35Insulated water bottles are probably one of the most boring categories in consumer goods: there is no technological generational gap, no content attribute, and users buy one and use it for five years. Search for “water bottle” on Amazon, and you can scroll through tens of thousands of stainless steel bottles that all look about the same, priced from $9.9 to $49.9, with selling points no more than “insulated,” “leak-proof,” and “BPA-free.”
This industry seems like it shouldn’t have a new story. But COLDEST, precisely in this category, achieved cumulative TikTok Shop sales of more than 460,000 units, with total sales reaching over $14.7 million.
Image source: COLDEST
Starting from a garage, building the water bottle as a long-term brand
COLDEST’s story began in 2015.
Official brand materials show that founder David Stark initially founded COLDEST in a single-car garage in Naples, Florida.
This later also became the entrepreneurial starting point the brand has always emphasized: Florida is one of the hottest states in the U.S., so the team hoped to enter through the need to “keep people cooler.”
Image source: COLDEST
In the early days of the business, the scale was not large. In 2017, the brand moved from the single-car garage into a roughly 2,500-square-foot warehouse; in 2018, David’s twin brother Joe Stark joined, and the two began to form a relatively clear division of labor—David was more responsible for product and engineering, while Joe was responsible for marketing.
At the same time, the brand began continuously testing different capacities and product forms, and large-capacity products such as 1 gallon and half-gallon also appeared at this stage.
This combination also influenced how COLDEST later developed. It did not simply understand the water bottle as a standardized daily necessity, but instead continued to expand around cold retention, capacity, usage scenarios, colors, and accessories.
In 2022, COLDEST opened its first physical store in Coastland Mall in Naples; in November 2023, it moved into a new headquarters of about 52,000 square feet in Fort Myers, Florida.
Official materials state that from the initial single-car garage to the current headquarters, the brand has undergone more than ten years of development.
Image source: COLDEST
Water bottles are not new, but the market has not stopped growing
The market COLDEST is in is actually far from as “boring” as imagined.
Third-party data shows that the global reusable water bottle market was about $10.1 billion in 2025, is expected to reach $10.5 billion in 2026, and further reach $14.5 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% expected from 2026 to 2033.
This means that although water bottles belong to mature consumer goods, demand has not disappeared; instead, it is constantly changing.
Image source: Grand View Research
On the one hand, environmental awareness is driving consumers to shift from single-use plastic bottles to reusable products. On the other hand, the spread of lifestyles such as outdoor sports, fitness, and commuting has also gradually turned water bottles from a “water-drinking tool” into a daily carry item. Grand View Research also lists environmental awareness, outdoor activities, and demand for insulated and high-performance drinking products as important factors in market growth.
More importantly, this market has already shown obvious product upgrades. For brands, this means that as long as they can find sufficiently clear product differentiation, there are still opportunities to build new recognition in a mature market.
COLDEST chose one of these paths: continuously extending products and the brand around the core concept of “cold retention,” rather than simply competing with other water bottles through low prices.
Image source: COLDEST
TikTok: Turning a functional product into a content product
Currently, COLDEST's official TikTok Shop store already has 7514 videos.
The product structure is not limited to a single water cup: in addition to products with different capacities such as 46oz, 36oz, 24oz, and 15oz, there are also accessories and merchandise such as Tumbler, Bottle Boots, Paracord Handle, and Mini Keychain.
This means that on TikTok, the brand is not simply 'finding creators to sell a water cup,' but is continuously adding products that can be expressed through content.
Image source: TikTok Shop
For example, large-capacity water cups are naturally suited to scenarios such as fitness, outdoor activities, and commuting; different colors can correspond to outfit and lifestyle content; accessories can further increase unboxing, matching, and personalization content.
The product itself has more variations, so creators have more reasons to continuously produce content.
Taking the 36oz Limitless Bottle, which currently ranks high in sales for COLDEST on TikTok Shop, as an example, as of now the product's cumulative sales have exceeded 44,000 units, with an official price of approximately $64.99.
Around this product, creators can make different types of videos, such as unboxing experiences, product feature demonstrations, usage scenarios, and performance tests.
Image source: TikTok Shop
For example, one video uses an unboxing + feature introduction format. The creator opens the package in a car, shows the cup body, handle, and different lids in sequence, and then actually demonstrates details such as the spout, letting consumers quickly understand what ways a water cup can actually be used.
This video's views are very good, reaching 2.8 million+, and it also brought the brand over $60,000 in sales, with significant conversion effect.
Image source: TikTok
Another one leans more toward performance testing, directly using a thermometer to test the temperature change of coffee after it is poured into the cup, and using visualized data to answer users' question of 'how long it can retain heat.'
Compared with simply introducing product parameters, this kind of content directly turns selling points into an experience that can be watched and verified, and also gives the same product different content entry points.
Image source: TikTok
From actual sales performance, this content splitting also has a certain basis for driving sales.
Data shows that in August 2026, the transaction amount of 36oz Limitless Bottle reached $147,300, sales volume was 4,915 units, and the creator order rate was 42.52%.
This also shows that for products with relatively clear functions, rather than repeatedly shooting the same kind of advertisement, it is better to focus on different selling points and usage scenarios, and let creators find a content expression style that suits them.
Image source: kalodata
In creator cooperation, COLDEST's scale is also worth attention.
From the brand's creator transaction situation, COLDEST's order sources are not concentrated among a few super-top creators. Taking the current top creators as an example, @kalabear1 and @dragonqueen6485 both reached $21,700 in transaction amount, @katyfc10 reached $16,800, and @dani.k.phoenix also reached $15,800.
Image source: kalodata
Among them, @dani.k.phoenix's account positioning includes maternal and baby, pets, motorcycle riding, and live-stream selling content; @melissa.carin71 mainly focuses on content such as family life and crafts, while also participating in COLDEST's Affiliate promotion for a long time.
Different creators themselves do not have exactly the same content direction, but they can all naturally place water cups into their own daily content or selling scenarios.
Image source: TikTok
Another fairly obvious change for COLDEST is that it has turned creators from one-off promotion targets into long-term brand communication nodes.
The brand currently runs an Ambassador Program. Official data shows that the program already has more than 150,000 "Coldies"; participants can earn sales commissions through their own links or discount codes; approved U.S. Ambassadors can also receive benefits such as a Mystery Bottle, early access to new products, and access to the brand community.
This naturally aligns with TikTok Shop's Affiliate model.
For creators, it is not necessarily required to create a traditional ad specifically; as long as they put the product into their daily content, a sale may be generated; for brands, this allows creators of more different scales to participate.
Image source: COLDEST
Final thoughts
The inspiration of a case like COLDEST for domestic companies doing overseas markets is not about replicating a water bottle brand, but about rethinking the growth potential of mature categories.
When many Chinese companies go overseas, they tend to focus on product price, supply chain efficiency, and platform distribution, but after entering overseas markets, what they really need to solve is often: why consumers remember you, why they are willing to keep paying attention to you, and how a product can continuously enter local consumers' lives.
COLDEST is just one example. For more and more Chinese companies hoping to go overseas, rather than rushing to find the next trend, it is better to slowly deepen the relationship between products, brands, and overseas consumers. The market is big enough, but those who can truly stay are often the companies willing to operate overseas markets for the long term.
