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KATE MARTINThis incredible story started one weekend, whensuccessful businessman David Spencer-Percival wasreading the papers. On this occasion, he came acrossa story that set his entrepreneurial mind tickingover, about a small village in Italy called Acciaroli, just southof Naples. He explained to his wife, Bonita, whose CV isequally impressive (stylist to Take That and professionalballerina, to name a few career highlights), that this remotevillage appeared to be something of a phenomenon.The story said that the Italian authorities had asked forclarification that a recent census was correct; it showed thatover 300 centenarians lived in the village, an incredible one in10 people – the highest density of 100-year-olds in the world.Scientists had discovered that the centenarians were livingwithout common illnesses such as dementia, and enjoying anormal life. A key component of lifestyle is obviously diet, sothis was the first element David looked into. One thing thatstood out, among many of the usual Mediterranean dietelements, was the locals’ fondness for raw rosemary, found inPOWERCOUPLEMeet David and BonitaSpencer-Percival, thehusband-and-wife teambehind startup botanicaldrink No 1 Rosemary Water- and discover whythey were so passionateabout creating thisunique health water“I startedby leavingrosemaryin waterovernight,which turnedinto a moreserious idea”``````abundance on the hillsides surrounding Acciaroli. He discoveredthat the villagers favour it in many local dishes, as well asactually chewing the raw plant (yes, chewing it) regularly.David had watched his grandmother deteriorate and sufferas a result of Alzheimer’s and wanted to ensure that he andBonita, 21 years his senior, stay physically and mentally strongfor as long as possible. He decided to eat a sprig of freshrosemary every day. After a week, he realised it actually wasn’tvery easy to consume. The solution? He would drink it instead.It was then that David had his lightbulb moment. “I startedwith a rudimentary experiment, simply leaving rosemary indifferent levels of water overnight, which turned into a moreserious idea.”With links in the artisan-drinks industry, David and Bonitaset about creating the first ever botanical rosemary drink. Theystarted by testing the rosemary from Acciaroli against othervarieties, to see if it was a super-strain. “It wasn’t, it was all thesame” – a point David and Bonita find amusing when theyretell the early stages of the development. “We travelled to thevillage, and it was surrounded by fields of rosemary. We stoppedas soon as we could and picked some of the precious herb.”Not surprisingly, No 1 Rosemary Water is the first-to-market pure rosemary extract water, a whole new drinkcategory which David and Bonita took to shelf in just fourmonths through their belief in it. “We were adamant thatwe wouldn’t compromise on the quality. It had to be thepurest form, with every one of the 25 compounds – whichis complicated, but we believe in nature working in unity.We tried a combination of extractions, that’s why we workedwith botanical scientists. Once we had the drink, we decidedwe also wanted stronger shots which can be taken daily.”David and Bonita pitched the drink to Harvey Nichols, whotook it on exclusively. The sales spoke volumes about itspotential. “It sold out five times over – then Harrods andSelfridges wanted it. So we started selling with the holy trinityof department stores, which we could have only dreamt about.”A year on, No 1 Rosemary Water – in sparkling, still andshot varieties – is now selling in more outlets. They’re alsowaiting for exciting clinical trials to be released. “We areworking with scientists at Northumbria University todetermine whether drinking rosemary water has a positiveimpact on your brain functions.” What’s next for thisfascinating, game-changing couple? The sky’s the limit. Q