Dr. Shayla Creer and Robert McCray are the founders behind Live Alkaline Water, which is now the first Black-owned water brand to be sold in Walmart.
With its headquarters based in Jacksonville, Florida,
the company uses water that comes from a natural alkaline water spring that McCray's family has owned in North Carolina for more than 100 years. McCray told First Coast News that his aunt once took him out to the spring and said "you're the blood of your ancestors crying out for you and you're responsible for this."
According to Black Enterprise, "the water is sourced from a natural underground spring, an aquifer, and a mineral rock bed that lies 800 feet below the ground making it extremely pure and fresh to the taste.”
McCray went on to team up with Dr. Creer to develop the water brand. "I called ... many Walmarts, and finally we got a hold of one who allowed us to do a presentation,” Dr. Creer said.
After a successful presentation, the water went on to sell out within a month of hitting shelves, and is now sold in a total of three Walmart locations in northern Florida. The retail giant intends to continue to sell the water and hopes to add the products to even more of its stores.
“Healthy people make a healthy community,” McCray said. “Eat right, drink right and you begin to think right, as a people."
Live Alkaline Water can also be purchased online.
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