What do you think when you hear the word water? For something that has such a profound impact on every facet of life, we seldom stop to think about the role of water in the bigger picture. Well, most of us anyways. For Dave Hygaard and his son Tom, water has a very different meaning – one that he has used to help drive brand awareness and lasting community impact.

Dave founded Arctic Chiller in 1996 after divesting himself of his other business, Hygaard Fine Foods. Visionaries with a keen eye for both business and helping others grow their brands, they invested in a high-speed bottling plant to serve Western Canada – and beyond. The father and son team was unstoppable in building a customer focused, forward thinking company that gathered a reputation for lightning fast turnaround while routinely exceeding customers’ expectations. 

Ever mindful of sustainability, from the start the Hygaards ensure all the bottles contains r-PET, which is a recycled plastic, and that every bottle is approved for acceptance at recycling depots. They didn’t stop there. Their Partnership Program empowers clients to give a donation through Arctic Chiller with every purchase.

Today, the brand is pleased to continue its tradition of offering custom private brand labeled water and coolers alongside Arctic Chiller’s own house brands. 

In 2021, Arctic Chiller sat down with Business in Edmonton magazine and shared its journey and its successes locally and in China and the Middle East. Now, Dave is semi-retired now and today, Tom returns to share how this locally owned and operated brand continues to thrive.

“Since 2021, our business has continued to grow, and demand for our products has never been higher!” Tom is happy to share. “Since then, we have also added sparkling water and flavoured water options.”

As with every product from Arctic Chiller, these two new offerings are thoughtfully curated and designed. 

“Spring water from Kootenay Plains, Alberta is naturally high in minerals, compared to our low mineral demineralized water,” Tom explains. “Both are high quality, great tasting and impurity free.”

In research and development, the Arctic Chiller team learned the value of offering diverse options.

“We found a fan base for both types of water; it’s really a personal preference for the consumer. The water experts may have differing opinions on which one is best, but they all agree on one thing: the benefits of staying hydrated!”

The core offering, custom bottles, continues to drive the foundation of the brand.

“Our Private Label program remains immensely popular, as it transcends a typical bottle of water and becomes a marketing tool and an advertisement for your company,” confirms Tom. “We like to say private label water is a refreshing way to advertise!”

The coolers are a great way to enhance the custom labelling. He notes, “These are glass door, LED lighted, locking countertop coolers for sale that we apply your custom branding to with three full colour decals (two sides and one on the front). This is a great way to showcase your private label water and chill it for your clients.”

As always, every product and every order is met with outstanding customer service, fast turnaround times and the options needed for expert private label customization.

Dave and Tom look back over 30 years and identify some of the milestones, and the path forward.

“Summer 2025 was a record breaker here. Demand has never been higher. Over the coming winter months, we will be upgrading our existing equipment and adding a new high speed bottling line to accommodate our valued customers. This is a very exciting time for us as we increase our capacity to meet ongoing growth. We do not have a minimum order. We can create any size order, no matter the size of the event. Our art department creates custom labels from scratch. Often clients will come to us with only an idea, and we make it come to life promptly and effortlessly.”

Through it all, Arctic Chiller remains unwavering in its commitment to provide sustainable products. As part of its ongoing customer service, the brand always listens to, and respects, the feedback it gets to continue exploring recyclable technologies for its products.

One thing that has always been a high priority is to give back to the communities they serve.

“We are always engaged with the community, supporting many events every year, on top of our Partnership Program, which enables our clients to give back to the charity of their choosing one bottle at a time, year-round.”

Industry partners have taken notice of this customer and community-first approach.

“We have, again, achieved the coveted Certificate of Excellence in Manufacturing from the Canadian Bottled Water Association (CBWA). Their audit addendum is over top of our GFSI audit certificate, meaning it is truly the gold standard in the bottled water industry from a quality product perspective,” says Tom.

In the end, he will always consider the success of Arctic Chiller to be a team effort.

“We would be nothing without our people. We are fortunate to have a wealth of experienced hands on staff. Talk about bench strength! John Marineo, our general manager, and Mark Thirlwell, our plant manager, are the stuff bottled water legends are made of. Our people make the company the success that it is, and we are super fortunate to have them with us.”

What do the next 30 years look like? They look like continued success. 

Tom concludes, “Getting a new customer referral is the most rewarding thing that can happen to a company. It validates that the hard work you’ve done is not just imagined, it is evident that a client was so impressed with your products and services that they told their friends about you. I can’t think of a higher compliment in the business world than earning a repeat order or a new client referral. Meanwhile, we are excited to have our new production line up and running for water season 2026!”