Hydro Flask is a water bottle brand owned by American conglomerate

Helen of Troy Limited Helen of Troy Limited is an American publicly traded designer, developer and worldwide marketer of consumer brand-name housewares, health and home, and beauty products under owned and licensed brands. It is the parent corporation of OXO Interna ...

. The brand became popular during mid-to-late 2019 and early 2020. Hydro Flask is particularly well known among

Millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

and

Gen Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 20 ...

, as well as college students and the " VSCO girl" subculture; social influencers and celebrities, especially on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, increased the brand's popularity. Hydro Flask's prominence has played a role in the rising environmental and health consciousness of millennials and zoomers and has influenced the quality and appearance of other reusable water bottles.

History

Hydro Flask was founded as Steel Technology, LLC in 2009 by Travis Rosbach and his then-girlfriend, Cindy Weber, due to his dissatisfaction with commercial water bottles. The couple moved to

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

from

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northw ...

to market their products. The company was successful at local

farmers' markets A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

, especially among the

outdoor recreation Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

community. The brand grew when it became available in stores; around this time, Weber and Rosbach broke up, and they sold their company shares to an investor. In 2012, tech executive Scott Allan became president and chief executive of the company. Allan expanded the company into Europe, launched new products, and increased marketing on social media. In March 2016, Helen of Troy Limited purchased Hydro Flask for . Scott Allan retired in March 2020, stating "the goals that I initially aspired to accomplish have largely been achieved"; his responsibilities were distributed to Helen of Troy's divisional leadership.

Products

Although Hydro Flask is best known for its water bottles, it produces other items, such as wine tumblers, food jars, tote bags, and cooler bags. Its water bottles are stainless steel, manufactured mostly in China, and use double-wall vacuum insulation to help keep liquids cold or hot. As of October 2019, Hydro Flask offers customizable water bottles in 14 colors. The company also offers different cap types and sizes and regularly releases limited-edition bottle designs.

References

{{WikidataCoord Helen of Troy Limited 2009 establishments in Oregon 2016 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 2009 Bend, Oregon Cooler manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 2009 Products introduced in 2009 Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Vacuum flasks Companies based in Bend, Oregon