An enterprising pair of Newcastle University graduates have set out to refresh the growing beverage market with the launch of a new brand of tonic water.

Lixir Tonic founders Matt Mahatme and Jordan Palmer have developed a range of five tonics – blood orange and cinnamon, rhubarb and ginger, elderflower and lemon as well as the classic indian and a refreshingly light tonic water.

The duo say the Lixir drinks can be paired with spirits but are just as good on their own.

Now they have been given the green light for a first production run after smashing their crowdfunding target, raising over £16,000 to help them take Lixir to the UK market.

The Lixir range was launched at the Gin Discovery Event at Fenwick, Newcastle, last Friday, May 18.

Matt Mahatme and Jordan Palmer of Lixir with their advisor Jackie Wade
Matt Mahatme and Jordan Palmer of Lixir with their advisor Jackie Wade

Matt said: “We noticed the lack of variety of mixers in supermarkets, while there are hundreds of spirits available. The segment for mixers has been growing steadily, but is dominated by few major players, so Jordan and I came up with the idea to explore the market.

“Our research showed that the market growth has been driven by tonic waters. The big surprise for us was to find out that the industry is rising in value, but the volumes are going down, as people are choosing to spend more on high-quality drinks and innovative flavours, while drinking less.

“Since our Crowdfunder campaign finished we’ve been busy gearing up for our launch. The great response we had for the campaign and the various businesses that have approached us with interest about the brand has really given us a lot on confidence about launching.

“It’s been over 16 months since Matt and I first spoke about bringing out a range of flavoured tonic waters and we’re so excited to see this idea go in to production this week.

The full Lixir range
The full Lixir range

“As well as sampling at Fenwick food hall we are in talks with various bars across the North East about new listings.”

The graduate entrepreneurs have been backed by and partnered with established companies that have bought into their brand and concept, including The Lakes Distillery, Slingsby Gin, Burleighs Gin, Newcastle Gin and Westerhall Rum.

Jordan added: “The surge in gin consumption has allowed many new players to enter the market. This research informed our idea and we took it to industry consultants who really liked our concept and helped us set out a plan of action.

“We asked ourselves ‘how can we be different?’ and the aspect that sets us apart from anyone else is the versatility of our product.”

The young entrepreneurs were given guidance and support from Start Up, Newcastle University’s support for students and recent graduates looking to become self-employed and start new businesses.

As part of this support the duo received a £3,000 Start Up grant provided through the University’s partnership with Santander Universities.

This helped them develop the Lixir branding and the crowdfunding video pitch, all of which resulted in them winning the Best New Business prize at the University’s recent START UP Awards.

Jackie Wade, Newcastle University business adviser, said: “It’s been a real pleasure working with two inspirational graduate entrepreneurs, who have shown real passion and tenacity in turning their business idea into an exciting new tonic product range. We’re delighted that another of our Newcastle University start-ups is effectively using innovative crowdfunding platforms to raise vital early stage funding for their business and look forward to seeing Lixir Tonic on our Newcastle bar shelves real soon.”