdrop's mission of sustainable hydration to Australian shores, building on the brand's incredible success across Europe with five million happy customers globally.We dive deep into the realities of launching a global brand locally, from localising a proven European tech stack and community strategy for the Australian market, to navigating seasonal differences when your global socials show winter campaigns during Australian summer, and the strategic decision to leverage three quarters of a million Instagram followers rather than starting from scratch.Catherine gets refreshingly honest about the challenges and triumphs of scaling from D2C to retail, landing one of Australia's biggest partnerships with the Australian Open just four months into market, creating the official player bottle that eliminates 97,000 plastic bottles from a single tournament, and the nerve-wracking journey of launching into Woolworths.We explore the power of building the right foundation before rushing into retail, why their Coca-Cola flavored cube keeps selling out (despite being contentious with cola purists), the importance of owning what you don't know as a founder, and how customer service for 18 months taught her everything about logistics, lost parcels, and why address validation matters.Plus, we're joined by Tom from Clearer.io, longtime partner and sponsor of this episode, who shares insights on building a consultative tech stack approach, the future of personalization and AI-powered search, and an exclusive sneak peek at their upcoming product launching in Q1 2026.From leveraging five years of global reviews data from day one, to syndicating reviews to Woolworths, to scaling through Facebook ads and email while building a passionate VIP community on Facebook, this episode is packed with tactical insights on international expansion, retail partnerships, and sustainable growth.Whether you're scaling a global brand locally, navigating the leap from D2C to retail, or building a mission-driven FMCG business, this episode delivers honest lessons, partnership strategies, and inspiring moments from the frontlines of bringing a European success story to Australia.✨ Make sure to like, subscribe and follow along for more founder stories from the world's most innovative companies.