When creating their brand, Jeff Trucksess and Dave Mead wished for one thing: to connect with people. After finding their crushed-up can on the road, the two realized they accomplished just that.
Founded in 2015 by UT alumni Jeff Trucksess and Dave Mead, Rambler Sparkling Water combines crisp carbonation with potassium, magnesium and calcium with no sodium. Being an Austin-based brand, Rambler partners with Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation to conserve Texan water and land, and true to its roots, just announced its second partnership with Austin City Limits. Mead said this all started because he believed the sparkling water industry needed a local and environmentally-friendly change.
“We were all drinking a lot of Topo Chico (and) it didn’t make sense that we were drinking water from Mexico in heavy glass bottles,” Mead said.
Mead, and other co-founder James Moody, brought Trucksess on to the Rambler team to develop a formula. Trucksess said the key to their distinct taste lies in the minerals — the natural flavor of water.
“One of the things we worked really hard on was how to make the best-tasting water,” Trucksess said. “A lot of sparkling waters use a process called reverse osmosis and that filters the water but also strips out minerals. … To make a great-tasting product you need minerals.”
Trucksess, a McCombs alumnus, said attending business school served him well when creating Rambler, especially as the company began to grow.
“One of the lessons they drilled in our head: ideas are great, … but people invest in teams,” Trucksess said. “You have so many different challenges to work through and you need different skill sets and opinions. … We don’t want to be just water. We want to be a product that speaks to people.”
Trucksess and Mead boast human connection and local collaboration in their company. On July 14, Rambler partnered with Equipment Room and Breakaway Records for a one-night-only event where attendees listened to and discussed Willie Nelson’s album Red Headed Stranger.
“We love supporting local,” Mead said. “It was an opportunity for Willie Nelson fans to get together, listen to an album in its entirety and talk about it. It seemed like a great opportunity (and) brand alignment.”
Thu Nguyen, Rambler brand manager and UT alumna, said the company embodies a foundation built with intention and care which can be seen from its taste to its packaging.
“We talk, at Rambler, about this ‘Ramblin’ lifestyle,’ which is living free, being your best self and sucking the marrow out of life,” Nguyen said. “I think it’s really special when you get to watch a brand grow from being at a couple of grocery stores … (to) seeing it come to fruition at ACL.”
Mead said that while conservation remains an important part of Rambler, every discovery of a crushed can on the sidewalk proves he made his mark.
“I’ve had several people … send me photographs of a smashed can on the road … and, as ridiculous as (it) sounds, that sort of is an indicator that you’ve made it in the world,” Mead said.
Despite the few stray cans, Rambler continues to expand. Trucksess said their partnership with Texas Parks & Wildlife and American Rivers remains a top priority.
“(Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation) were looking at us as a way to connect with the next generation of environmental stewards,” Trucksess said. “We’re trying to protect these places that meant so much to us in our childhoods. If we can — in some small way — pay it forward, that’s what we aspire to do.”
