Diversity in the retail bottled water market is hard to achieve, let alone be apparent to the everyday consumer.

But one First Nations family-owned business has surfaced to the top, literally - after establishing an official supply partnership with Qantas.

Yaru Water was co-founded by a Bundjalung family - with another non-Indigenous family from NSW's Northern Rivers - in 2011, with a a carbon neutral operation and community-minded philosophy realised when it launched the Yaru Foundation in 2016, a driver of positive social change in First Nations communities.

Despite the challenges of market differentiation and then COVID, the company caught the eye of Qantas Airlines for its premium water and the brand's social focus, with their collaboration recognised at Supply Nation's Supplier Diversity Awards last week.

The Supplier Diversity Partnership of the Year award recognises two businesses that have cohered to grow sector or specific First Nations business, and the airline was thrilled their association with Yaru Water had been recognised for what it was.

"Yaru Water is Australia's first Indigenous water company and we partnered with them to bring our customers high-quality and sustainably sourced water from Bundjalung country in northern NSW," the airline said after its win at the annual awards.

"Our partnership with Yaru goes beyond the promotion of a uniquely Australian product.

"Yaru has provided our people and customers with opportunities to learn more about our nation's rich history."

Yaru Water director and Bundjalung man Paul Dodd said the company has begun achieving strong growth in the crowded water bottle market since Qantas came on board, initially producing 1.5L bottles for its customers.

The Qantas relationship and other national supply partnerships has enabled Yaru to expand its range to flavoured sparkling mineral water, and in 2019 it purchased a state-of-the-art production facility with capacity to produce up to 60 million bottles annually.

Qantas First Nations engagement group manager and Tharawal woman Renee Wotton said the airline was proud to serve Yaru Water to its customers.

"Not only does Yaru Water have an incredible story to tell, the company is are also reinvesting their sales into projects that contribute to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians through their not-for-profit foundation," she said.

Yaru Water now supplies up to 1.5 million bottles of still and sparkling water per year to the airline.

Donations to the Yaru Foundation and the projects funded in the health space predominantly come from sales of Yaru Water.

- with Nina Hendy