Barely over a year since launch, the egg white alternative for bartenders has set sail aboard cruise ships around the world (and even on The World), with Victorian-based Aquafab landing contracts with major companies Disney, Princess, Holland, Seabourn, Silversea, and Crystal. The company has just launched a capital raise through Birchal to continue its impressive growth journey, hoping to expand its national presence and even make its way into bars throughout the US and UK.
Aquafab was commercially launched in October 2024 by co-founders Danny Kane and Rebecca Grey, and has now been adopted by over 800 venues across Australia.
Made from the liquid of cooked legumes, the product produces the silky finish that bartenders strive for when crafting frothy cocktails, while catering to the growing number of customers seeking plant-based alternatives.
The formula provides a versatile, shelf-stable solution for perfecting foams, textures, and flavours in drinks, as effective as egg-white and more sustainable than the byproduct of canned chickpeas.
The product is 100% Victorian, made using locally-grown faba beans and produced in Ballarat, at Cottonwood Springs. It comes in a 500ml Tetra Pak carton that can make 16-20 sours, with a two year shelf life, or 7-10 days once opened.
A year of growth
Aquafab featured in the April/May 2025 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine as a Rising Star, and topped the Best Ingredient category at the 2025 Hive Awards. Since then, they’ve been making waves.
Kane told F&DB that Aquafab is now in venues up and down the east coast.
“We are now distributed not only through Paramount Liquor, but also ALM and ILG,” he said.
“We have a national contract with Hyatt, and Crown Casino has just started to use Aquafab. We won a tender for ALH hotels, with over 400 venues. We’re in Hiltons, Sofitels, Crystalbrook and Solotel venues – locations range from small cocktail bars to RSLs and pubs.”
Aquafab was awarded Best New Product at the 2025 Paramount Awards, and received the Most Innovative Product award at F&B@Sea 2025 in Miami, which led to some incredible deals with international cruise lines.
The company recently sent a 20 foot export container to the United States, with 19,000 units ready to be loaded on Disney, Princess, and Holland Seabourn ships. Two pallets were also sold to Germany for cruise lines including Silverseas, Atlas, and Crystal.
“The F&B@Sea organisers were genuinely surprised about how quickly we managed to get a contract and sell to distributors in the US and Germany after that show, as the cruise industry does not adopt products lightly,” said Kane.
“For years frothy cocktails were restricted on many vessels because raw egg whites were considered too risky at scale. Aquafab changes that. F&B@Sea is in April, and we were on board ships within eight months.
“Shipping our first 20 foot container to the US and supplying operators like Princess, Holland, Silversea, Crystal, Disney and Seabourn shows this is not a niche product, it is infrastructure for modern bar service,” he said.
Beyond the cruise lines, Aquafab also landed a two year contract with Atlantis Bahamas, a luxury resort with over a dozen venues.
Next steps
Expressions of interest are now open for Aquafab’s upcoming equity crowdfunding raise through Birchal, which opens from 10-24 March. The raise will support continued national growth, and plans in place to enter the US and UK markets this year, supported by early interest from major distribution partners.
“We created Aquafab to solve a real service problem behind the bar,” said Kane.
“The response from global operators shows this is much bigger than a single product. It is an Australian innovation with genuine export potential and no direct competitor at scale.”
The company is still keen on making strides into the retail space further down the track, making Aquafab available at liquor stores as well as in hospitality venues. Grey told F&DB that the process may require a packaging redevelopment, so consumers can understand what they’re buying.
“The product is still business-to-business at the moment, so we would love the next step to be retail – having Aquafab stocked in liquor stores for people that want to make cocktails at home,” said Grey.
“That involves a lot more research. We’ll have to do some marketing and branding awareness around what consumers need to know, so they can look at the product on a shelf and understand what it is, and what it can be used for.”
Using Aquafab as a plant-based alternative ingredient in food is also a goal for the future, but will stay in the background while Grey and Kane work on the company’s mission statement – making Aquafab the staple behind every bar.
Head to birchal.com for further information on Aquafab’s upcoming equity raise and to register interest.
