Sanzo was founded by Filipino-American Sandro Roco. Previously a nuclear power plant engineer as well as Chief of Staff at e-commerce startup Bombfell, Sandro conceived the idea for Sanzo while walking through a popular Asian supermarket in Manhattan's Koreatown one day. As he browsed the aisles, Sandro came to the realization that all of the legacy Asian beverage brands were filled with sugar, preservatives, and artificial flavors. He felt that there was a lack of innovation in the sparkling water category, which was also dominated by the same basic flavors: lemon, lime, and grapefruit. With the majority of existing sparkling water brands having been created by large multinational corporations, Sandro felt that he had a unique story and background to share. He wanted to celebrate high-quality Asian flavors without the bad-for-you ingredients and set out to turn his vision into reality.

Sandro decided to launch Sanzo in flavors that he grew up enjoying with his Filipino-American family, including calamansi and lychee. From the beginning, he knew that he wanted to incorporate preservative-free, real fruit puree into his beverages and became one of the few sparkling water brands on the market to do so. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Sandro started out fulfilling orders of his Asian-inspired sparkling waters from his own living room. He hand-delivered the initial 3,000 Sanzo cans to both retailers and customers in their New York City apartments, wanting to understand every foundational element of how to run and scale a business. From collaborations with David Chang’s Momofuku to Marvel’s Shang-Chi, Sanzo has now grown into a universally-loved sparkling water brand that is bridging Eastern and Western cultures. It is celebrating and connecting people to authentic Asian flavors, without the added sugar and ingredients you can’t pronounce.