JAMAICAN water company, Lifespan, was awarded an exclusive Caribbean and Latin American invitation to participate in a high-end bottled drinking water expo in China.

The invitation was extended to the spring water company on the merit of them being the only known naturally alkaline spring water found in the Caribbean and Latin American region, with a pH level of up to 7.9, according to Lifespan’s publicist, Lloyd Stewart.

“The ultimate goal of attending this expo is to solidify our brand awareness,” said Stewart. “We want to let the world know that we are here as a viable option in the healthy water category.”

The international event, which is will be held in Shanghai, China, from April 16-18, 2015, will feature over 350 international suppliers and distributors of high-end bottled water.

Stewart said that the water company, which in April signed a distribution agreement with GraceKennedy’s World Brands Services, “is Jamaica’s best kept secret”.

“Its naturally high level of alkalinity helps to restore the pH balance in the body,” he said. “pH imbalances are caused when the body’s acidic level is too high.”

Nutritionists recommend that diets should consists of 80 per cent alkaline-forming foods and 20 per cent acidic foods. When this balance is compromised, the body can be prone to many illnesses.

The high level of alkalinity found in Lifespan’s Blue Mountain spring water, Stewart explained, neutralises the acidity of the body caused by stress, air pollution, and modern diets including soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, artificially flavoured drinks and purified bottled waters.

“This helps your immune system to fight diseases as alkaline water is negatively charged and is an antioxidant,” he said.

Antioxidants reducescellular and DNA damage caused by free radicals.

Stewart is optimistic that Lifespan’s comparable quality to other high-end healthy waters on the global market and its highly competitive prices will result in them securing orders coming out of the trade expo.

Efforts to contact the organisers were not successful up to press time, but according to the event’s official website, the expo serves as a premier meeting place to connect overseas suppliers to business opportunities in the Asian market.

A review of the last staging of the expo indicated that it featured over 33,000 professional buyers from large hotel chains, trading companies, high-end bottled water stores and large supermarkets.

Lifespan is a privately held company and was recently named one of Jamaica’s most innovative and sustainable businesses under the National Bakery’s Bold Ones Initiative.