Problem Solved: These Rain Measuring Beer Bottles Prove That Meaningful Innovation Needn’t Be Tech Driven

The Problem

In 2022, Colombian farmers lost 4.9 million acres of crops during the rainy season. Most of these crops were cassava, the main ingredient of Nativa Beer. So, how could we - Rolando Cordova and Gian Carlo Lanfranco, co-founders and CCOs of L&C NYC (left to right, above) - protect this vital ingredient?

The problem of crop loss was really due to the lack of access Colombian farmers have to rain measuring tools. If they had access to these tools, it could help prevent the loss of millions of crops per year. A professional rain gauge in Colombia costs approximately $18, so instead, we decided to give them access to essentially the same tool on a beer they already drink.

The biggest challenge was making the dimensions of the beer bottle work exactly as a rain gauge. For this, we partnered with meteorologist John Jairo Valencia and his team at the National University of Colombia. The process was extremely detailed – analysing the diameter of the bottle and all the different aspects required to have the attributes of a rain gauge in it.

Giving a second life to a beer bottle was the first option we came up with, as it's seamless, really simple and with low impact on the environment. It was a perfect sustainable solution.

The first big challenge was working with the meteorologist team to make sure the beer bottle could actually work as a rain gauge. Our next challenge was to work through the production of the bottle at a large scale and using their channels of distribution – which was no easy feat, but we owe it to our partners Diego Pomareda and Alavaro de Luna at Bavaria AB InBev for making it happen.

We love creating ideas that have a positive impact in the real world, ideas with purpose at the centre. We think brands and us as agencies have a responsibility to create work that leaves a positive mark and pushes creativity to places that it hasn't been before. That’s the work we love making – similar to the work we did last year for Piñatex and what we are doing now with Nativameter.

The process involved about six months of testing with the meteorologist team to finally have a final design that was able to accurately measure and work as a rain gauge.

We are proud to say Nativameter brought the first Cannes Lions on B2B and Design Categories for Cerveza Nativa.

It has had a massive impact on the Northern region of Colombia and their farming community. Over 280,000 acres of Colombian farmland is now protected – and hundreds of farmers are now better prepared for the rainy season and can protect their crops as their main income. Nativameter aims to cover 50% of all Colombian farmland by 2025. 

Sales have increased in the region for the brand, but most importantly, farmers now have a tool that would have cost $18 for the same price they buy a Nativa beer - 24 cents. We are improving their livelihoods and their businesses.