Meet Back Road Water, the Northeast Ohio Canned Water Company Built on Midwest Roots

Eric Funderwhite looks right at home sitting in front of a green John Deere tractor at Richardson Farms, one of the first markets to stock Back Road Water.

It’s fitting scenery for the 39-year-old Brunswick native. In videos promoting the canned water company, Funderwhite walks into bars in denim overalls and cowboy boots or tight T-shirts tucked behind oversized belt buckles. The getups are exaggerated and meant to earn a few laughs, but the persona draws from the farms, small towns and people that inspired Back Road in the first place.

Funderwhite spent 12 years in Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry, including a stint on Vanderpump Villa, while the thought of starting a water company lingered in the back of his mind. After returning home, he began shaping that decade-old idea around a landscape that had become newly familiar.

The name followed. To Funderwhite, back roads offer a chance to slow down, escape the chaos and enjoy the scenery. “Every back road leads somewhere,” he says. “Physically take a back road, but also mentally take a back road as well.”

That sense of nostalgia carries onto the packaging. Available in 19.2-ounce cans of still or sparkling spring water, each can features a miniature portrait of the countryside, dotted with puffy white clouds, open fields and a pickup truck carrying two pups in its bed, Ace and Annie, Funderwhite’s rescue pit bulls. Green cans hold the still water, while red signals sparkling. Bullseye targets run down the side, a nod to childhood afternoons spent lining up cans in the backyard for BB gun practice and the company’s recycling message: “Aim, recycle, repeat.”

“I don't want them to just pick it up because of the quality of the water. I want them to pick it up because they resonate with it,” Funderwhite says. “That's the jersey they want to wear.”

What’s inside has a personal connection, too. The spring water comes from a 45,000-year-old glacial aquifer near Columbus and Urbana, where it filters through layers of bedrock, naturally picking up minerals. Funderwhite’s preference for spring water traces back to his grandparents, who lived on a farm and filled five-gallon jugs from a natural spring each day.

The aluminum packaging is intentional, prioritizing recyclability while making the cans practical for bars, pools, boats and other places where glass may not be suitable.

Back Road officially launched just five months ago at Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, partnering with the Cleveland Animal Protective League for its debut.

Since then, the spring water brand has expanded to nearly 100 retail stores, restaurants, bars, hotels and event venues across Ohio, including Double D’s Honky Tonk & Smokehouse, Jolene’s, Maggie’s Doughnuts, Cool Beans and Accelerated Fitness, with more accounts in various stages of onboarding.

The company wholesales by the 24-can case, while retail and hospitality partners typically sell the cans individually at varying prices.

Lisa Whitehair, owner of NY Bagel Deli in Medina, discovered Back Road through Funderwhite’s social media videos, where she recognized his mother, Rhonda, a regular at the shop.

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“We're always looking to support local, and I mean, it couldn't have been more perfect,” Whitehair says. “It was a no-brainer. He's like family.”

The water has caught on quickly with customers, too. Since bringing Back Road into the deli at the end of June, Whitehair says she has already reordered twice.

“The women love it because he himself is a brand,” she says.

Laura Cavey, owner of Cool Beans Cafe, discovered Back Road almost by chance. After spotting Funderwhite delivering cases to a neighboring business in the square, she reached out. Within 15 minutes, she says, he was at her door with samples.

“Honestly, I don't enjoy water,” Cavey says. But after trying Back Road, she reconsidered. “I thought it was a very smooth product. I didn't notice any aftertaste. Just drinking out of a can makes it a different experience.”

Cavey has since started carrying the water at both cafe locations and uses the sparkling variety to make Italian sodas and other fizzy drinks at the Brunswick drive-thru.

For now, Funderwhite is self-financing Back Road with his family and focusing on establishing the water business before bringing in outside investors or branching into other products. He eventually hopes to take the company nationwide, but says he wants to build a strong foundation at home first.

“Creating an Ohio identity was very important for me from the beginning,” Funderwhite says. “I grew up here in Ohio, and I wanted to do it justice for the people of Ohio, our community of Ohio, the blue-collar workers, the farmers, the everyday people that never got any recognition. That's why I'm here and doing this.”

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