Client Spotlight: Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Hydrating Champions On & Off the Pitch

As one of Major League Soccer’s top-tier organizations, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (WFC) needed a hydration solution that could keep pace with their high-performance culture—while supporting their growing sustainability commitments. Focused on delivering excellence both on the field and behind the scenes, the club partnered with Vivreau to elevate their hydration game.

The Challenge

As a professional sports organization, WFC was unintentionally contributing to plastic pollution through widespread use of single-use bottled water. At the team’s National Soccer Development Centre (NSDC), half-finished water bottles were regularly left behind, adding up to more than 10,000 per year.

The Spark: Player-Led Initiative

Former Whitecaps player Tosaint Ricketts spearheaded the change. In his final season, he conducted an informal case study: collecting every discarded bottle over 30 days, calculating usage, and presenting the financial and environmental costs of maintaining the status quo.

His findings were clear: the organization needed a new solution. One that could eliminate plastic waste while maintaining hydration standards for elite athletes and staff.

Solution

After identifying the need for a better system, Ricketts built a business case to replace bottled water with advanced dispensing solutions. A serendipitous encounter solidified the choice:

Club CEO Axel Schuster experienced Vivreau firsthand at Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge and was impressed by the design, quality, and great tasting water from the dispenser.

This led to a formal partnership with Vivreau, installing three Extra I-Tap systems at the training facility. The sleek, high-capacity water dispensers deliver chilled still, ambient, and sparkling micro-filtered water—on demand for players and staff.

Sustainability Beyond the Pitch

The club also added Vivreau to their downtown Vancouver offices, providing staff with high-quality hydration and reinforcing their environmental values across the organization.

Wave bottle getting filled with sparkling water from extra i-tap dispenser

Results

Key outcomes achieved:
- Over 10,000 plastic bottles eliminated annually
- Reduced carbon footprint and improved operational efficiency
- Financial savings on bottled water supply and delivery
- Unified hydration standard across both training and office facilities
- Positive cultural shift within the organization around sustainability

A New Team Essential: The Vivreau WAVE Bottle

As part of the rollout, the club also introduced the VivreauWAVE Bottle. A sleek, reusable, easy to wash, bottle designed for quick refills before practice, meetings, or travel. It’s now a go-to item among players and staff, making it easier to stay hydrated while reinforcing smarter, more sustainable habits every day.

"Whitecaps FC has been looking for easy, accessible ways for us to support our new sustainability mandates and Vivreau has been the perfect partner to help us do that.  Their water systems have been easy to install and use, and even easier to educate our staff on. The outcome from our partnership with Vivreau is our players are now moving away from single use plastics at our training facility, and our front of office staff have been thrilled to have access to sparkling and still water while they work.   We look forward to bringing more Vivreau products to our programs."