Mizu Inc., which makes vacuum insulated drinkware, signed a partnership agreement with its two largest European distributors and formed Mizu Europe B.V.

The new wholly owned subsdiary will serve as the European headquarters for Mizu with an office, warehouse and in-house custom printing operation located in the Netherlands.

The agreement has made Wouter van de Griend of Edge Trading and Timo Breyer of Cleanspot Distribution Mizu shareholders. Wouter has been appointed the director of Mizu Europe and Timo has been appointed as the European sales advisor. Timo will continue to oversee Teambreyer Sales Agency, which represents Mizu in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Ramon Mulder of Edge Trading will continue to represent Mizu in the Netherlands.

Wouter van de Griend of Edge Trading comes from a previous sales background working with Burton Snowboards and Gravis Footwear. He founded Edge Trading with his business partner Ramon Mulder in 2002 and has since represented brands such as K2, Ride, Nixon, Electric, Mizu and Hurley in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Timo Breyer is the founder and director of Teambreyer Sales Agency that includes Nixon in Germany and Austria since 1999. He founded Cleanspot Distribution GmbH to house Mizu after he met Tim Pogue in Munich four years ago.

Positioned just outside of Amsterdam, the move puts Mizu’s new European headquarters at the heart of the reusable over single-use movement in the region.

Tim Pogue, Mizu’s CEO said, “With the addition of this new operation in Amsterdam, we can directly serve all of Europe with better product selection, centralized shipping, improved marketing, and a direct custom laser etching and printing operation. Wouter, Ramon and Timo have helped build Mizu from the start in Europe and are the perfect partners for us in this new venture.”

 Photo courtesy Mizu, Wouter van de Griend, Edge Trading