Block Soho contract Aqua Libra as exclusive branded water supplier, and say ‘every restaurant should stock it’

Introduction

Block Soho is a charismatic chop house in the beating heart of Soho, London. It is part of the Enhanced Hospitality group, also famous for a host of fantastic F&B names including Maddox Tavern, Ginza St
James, Robun, 26 Leake St, We Are Bar, The Crossing, and Camden Juice.

Aqua Libra is being rolled out across all group sites. Block Soho is a restaurant which specialises in seafood and steaks. Famous for good cuts, big flames and great times! It is a restaurant known for its excellence in beverage, priding themselves on sourcing from only the very best producers and suppliers. A particular highlight of Block Soho is that it holds London’s biggest selection of bourbon, with over 300 bottles behind the bar!

Their choice of what water to stock though...? “There is only one choice – Aqua Libra!”

The team is headed by up by Tony Vega, who works closely with CEO & Founder of Enhanced Hospitality, Roger Payne.

Why change?

Prior to switching to Aqua Libra, the Club used single-use packaged glass bottles supplied by a leading brand. For many reasons, this solution wasn’t working, and a new solution was sought. A concept of branded, refillable, filtered water solution seemed appealing. The case to make the change was also becoming overwhelming. Prices of single-use packaged water had gone through the roof and sustainability consciousness was growing exponentially.

Re-evaluated water category

‘We charge £4 per 750ml bottle. This is the same as what we used to charge for single-use packaged water. The quality is the same, the taste is the same or better, and the bottles look better – there is no logical reason to charge less. We feature both still and sparkling variants on our menus, and charge the same for both for simplicity. Financially, with a typical water sales of around 700 bottles per week, there is no comparison. We are far better off financially with a refillable system. The breakeven point (even for smaller venues) is low enough to make the switch thoroughly worthwhile.’

'Our guests really like it, and we even get comments about how great the taps look and how nice the water tastes. We never used to get anyone comment on single-use packaged water, good or bad. So the fact that some people comment on Aqua Libra (always favourably) says a lot.'

Tony Vega, MD at Block Soho

What are the sustainability benefits?

‘We think that net-net, the operations of a filtered water system are less involving than single use packaged water. It’s certainly a lot more flexible. Put simply, whenever you need the water, its always available – served fresh, so its not taking up unnecessary space or involving unnecessary handling of cases of stock several times over.

It’s also great for the team here to be part of doing something good for the environment too. The collective impact of carbon and road mile reduction we’ve made since switching to Aqua Libra is significant.’