Founded by Christina Zhang and Tia Gong, the single-ingredient birch sap beverage has reached 50+ East Coast retailers in two months — and will exhibit at the 2026 Summer Fancy Food Show.
[New York, NY] — [06/26/2026] — OOZ, a premium single-ingredient birch sap water brand, is bringing one of the world's oldest hydration traditions to the U.S. market. Made from 100% pure USDA organic birch sap — tapped directly from white birch trees during a short spring harvest, with nothing added — OOZ offers a clean, subtly sweet, mineral-rich alternative in a beverage landscape crowded with added sugars, electrolytes, and synthetic functional claims.
"Walk down any beverage aisle and you'll see hundreds of drinks fighting to add value — more electrolytes, more vitamins, more sugar," said Christina Zhang, CEO of OOZ. "We believe in the opposite. What if a drink could be simple, clean, indulgent, and actually good for you, with nothing added at all? That drink already exists. It has for centuries. It's just been invisible on American shelves."
Birch sap is a beloved category across Europe, Russia, and Asia, with centuries of documented use. Birch sap is rich in antioxidants, gentle electrolytes, minerals, but only 3g of natural sugars in one bottle of OOZ. In Scandinavian and Oroqen cultures, it has long been treasured as a “health tonic”. In the United States, the category is still relatively empty — a gap OOZ wants to fill, particularly as functional water grows into an $18.4 billion global market, expanding more than 8% a year while soda continues to decline.
For founders Tia Gong and Christina Zhang, OOZ began with a more personal experience of wellness. "Growing up, wellness wasn't a grocery category in our household. It looked like a bowl of fruit on the table, or a reminder from my mother to drink hot water," said Gong. "As a kid, I rolled my eyes; Then we grew up and went spending on wellness products because they are trendy. Looking back at what our moms wanted us to drink, and those weren't health trends. They were small acts of care. OOZ is inspired by that same philosophy: simple, natural hydration that makes you feel cared for. Sometimes the future isn't about more — it's about getting back to basics."
Since launching just two months ago, OOZ has built rapid momentum. The brand is now carried in more than 50 strategic locations across the East Coast — including Happier Grocery, Pearl River Mart, Westside Markets, and retailers throughout the Hamptons — with many partners reordering regularly from a single SKU. Beyond retail, OOZ has collaborated with cafés such as Do Not Feed Alligators on "Birch Americano" menu features, partnered with fashion, sports, and hospitality venues, and supported local arts nonprofits such as Silver Art, connecting birch sap with culture and community.
"What excites us most isn't shelf space — it's the community forming around the category," Gong added. "We're not simply launching a beverage. We're helping build a category."
OOZ will exhibit at the 2026 Summer Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center in New York City, in Booth #4307B. Looking ahead, the company is developing new formats including sparkling birch sap, larger food-service sizes, birch syrup, and concentrated birch shots — alongside continued cultural activations across New York, California, and Miami, with its second spring harvest on the horizon.
"It took coconut water roughly five years to reach the mainstream, and today it's one of the defining hydration categories," said Zhang. "We expect nothing less for birch water. This is about getting back to basics — helping people rediscover nature's original functional hydration."
About OOZ
OOZ is a premium single-ingredient birch sap water brand based in NYC, founded by Christina Zhang and Tia Gong. Made from 100% pure USDA organic/EURO organic birch sap with no additives, OOZ is glass-bottled and harvested during a short annual spring window in a regenerative farm in Heilongjiang Province, China. The company's mission is to bring the delicate taste and natural benefits of birch sap to the U.S. as a new plant-based hydration on the market. Learn more at [oozwater.com] or [@drinkooz].
Media Contact
Tia Gong
Co-Founder, CMO
[email protected]
443-469-8206