Shoreham woman reaches finals of entrepreneur awards for her holistic health business

Roisin Meredith began looking into healthy remedies three years ago for her daughter who was unwell.

The 41-year-old, of Buckingham Road, trialled the benefits of live fermented drinks and decided to set up her water Kefir business, Wilding Water Kefir.

Within three years, Roisin has seen her business grow across Sussex, selling her vegan water Kefir online, in shops, in cafes, and in delicacies. She also now has two part-time members of staff, runs workshops, and gives educational talks on fermentation.

Water Kefir is brewed like a craft beer, fermented from cultures like a sourdough and it has a low alcohol content at just 1.2 per cent abv.

Roisin said: “My mission is to transform healthy drinking, that tastes good, by championing ancient natural techniques and empowering a community of passionate food and drink change-makers.”

Roisin was accepted onto the NatWest accelerator programme and won the NatWest Power Up Entrepreneur Award as well as the NatWest pitching competition, and has won a Great Taste award for her water kefir drink. Now, she is a finalist at the Great British Entrepreneur’s Awards.

She said: “I’m really delighted that I won a Great Taste award because people think water kefir is a weird drink, so to have a judge panel blind taste my drink and like it is brilliant and great for me as a business so I can prove to people it tastes good.

“When I found out I was a finalist at the Great British Entrepreneur’s Awards I really couldn’t believe it. I was a chemistry teacher last year, and to have transformed my business just feels so surreal, but I also feel like on the right path and these are all signs that I’m doing the right thing.”