NZ’s youngest Lotto winner not hung over

Media release – March 17, 2010

NZ’s youngest Lotto winner not hung over from success

It’s 22 years since Angela Williams at 18 became probably New Zealand’s youngest Lotto winner, but she has not been not hung-over with success.

Williams won $250,000 from Lotto in 1988 when she was living in Blenheim and four years ago invested $100,000 of her Lotto winnings in the New Zealand selling rights for leading ‘hang over’ capsules Hydrodol.

``I gave a third of the Lotto money to my family but nothing really changed in my life except I bought a brand new car; and it started me on the property ladder,’’ Williams said today.

``I bought my first rental property in Christchurch about a month later and invested and lost some of it on the sharemarket. Between us, my partner Jason and I, we now have eight houses which also include three sets of home and incomes and a 10 acre block of land in the Waitakeres which if we ever have the money would one day like to build a family home on.

``I bought into Hydrodol in 2006 and the deal was we would find 30 sites for the vending machines that we bought. But the pubs did not want vending machines.

``We got conned when we bought into Hydrodol by an Australian who skipped the country with $100,000 of our money. We were just lucky that when we approached the manufacturers and told them what had happened that they gave us the selling rights for all of New Zealand.

``We now mostly sell in holiday hot spots and in pharmacies where it is on the counter rather than hidden away on a shelf. Also the pharmacies where the staff really support it seems to sell a lot better as well.’’

The Waitakere Licensing Trust has been selling the hangover capsules for the last 12 months and most of their stores do well along with some other liquor outlets throughout NZ.

Hydrodol contains a combination of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. She said research has shown that 70 percent of light to moderate drinkers experience hangover whereas heavy drinkers do not.

Williams said the business was finally beginning to grow as the capsules were also a suppressant for alcohol cravings. Next year’s Rugby World Cup tournament was also expected to see a growth in their business.

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