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How one entrepreneur came up with a million dollar water idea

Health officials have been warning for years that Americans need to cut down on sugary drinks. Now, the war on soda is escalating after a tax on drinks with added sweeteners was approved in five cities on Election Day, prompting beverage giants like Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsi (PEP) to fight back. But there’s one company that’s positioned to benefit from the new levy: Hint Water, the maker of unsweetened, flavored water.

“It really starts to build awareness for consumers who recognize that soda tax is there for a reason,” Kara Goldin, founder and CEO of Hint, told Yahoo Finance’s Seana Smith in the video above. “Very similar to cigarettes, the soda industry is in a defensive mode right now, and I think the soda tax is helping consumers recognize the big picture.”

Since founding the company with her husband over a decade ago, Goldin has turned Hint Water into a startup success story. The products are sold in Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT), Stop & Shop and Whole Foods (WFM), among other locations nationwide, and is on track to do $90 million in annual sales.

So where did Goldin’s million dollar idea come from? “I think the key thing is solving a problem,” said Goldin. “I was drinking lots of diet soda. I thought I was doing the right thing for myself, then one day I was looking down at the label and seeing that there were lots of ingredients that I didn’t really understand. So I threw it in the garbage and started drinking plain water with a little bit of fruit and noticed lots of really great changes.”

In terms of what’s next, Goldin sees an opportunity to take her ‘problem solving’ skills overseas to expand Hint’s reach.

“Type 2 diabetes in the US has grown at unprecedented rates. Approximately 40% of the US population has Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, and that’s even worse in China and other parts of Asia,” said Goldin. “We believe the world is calling for healthier products. Unfortunately, a lot of US companies are going into these countries and not doing the right thing. We may go in there and actually try to clean things up a little bit.”

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