HydraSafe helps workers with drink problem

STAY away from sports – that was the advice HydraSafe managing director and founder Wayne Ashdown received from a business associate when he first considered manufacturing an electrolyte replacement drink.

Taking the suggestion on board Mr Ashdown instead focused on health and safety across a range of industries, and today HydraSafe has established a niche in mining and building sectors. The company now boasts some of Western Australia’s biggest mining companies and the WA Police Department among its major clients and, ironically, has been personally endorsed by former AFL player David Wirrpanda.

Mr Ashdown said the idea grew out of 10 years of competing in triathalons at an amateur level and his experience working with dieticians.

Having sold his home loan business following the global financial crisis, Mr Ashdown was looking for a new venture.

During a conversation with his brother – who at the time was working at the Murrin Murrin mine – about heat stress and fatigue, Mr Ashdown recognised the potential for an electrolyte and energy replacement drink in such extreme environments.

After two years of working with dieticians, Mr Ashdown approached a Melbourne-based company with the idea for his product.

The company, which typically only manufactures ingredients and flavourings for food and beverages, was so impressed with Mr Ashdown’s concept that it agreed for the first time to develop an end-to-end product.

The result is a powder, produced in five different flavours, that contains no artificial sweeteners, preservatives or additives.

While there are similar products on the market, Mr Ashdown said HydraSafe’s packaging design provided it with an advantage – it fits neatly in the top shirt pocket of a worker’s uniform and is resealable.

The HydraSafe pack also contains just enough powder for one litre of water, about the size of the drink vessels used by miners.

“In business you don’t get many shots at it, so a lot of time was taken to get everything right,” Mr Ashdown told WA Business News.

HydraSafe is also carbohydrate and gluten free, which Mr Ashdown said was important to help manage weight problems in those using the product.

One of Mr Ashdown’s biggest challenges has been forecasting sales without having any sales history to go on.

He said he was reluctant to place his first order of the product back in 2009 because he was required to order 20 kilograms of each flavour. The most recent order was for 1.8 tonnes.

The product is manufactured in Melbourne and all of the packaging is done at Westcare’s industrial packaging facility in Bassendean.

The company is a foundation partner of the David Wirrpanda Foundation and gives to the Foodbank of Western Australia.

The business has received a small amount of private equity funding but most of the capital has come from Mr Ashdown.

HydraSafe is protected by a pending Australian and international patent.