( ENSPIRE Business ) Kampeon Founder Chris Galang Expands Across Country
Sparkling water is a healthy alternative to quench thirst. Community-driven leader Chris Galang celebrates heritage and innovation with Kampeon Water. The Filipino-American entrepreneur has launched Kampeon Water nationwide in October 2025 and offers bold, nostalgic Filipino flavors such as calamansi, lychee, and melon. With B vitamins, vitamin C, and magnesium, Kampeon Water offers a boost of energy to help you focus without caffeine, sugar, or sodium. A cultural statement on daily wellness.
Southern California raised Galang, and he now lives in the Bay Area. Galang spent nearly 20 years in financial services roles in marketing, product development, and strategic planning. As an adult, he noticed there was a gap in Filipino representation and has made it his mission to empower the new generation of AAPI entrepreneurs through this drink. “As a kid, I didn’t think much about my Filipino culture,” he reflects. I didn’t feel the need to connect again until I was an adult, and then I realized how much I had missed it. “Those lessons shaped how I’m building Kampeon—human-first, impact-driven, and built to last.” Galang discusses his career, the creation of Kampeon Water, AAPI empowerment, and the future of Kampeon Water in an interview.
What were the most challenging transferable lessons from your finance career that you applied to building Kampeon Water, and how did your cultural impact-driven philosophy guide this career pivot?
One of the most challenging lessons from my banking career was learning how to make disciplined decisions in environments where there’s rarely perfect information. Working in strategic planning roles trained me to be thoughtful about risk, long-term value, and tradeoffs, and that foundation has been incredibly useful in building Kampeon.
What ultimately guided the pivot, though, was a new kind of challenge, something that pushed me outside my comfort zone and asked more of me creatively and personally. I wanted to build something that felt close to my heart, where the work reflected who I am, not just what I know how to do. Kampeon became a way to apply those analytical skills toward something deeply personal and impact-driven, blending structure and discipline with culture, community, and meaning.
Can you describe the moment you solidified your decision to anchor your brand in these three heritage flavors, and the process of translating their essence into a refreshing sparkling water drink?
From the very beginning, I knew our first flavors needed to be rooted in personal memory rather than market trends. Food has always been my strongest connection to my Filipino heritage, so anchoring the brand in those flavors felt like the most honest way to build a foundation. Each one connects to a specific moment or feeling from my childhood, flavors that were part of my everyday life long before Kampeon existed.
Translating those memories into a refreshing sparkling water was both creative and painstaking. I started by recreating the flavors in my home kitchen, then distilled those experiences into detailed briefs and sample batches for our formulator. Refining the recipes took the longest by far, but that time was intentional. It mattered to me that every sip evoked the same memory and emotion that inspired the flavor. Along the way, friends and family became our earliest taste testers, helping ensure the result felt as authentic and familiar as it did refreshing.
How do you balance health focus messaging with empowering AAPI entrepreneurs to bring Filipino culture to the mainstream, and why is it crucial to ensure Kampeon Water is free of caffeine to achieve this dual purpose?
We balance our messaging with what we know is important to our community. Everyday wellness is the universal entry point, and culture is the emotional differentiator that builds loyalty. Being caffeine-free is essential to that balance because it avoids the hustle-centric, performance-driven narratives that dominate functional beverages and often mirror stereotypes placed on AAPI entrepreneurs; instead, Kampeon reflects values rooted in balance, shared moments, and sustainability. By offering functional benefits without stimulants, we create an inclusive product that fits social, family, and everyday occasions, reinforcing the idea that Filipino culture belongs confidently on the shelf alongside any premium wellness brand, not as a novelty, but as a normalized, empowering presence.
Where do you see the future of Kampeon Water, and what specific challenges are you currently focused on ensuring this longing to reconnect with your Filipino roots resonates with consumers?
Our vision is to become the nationally recognized Filipino sparkling water brand in the U.S. After launching online, our immediate focus is expanding retail distribution so Kampeon is easy to find where people already shop. The biggest challenge we’re navigating is balancing authenticity with communicating inclusivity: staying true to my personal reconnection with my Filipino roots while ensuring the brand resonates with consumers from all backgrounds. We do that by leading with great taste and functional benefits, and letting culture come through organically in our design, storytelling, and community presence. Ultimately, we want every can of Kampeon to feel genuine, inclusive, and celebratory, whether you’re Filipino or not.
You have created Calamansi, Lychee, and Melon, three staples that are well known in Filipino culture. Are there any new flavors you plan to add to your Kampeon Water collection?
Yes, definitely! We’re actively exploring new flavors, and we’re excited about what’s coming next. The best way to stay in the loop is to follow us on Instagram @kampeonwater and subscribe to our mailing list at kampeonwater.com, where we’ll be sharing first looks at new flavors, exclusive drops, and collaborations.
Kampeon Water offers vibrant tastes that anchor many family gatherings and everyday moments. Galang wants to bring Filipino flavors and wellness-conscious beverages to the forefront of mainstreaming. “Flavors connect us in ways that language sometimes can’t,” Galang says. The company first sold its products online via the Kampeon Water website, with San Francisco retail as its initial local focus. The goal is to see Kampeon on store shelves across the country. A quiet longing to reconnect with his Filipino roots has become something more. With every can of Kampeon Water, Galang is sharing a part of his story and invites others to discover a new way to have sparkling water, to rediscover classic flavors in AAPI culture, or to enjoy a new, meaningful experience. Visit https://kampeonwater.com/ or follow Kampeon Water on Instagram.
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