Absolute Live: a trendsetter among Hungarian sports drinks for 16 years

In the mid-2000s carbonated soft drink maker Ervin Nagy read a forecast claiming that the sports drink market will grow by approximately 17% in the near future. R-Water adopted the motto “Our life goal is to be healthy” and they entered the market with Absolute Live. Back then 3-4 different sports drinks were available in Hungary, in 0.5-litre size, all of them made with sugar and artificial colours. R-Water’s idea was to double the size and fill the bottles with a functional drink containing fat burning L-carnitine, made without added sugar and other additives.

„Lépnünk kellett, és az volt a kérdés, hogy eladjuk a teljes céget, vagy rukkoljunk elő teljesen új termékekkel. Utóbbit választottuk”

“We wanted to make a drink that was healthy and that we could safely give to our children too. The white packaging was necessary because of the L-carnitine, which changes colour if exposed to light”, explains owner Ervin Nagy. Competitors soon caught on: first the packaging was copied, then the L-carnitine content – in response R-Water started to increase the active ingredient in its soft drinks, going up to 3,000mg per bottle. Absolute Live has been a real trendsetter for 16 years. 

Following the launch of Absolute Live Professional, developed for those who exercise daily, the company came out with Absolute Live Lifestlye, a 0.6-litre product designed for the occasional athlete. R-Water products are available in Spar, Aldi, Auchan, Penny Market and EcoFamily stores. The company also pays attention to protect the environment, reducing its packaging use and energy consumption by around 30% in recent years; the packaging of all products is 100% recyclable. (x)

I was listening to Radio Café…

Ervin Nagy, owner of R-Water

“It was I who came up with the name Absolute Live. I was listening to Radio Café and it dawned on me that one of their programme was called Absolute Live, and I really liked it. I was also the one who had the idea for the 1-litre bottle and the white design”. //

Flavours, sports, loves

Tímea Nagy-Parádi,
owner of R-Water 

“How do I connect with Absolute Live? My childhood was all about sports and I have been going on a run every day for 35 years now. I always hated taking medication, even vitamins, but sometimes it is necessary to do, so my husband Ervin and I decided to create a sports drink – not just for professional athletes but for everyone. This is how Absolute Live was born”. //