Thankyou
Thankyou is an Australian social enterprise that sells consumer products to fund water, sanitation, hygiene, and food-security programs.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Thankyou is an Australian social enterprise and consumer-goods brand founded in 2008 by Daniel Flynn, Justine Flynn, and Jarryd Burns. Its business model links sales of branded products with funding for development programs, particularly projects involving safe water, hygiene, sanitation, and food security. The company began with bottled water and developed a proposition in which customers could use everyday purchases to contribute to social-impact work. The founders initially secured production support from a factory willing to provide services without an upfront fee, while Visy donated 30,000 prototype bottles. Metro Beverage subsequently agreed to distribute the water, allowing the young company to enter the Australian market. The brand initially operated under the name Thankyou Water before broadening its identity to Thankyou as it expanded beyond beverages. In 2013, Thankyou introduced body-care and food ranges and began a highly visible campaign aimed at persuading Australia's two largest supermarket groups, Coles and Woolworths, to stock its products. The campaign combined digital organizing, social-media advocacy, mainstream television coverage, celebrity support, and highly conspicuous promotional activity, including helicopter banners flown over the retailers' headquarters. The campaign helped secure retail relationships with major chains and became an important example of a social enterprise using public pressure to influence distribution decisions. Thankyou also developed a relationship with 7-Eleven. The company's social-impact work has included projects implemented with or associated with organizations such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, the Salvation Army, and CARE. In 2014, it introduced Track Your Impact, a system intended to connect purchases with information about funded projects. Its first Australian development project, launched in 2015, supported the Salvation Army's Hamodava Café in Melbourne. By 2016, the company reported raising A$3.7 million for work that had provided water access to more than 190,000 people, hygiene and sanitation access to about 300,000 people, and the equivalent of 19.1 million days of food aid across 17 countries. Thankyou has also changed its portfolio in response to commercial and environmental considerations. It launched baby-care products in 2016, including nappies, body wash, and shampoos. In late 2017, it announced that it would end its food range. The brand expanded its body-care business into New Zealand in 2018. In 2020, Thankyou announced that it would stop producing bottled water, citing the environmental impact of single-use bottled water and the competitive pressure created by supermarket-owned brands. Thankyou's identity rests on combining retail branding, cause-related marketing, public campaigning, and charitable or development funding. Its history includes both strong public engagement and scrutiny over the governance and affiliations of organizations receiving funds. Despite the withdrawal from bottled water and food, the brand remains associated with social-enterprise consumer products and impact-oriented purchasing.
History
Thankyou was established in Australia in 2008 by Daniel Flynn, Justine Flynn, and Jarryd Burns. The founders sought to create a commercial brand whose sales could finance social-impact programs. Their first major product was bottled water. Production became possible after a manufacturing partner agreed to provide services without an upfront payment, and Visy donated 30,000 prototype bottles. Metro Beverage later took on distribution, helping the new brand reach consumers. The business initially traded as Thankyou Water. Its early proposition was straightforward: consumers could buy a familiar everyday product while contributing indirectly to development work. As the company matured, it sought to move beyond water and establish a broader consumer-products platform. In 2013 it launched body-care and food lines and adopted the shorter Thankyou name. That same year, Thankyou conducted one of Australia's most prominent retailer-lobbying campaigns by targeting Coles and Woolworths. The campaign used social media, digital marketing, public appeals, television coverage through the Sunrise program, and endorsements from public figures including Chrissie Swan and Jules Lund. Benefactors also supported helicopter flights carrying banners over the retailers' Melbourne and Sydney headquarters. The campaign asked the supermarket groups to stock Thankyou products and framed the decision as an opportunity to support social change. The company subsequently developed retail relationships involving Coles and Woolworths, as well as 7-Eleven. The 2013 expansion also brought controversy. It became public that Thankyou had directed, or could direct, a substantial share of profits to Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian organization involved in international aid. Critics questioned the organization's religious approach, its relationship to aid-sector conduct standards, and issues of financial transparency. Daniel Flynn acknowledged links between Thankyou and Planetshakers Church. Following the criticism, Thankyou announced that it would no longer support Samaritan's Purse. This episode became a significant part of the company's history because it highlighted the governance and accountability challenges that can arise when a social enterprise selects external development partners. Thankyou continued developing its impact model. In 2014 it introduced Track Your Impact, designed to help customers understand the projects connected to purchases. In April 2015, it began its first Australian project through support for the Salvation Army's Hamodava Café in Melbourne's central business district. Its wider development work has involved organizations including the Red Cross, Oxfam, the Salvation Army, and CARE. By 2016, Thankyou reported that it had raised A$3.7 million and supported work that gave more than 190,000 people access to water, approximately 300,000 people access to hygiene and sanitation, and funded 19.1 million days of food aid. The reported work extended across 17 countries, while the company's broader description of its programs has referred to 16 countries in connection with its ongoing product-funded initiatives. The product portfolio changed during the second half of the 2010s. In July 2016, Thankyou launched a baby-care range containing nappies, body wash, and shampoos. In December 2017, it announced the discontinuation of its food line. In June 2018, the company expanded into New Zealand with body-care products. Thankyou eventually reconsidered its original flagship category. In August 2020, it announced that it would stop producing bottled water, identifying the environmental burden of bottled water as the principal reason. Contemporary reporting also noted that the company had been gradually withdrawing from the category amid strong competition from supermarket private-label water. The decision represented a strategic shift away from the product with which the company had begun and reinforced its attempt to align its commercial portfolio with its environmental and social positioning. Thankyou's development demonstrates how a consumer brand can combine commercial distribution with fundraising, public advocacy, and impact reporting. Its trajectory has included product diversification, retailer partnerships, international expansion, portfolio reductions, and scrutiny of charitable affiliations. The brand remains primarily associated with Australian social enterprise and purpose-led personal-care products.
- 2020
Bottled-water production ends
[1]Thankyou announces the withdrawal of its bottled-water products, citing environmental concerns and category competition.
- 2018
New Zealand expansion
[1]Thankyou introduces its body-care range in New Zealand.
- 2017
Food line discontinued
[1]Thankyou announces that it will end its food product range.
- 2016
Baby-care range launches
[1]The company adds nappies, body wash, and shampoos to its baby-care offering.
- 2015
First Australian development project
[1]Thankyou begins support for the Salvation Army's Hamodava Café in Melbourne.
- 2014
Track Your Impact launches
[1]Thankyou introduces a customer-facing system for connecting purchases with information about funded projects.
- 2013
The brand expands beyond water
[1]Thankyou launches body-care and food products and changes its public brand identity from Thankyou Water to Thankyou.
- 2013
Coles and Woolworths campaign
[1]A high-profile public and social-media campaign seeks supermarket listings and contributes to partnerships with major Australian retailers.
- 2008
Thankyou is founded
[1]Daniel Flynn, Justine Flynn, and Jarryd Burns establish the company in Australia and begin developing a bottled-water business intended to fund social-impact programs.
Products and positioning
A purpose-led consumer brand that directs product-related funds toward international and Australian water, sanitation, hygiene, and food-security programs.
Bottled water · 2008
Thankyou bottled water
Thankyou's original product line and the source of its initial brand identity. The bottled-water business was designed to connect an ordinary beverage purchase with funding for water-related development work. The company later withdrew from the category, announcing in 2020 that it would stop production because of the environmental impact associated with bottled water and difficult competitive conditions, including supermarket private-label products.
Personal care · 2013
Thankyou body care
The body-care range marked Thankyou's expansion from a bottled-water company into a wider purpose-led consumer-products brand. Products were positioned around everyday personal hygiene and were intended to support funding for hygiene and sanitation programs. The range became an important part of Thankyou's continuing business and was also the basis of the company's New Zealand expansion in 2018.
Packaged food · 2013
Thankyou food
Thankyou introduced food products in 2013 as part of a broader portfolio strategy. The line was associated with the company's food-security funding model and extended the social-enterprise proposition into grocery categories. Thankyou announced in December 2017 that it would end the food range.
Baby care · 2016
Thankyou baby care
The baby-care range was launched in 2016 and included nappies, body wash, and shampoos. It extended Thankyou's personal-care positioning into products used by infants and families while remaining connected to the company's social-impact funding model.
Controversies
2013
Samaritan's Purse funding controversy
Thankyou faced criticism after reports that up to 30 percent of profits could be directed to Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian organization involved in international aid. Concerns focused on proselytizing, the organization's relationship to Australian aid-sector conduct expectations, and transparency. Daniel Flynn also acknowledged links to Planetshakers Church. Thankyou subsequently announced that it would no longer support Samaritan's Purse.
Marketing campaigns
- 2013Coles and Woolworths Campaign
Australia
Thankyou used social media, digital marketing, television exposure, celebrity endorsements, and helicopter banners to publicly ask Coles and Woolworths to stock its products. The campaign presented retailer listings as a way to expand consumer access to purpose-led products and increase funding for development programs.
Outcome. The campaign was followed by retail partnerships involving Coles and Woolworths and helped establish Thankyou as a prominent Australian social-enterprise brand.
Brand decisions
2020
Withdrawal from bottled waterStrategyBackground
Bottled water was Thankyou's founding category, but the company identified the environmental impact of single-use bottled water and faced strong competition from supermarket-owned brands.
Action taken
Thankyou announced that it would stop producing bottled water.
Aftermath
The decision removed the product category with which Thankyou had started and aligned the portfolio more closely with the company's environmental and social-purpose positioning.
2017
End of food productsStrategyBackground
Thankyou had operated a food range since 2013 as part of its purpose-led grocery portfolio.
Action taken
The company announced that it would discontinue its food product line.
Aftermath
The decision reduced the breadth of Thankyou's grocery offering and left personal-care and related categories more central to the brand.
2013
Rebrand and portfolio expansionStrategyBackground
The company had begun with bottled water but wanted to build a broader consumer-products business and fund additional forms of development work.
Action taken
Thankyou changed its public identity from Thankyou Water to Thankyou and introduced body-care and food lines.
Aftermath
The move broadened the brand's category presence and supported its later retailer campaigns and product diversification.
Recent events
- 2020
Thankyou stops producing bottled water[1]
Product generation
Thankyou announced that it would cease bottled-water production, citing the environmental impact of the product category and strong competition from supermarket-owned brands.
- 2018
Thankyou expands its body-care range into New Zealand[1]
Other
Thankyou entered the New Zealand market with its body-care products.
- 2017
Thankyou announces the end of its food range[1]
Product generation
The company announced that it would discontinue its food product line.
- 2016
Thankyou launches baby-care range[1]
Product launch
Thankyou added baby-care products including nappies, body wash, and shampoos.
- 2014
Thankyou launches Track Your Impact[1]
Product launch · Other
The company introduced Track Your Impact to provide customers with information about the development work associated with its sales.
- 2013
Thankyou expands beyond water into body care and food[1]
Product launch · Campaign
Thankyou broadened its product portfolio, rebranded from Thankyou Water to Thankyou, and used a public campaign to seek listings with Coles and Woolworths.
Sources2 sources
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