Water, after oxygen, is the second most important substance when it comes to human health. Gregory Moore has a passion and enthusiasm for water that comes from understanding this and the fact that high quality water is a requirement for successful operation of each of his thirty-three casual dining restaurants in the Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q brand. For years he has been in search of the highest quality water available. After a fortuitous meeting at the 2009 National Restaurant Show in Chicago, he is now an active partner with the Acqua Smeraldina Company in the distribution of what he considers to be “the world’s finest bottled artesian water.”
Acqua Smeraldina comes from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia which is one of the National Geographic Society’s acclaimed Blue Zones. These Blue Zones produce equal numbers of men and women who reach the age of 100 at rates 10 times greater than in the United States. The island is environmentally pristine and provides a granite filtration system that produces this remarkable product.
Mr. Moore invested ten years of research and development to start his own bottled water operation to serve in his restaurants. He focused on operating from his sustainable farm and stables in North Carolina known as Falcon Park where he has also developed a state of the art community water system with its own self sustaining primary well on the property. The bedrooms in his home even have a system of taps that provides both still and sparkling water.
Eventually, Mr. Moore found bottled natural spring water from high in the North Carolina mountains that met his standards for a water product to serve in his restaurants. He decided to tour the spring water company’s plant to consider purchasing the company. His busy schedule never allowed him to make the trip before he traveled to Chicago last fall.
“It was the final day of last year’s Chicago restaurant show. It was toward the end of the day. I had been touring all the vendor’s at the show, sampling products, walking for hours. He visited the Smeraldina booth where he met Giuseppe Pinna , an executive with Smeraldina, who gave him a sample of this very special water. Mr. Moore says of the first taste: “It quenched my thirst like no other water I had ever tried. It had qualities that were beyond any I had ever tasted. The dryness and thirst were gone and the taste was clear and light.” He observed, “It was the best product at this year’s show in my opinion – it was a product that was outstanding in the market.” It was a product he wanted for himself, his family and his business.
The Italian company that bottles Acqua Smeraldina is, like Mr. Moore’s, family owned and operated. Both the Solinas and the Moore families have always been focused on quality products with a high level of dedication to their customers. A mutually beneficial relationship was quickly established when the two companies realized their similar styles and operating principles.
Mr. Moore believes in Acqua Smeraldina because it tastes better than any water he has ever tasted. “Imagine that the Smeraldina we’re drinking today was falling onto the island of Sardinia two to three hundred years ago. Imagine the purity of the water and the earth three hundred years ago. Imagine what it would have been like then. That’s what this water tastes like. It is the best water in the world, just an incredible taste.”
For more information concerning purchasing or distributing Acqua Smeraldina Natural Artestian Water from Sardinia, go to www.smeraldina.us.com. For additional information about National Geographic Society Blue Zones go to www.BlueZones.com.