A BRIDPORT man is celebrating after fighting off global competition to claim an award for his new range of drinks – the UK’s first ‘energy water’.

Ed Woolner of the Powerful Water Company scooped the 2015 best functional water award at the 2015 Global Bottled Water Awards in Lisbon last week.

The Bridport native took the prize for his range of POW drinks, marketed as a healthy alternative to energy drinks.

Speaking after receiving the award, Mr Woolner said: “This is fantastic recognition for POW.

“We have some really exciting plans for 2016 and we will continue to focus on delivering healthier functional beverages to the soft drinks industry.

“As the natural alternative, we will build off the exciting launch in 2015 to spread more positive energy to consumers across the globe.”

Mr Woolner has vast experience in the drinks industry. Having worked under his mentor Mike Brehme at Clipper Teas near Beaminster, he has worked in marketing for Monster Energy Drinks, Capri Sun and Ocean Spray and has used all he knows to launch ‘a product my little boy could drink’.

“The idea of POW is to have a product that mum wouldn't flip at if her kids were drinking it,” he said.

“It's cool enough for the kid to want it, but it was healthy enough for mum to look at it and go, I don’t mind them drinking it.

“The big issue with energy drinks is the target audience is fundamentally kids,” added Mr Woolner.

“We always had a bit of an ethical issue that these energy drinks put a ton of sugar in. Marketing an energy drink is all about perception, it's about being cool and being credible,” said Mr Woolner.

“Our target market is young adults. I thought, why has nobody created a cool, credible, natural drink? We're getting a lot of interest from big businesses already.”

POW comes in three flavours– citrus and zest, cranberry and apple and coconut and lime.

Mineral salts are added to help rehydration, with the drink free from artificial colourings and sweeteners.

“Fundamentally POW is a sparkling water,” explained Mr Woolner.

“ A bottle of POW has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of tea. It has less sugar than all the kids’ drinks on the market.

“We're not trying to be Relentless and Monster, we're trying to be an everyday, healthier drink.”

The drinks are available to buy at Bridport and West Bay SPAR stores and also Hunts Foodservice.

For more information on the Powerful Water Company, please visit powerfulwater.co.uk