STONINGTON — A father-daughter startup is turning a boating-inspired drink idea into a consumer business, with an initial production run completed and wider coastal retail distribution planned for next spring.
Bill and Lindsay Smith’s SEAWELL Beverage Co. finished third in the October 13 Wolff New Venture Competition and received $7,500, The Day’s Lee Howard reported October 18. The newspaper says the founders completed a 7,500-can test run in Rhode Island and are discussing distribution arrangements.
Lindsay Smith leads the company as chief executive, with her father as chief operating officer, according to UConn’s earlier account of the venture. Both brought corporate marketing experience to the project. Lindsay returned to Stonington to work on the business with her father.
The university’s September 28 profile describes a development process involving UConn nutrition researcher Jennifer Fields, Cornell’s Food Venture Center and University of Tennessee sensory testing. Those accounts explain how the founders developed the product; they are not independent clinical evidence of a health benefit.
The Smiths also completed the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s eight-week summer accelerator. UConn describes that program as helping them test their business model and work through accounting, legal and marketing decisions before the competition.
The current company website lists two 12-ounce sparkling juice drinks: Seabright Citrus, with orange, lime and coconut flavors, and Tropical Wave, with pineapple, mango and coconut. The company describes each as containing at least 35% juice, no added sugar and 40 calories per can. Those are product-label claims, not a claim that the drinks contain no naturally occurring sugar.
The site advertises 12-packs at $41.88, equivalent to $3.49 per can, with shipping within Connecticut. It still displays preorder language saying orders ship the week of October 12. That date has passed, so the page does not establish a current fulfillment timetable; customers should confirm availability through the company.
The Day reports that the founders plan a broader April 2027 debut through coastal specialty-food and liquor retailers, initially targeting the New Haven-to-Newport corridor. The proposed stores, package sizes and wider distribution are plans, rather than proof that every retailer already stocks the drinks.
The company’s local identity also extends to design work. The Day credits Courtney Moore of CMB Creative in Mystic with the logo and Kyle Richards of the Glastonbury-based Randy Richards Design Group with packaging graphics. A photograph taken at Mystic’s Seaport Marine marina shows the founders holding the finished cans.
The verified development is a new Stonington business reaching its first production and sales stage. Its distribution ambitions remain future goals; no sales forecast is presented here as revenue already earned.