Inside the Bottle

Village in India evacuates to protest bottled water plant

2010-07-06T14:25:00.002-04:00

This story from India shows what lengths local populations will go through to protect water resources.

People leave village protesting mineral water
July 6, 2010, The Times of India

MADURAI: Over 500 persons, most of them dalits belonging to 250 families, deserted their village, Valliammalpuram near Kadayanallur in Tirunelveli district, on Sunday and went to live on a dry pond in the outskirts of their village protesting the inauguration of a mineral water plant.

Valliammalpuram is a dalit village in Nainaraharam panchayat in Tirunelveli district. A few months ago they came to know of a proposal to set up a mineral water plant in Nainaraharam and opposed it. The factory was being set up by relatives of a local municipal councillor V Sultan (DMK) and repeated petitions to the chief minister's cell and the environment ministry had not borne any result.

Speaking to TOI, Saravanan, a villager, said theirs was an agricultural village where over 280 acres was under cultivation of various crops including paddy, banana and sugarcane. They heard that seven acres of land had been bought for the water unit and a borewell up to a depth of 850 feet was to be dug. "We feared that our livelihood would be affected by this borewell and have been opposing it ever since," he said.

On Sunday, the plant was inaugurated by state environment minister T P M Mohideen Khan and, as an act of protest, the people immediately deserted their village.

They left with their belongings and livestock and went to the dry bed of the pond said they intended to stay there until their demand to close down the unit was conceded. They said officials should have paid attention to what the people were trying to say. Industries that had an adverse effect on agriculture and groundwater should be banned, the villagers feel.

As tension prevailed in the village following the protest, a posse of police personnel has been deployed in the region.

India: 24 hour water delivery - for those who can pay for it

2010-06-15T10:16:00.002-04:00

Todays Financial Express published in India, discusses the rapid growth of bottled water sales in the country and the emergence of home delivery of bottled water products.

The article explains how sales of bottled water are growing rapidly in India but does not mention that huge portions of the population have no access to clean public tap water and do not have the means to purchase privatized packaged water.

Water management
June 15, 2010
Financial Express

Picture this. It's the rainy season. You come home late tired and discover that your building doesn't have electricity and water and you have run out of drinking water as well. It's late, it's raining cats and dogs and shops are closed. But you still need drinking water.

Just pick up your phone and dial Bisleri and they will deliver bottled water right at your door step. Yes, Bisleri, the largest player in the Rs 2000-crore bottled water market with 60-65% market share is moving towards this direction.

The company has already set up a call centre and water helpline which currently offers its services 12 hours in a day pan-India. It is now planning to offer its services round the clock.

"We have already made all the arrangements. The delivery time is about 12 hours, of course, not midnight. But we are talking to the RTOs (regional transport offices) to allow us to park our vehicles in different locations so that we can tell the consumer that even if you require Bisleri in the middle of the night it's available. We have a set-up where we can call each other and make the delivery. But midnight permission is yet to come in. RTOs have certain restrictions about parking trucks in the night. But we are hopeful that in the next few months we should be able to roll out this service 24/7," said Bisleri director Anjana Ghosh.

The competition in the bottled water market has increased manifold and beverage makers including Parle Agro, Pepsico, Kingfisher and others have forayed into this space. And that is what's spurring Bisleri to improve its services.

"We have had the advantage of being the first mover in the sector and we have the highest market share. Because we were the first movers we have an advantage as far as the brand is concerned and there is high brand recall," said Ghosh.

"To a consumer, buying Bisleri, Aquafina or Kinley is all the same as far as the price is concerned. However the brand that will reach the consumer faster than the others will have the edge. That is where we are trying to move forward. Where we score over the others is our service levels. Because we have a plant here in Mumbai and we can reach consumers than anyone else. So service is where we will be concentrating."

Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner and national leader, retail and consumers products practice of consultancy firm Ernst and Young saids, "With people becoming more aware about health issues the concept of buying bottled water has really taken off well in India. Earlier it used to be an elite product but now it has become a part of everyday life. So there is no challenge on the demand side. Also, there is a huge scope for existing branded players to expand into small towns and cities. In these smaller markets even a local water brand is sold at similar price to that of a branded one. So people are used to paying high price for bottled water and therefore there is a huge scope for branded players to expand in these markets."

The year 2010 has been eventful for Bisleri as the brand has been experimenting with new packaging. Right at the beginning of the year it introduced a celebration pack for its 250-ml and 500-ml packs. "These packs are mostly used at parties and weddings and conferences and therefore we decided to introduce a celebration packaging for these SKUs (stock keeping units). Also, we thought we will add something new to that pack because predominantly every consumer has in mind only the 1-litre pack," said Ghosh. "Somewhere we wanted to make a conscious effort to push the sizes to the consumer. And that's where we thought we should have a communication done to this effect."

With the Indian Premier League twenty20 cricket tournament kicking off in April, the company introduced another packaging around cricket. "We introduced another pack with special cricket labels. And this has given us a lot of visibility specially within the younger generation. We have 15 such special labels around words used in the game, added some pun into it and had a special graphical representation. We spent nearly Rs 15-20 crore for advertising during the IPL. We have seen a rise of about 30-35% in these two SKUs in terms of sales and therefore we feel this was a good move," said Ghosh.

Despite the economic downturn last year, Bisleri saw a growth of 23-24%. This year in April and May it witnessed a growth of about 27% over the same period last year and expects to close the year with 30% growth over last year. In 2008-2009, its revenue was Rs 360 crore that grew to Rs 410 crore in 2009-2010.

The company has already spent Rs 30-40 crore of its advertising and marketing budget in the first half of the year against a full year budget of Rs 60-70 crore. As far as the media mix is concerned, retail activation is at the top of their list. "If a consumer walks into a store they should be able to see Bisleri and touch Bisleri. So the touch points like dealer boards, in-shop dressing, the malls, etc., remain most important for us. As far as the electronic media is concerned it is only for branding," said Ghosh.

However, transport and distribution remains a challenge for the company. "The product is very heavy, bulky and low value. So in a truck in which you could carry any other product worth Rs 10 lakh, in our case a full truck could be carrying goods worth just Rs 50,000," explained Ghosh. "The only way to grow is increase the distribution and therefore we are aggressively beefing up our infrastructure and building plants very close to the market. In tier II and tier III cities we have appointed distributors. Currently we have nine manufacturing centres of our own. And we have 52 which are contractual."

Even Mishra agrees that with growing competition, it is distribution that will differentiate one player from another. "Distribution remains the primary challenge. Globally most of the products are bottled at source. However, in India it is distilled.

The ones which are bottled at source are extremely overpriced. And, if they try to bottle the water at source and then sell it at different parts of India then distribution will become humongously expensive."

The company has also launched Vedica—natural mountain water sourced from the Himalayas—in the western and the southern markets. This marks Bisleri's entry into the premium bottled water segment.

"We will be coming up with flavoured water and that's our target for the future," said Ghosh.

How multinational bottled water companies exploit lack of clean water in Mexico

2010-06-01T10:42:00.001-04:00

In Mexico, fear of tap water fuels bottled-water boom

Tim Johnson, McClatchy Newspapers, May 27, 2010, MEXICO CITY — It's a simple warning — don't drink the tap water — and Mexicans take it to heart as much as any foreign tourist does.

Mexicans drink more bottled water than the citizens of any other country do, an average of 61.8 gallons per person each year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a consultancy. That's far higher than Italy, and more than twice as much as in the United States.

A rising mistrust of tap water is behind the thirst for bottled water. Other factors are also at play, however, including clever advertising campaigns by multinational corporations and the failure of the Mexican government to provide timely data on water safety.

The boom in bottled water has an underside, too. Empty plastic water bottles litter landfills and roadsides at a rate that alarms consumer and environmental groups. Recycling experts say that only about one-eighth of the 21.3 million plastic water and soft drink bottles that are emptied each day in Mexico get recycled.

Mexicans weren't always as distrustful of tap water as they are these days.

"Twenty years ago, there were drinking fountains in all the public schools and in most parks," said Claudia Campero, a Mexico representative of Food & Water Watch, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group. Now, such fountains are rare.

Some municipal water systems in Mexico have fallen into disrepair, including in the capital, where a 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people broke numerous water mains. The city siphons water from the underlying aquifer faster than rainfall can replenish it, causing the city, much of which is built on an ancient lakebed, to sink, which puts additional stress on leaky water mains. Some 30 percent of the city's water is lost to leakage.

"The infrastructure is very old and obsolete. Even though there has been investment, it isn't enough. Runoff is seeping into the water system," said Octavio Rosas Landa, an economist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

For years, many residents grew accustomed to boiling tap water to ensure its safety, but natural gas prices have risen, making boiling expensive.

Not all the water is bad. Some provincial cities have improved their water systems, and Environment Ministry officials say that 85 percent of the water coursing through municipal systems is potable. Consumers, however, don't know when they might sip the other 15 percent. Many Mexicans simply don't trust the government to deliver clean, pure water.

That's where multinational companies with bottled water divisions — such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, France's Groupe Danone and the Swiss giant Nestle — have found an opening.

"These companies tell people to have confidence in them rather than in the government," Campero said.

One can hardly turn on the television without seeing an ad of a lithe young woman in a sweatsuit sipping from a bottle of premium water or a woman in a bikini whose svelte physique seems due to the bottle of water in her hand.

"Drink 2 liters of water a day," the ads from Bonafont, a leading brand from Danone, say in block letters at the bottom of the screen. Another ad says: "Eliminate what your body doesn't need."

"The competition is very intense," said beverage analyst Ana Paula Pedroni of the IXE brokerage. "The trend is for more marketing."

On street corners, vendors hawk liter bottles of water. Restaurants don't offer tap water, insisting that diners buy bottled water. Primary school students must take money to buy bottled water from kiosks. One brand uses characters from Looney Toons to appeal to the student market.

"Most of my students carry bottles of water, and they drink a lot with this heat," said Rosas Landa, the university economist and water expert.

For big companies, the boom in bottled water consumption in developing countries such as Mexico, India, China and Indonesia has been a godsend, since consumers in Europe, a stronghold of bottled water, have rebelled against throwaway plastic bottles as harmful to the environment.

Not so in Mexico. Former President Vicente Fox, a longtime Coca-Cola executive, looked positively on rising soft drink and bottled water sales, seeing them as a driver of economic growth. Mexicans drink an average of 42.3 gallons of soft drinks per capita annually, surpassed only by U.S. consumers.

The growth of soft drink consumption is slowing in comparison with water, however.

"The sale of water has risen on the order of 8 percent, while soft drinks rose 2 percent," Pepsi Mexico President Juan Gallardo Thurlow announced in early April.

The Beverage Marketing Corp. in New York City says Mexico's bottled water market composes 13 percent of the world's total, and has grown at 8 percent for each of the past five years.

Consumer advocates say Mexicans' thirst could be quenched more easily and inexpensively if municipalities provided reliable drinking water.

"The state has contributed to these companies taking over the market and converting drinking water into a saleable product," said Alejandro Calvillo, the head of Power to the Consumer, a nonprofit Mexican advocacy group.

Calvillo's group estimates that the average Mexican family spends $140 a year on bottled water, much of it in 5-gallon plastic jugs that are commonly delivered to homes. The expense puts a heavy burden on low-income families, he added.

In impoverished neighborhoods in outlying Mexico City, scores of private water companies have popped up, offering large jugs of water for 10 pesos, or about 77 U.S. cents, a third of the price of water from the multinational companies. Such concerns face few inspections, giving consumers water of indeterminate quality.

Further, most Mexican consumers refuse to separate plastic products for recycling, and those who seek to recycle can struggle to find places that'll accept post-consumer plastic.

"The corporations make the consumers responsible for recycling," Rosas Landa said. "They produce the containers, but don't take responsibility for recycling the bottles."

A Houston-based recycling services company, Avangard Innovative Ltd., joined with a Mexican environmental services company last year to open a $35 million recycling plant in Toluca to handle PET, polyethylene terephthalate, the strong, light plastic that's resistant to heat and impermeable to carbonation, making it perfect for beverages.

Still, Calvillo said: "A large part of the PET bottles that are collected are sent to China for recycling." The Chinese plants grind PET bottles into fibers for use in carpeting and other consumer products to sell to countries such as Mexico.

Danone implicated in Indonesian spring depletion

2010-05-26T10:03:00.001-04:00

Bottled water firms should be held responsible: Wahli

Wahyoe Boediwardhana , The Jakarta Post, Malang, East Java
May 26, 2010

Deforestation on the slopes of Mt. Arjuna in Pasuruan regency has reached alarming levels and private companies benefiting from its natural resources need to take responsibility, says the Each Java branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

Purnawan Dwikora Negara, a Wahli coordinator in East Java, said that deforestation posed dangers to people living around the forest.

Data shows that of the 15,600 hectares of protected forest area, about 3,400 hectares are damaged and categorized as critical, in addition to another 402 hectares that were burned in 2009.

"What makes it alarming is the damaged forest has functioned as a water catchment area that supplies springs and underground water reserves," Purnawan said recently, adding that reforestation efforts by plating trees must be urgently pursued.

Private companies, such as bottled water companies, have also benefited from the springs and must be held responsible and pay compensation to the community, he said.

There are 14 bottled water companies operating at Mt. Arjuna, including PT Tirta Investama, with its product Danone Aqua. The company has been granted a concession that allows it to take water at a rate of 50 liters per second from the Pandaan water spring.

Around 1,500 truck tanks, each holding a capacity of 5,000 liters, carry water from the water springs in Mt. Arjuna to be sold to Surabaya, Sidoarjo, and Pasuruan.

While exploiting the water resources, the companies have criticized for their lack of environmental conservation. Several companies have implemented corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, but groups such as Wahli say the results have been minimal so far.

For Walhi, companies should be obliged to allocate 60 percent of its revenue for reforestation.

"Take it as an environmental fee because they get everything for free," Purnawan said.

However, the CSR manager for Danone Aqua in the East Java region, Arief Fatullah, denied suggestions his company was not giving back. He said they planted 30,000 seedlings from 2008-2009, which would be followed by another 50,000 this year.

"We are also implementing foster forest programs in a total area of 72 hectares. That's part of the Arjuna Mountain forest conservation," Arief said.

He said the company had spent Rp 2 billion on its CSR program in East Java, but Purnawan said the sum was not comparable to the company's huge revenue.

Speaking out against bottled water in Pakistan

2010-04-29T09:44:00.001-04:00

More than half of bottled water brands unfit for use

Thursday, April 29, 2010
By Shahid Husain

Karach

As many as 12 out of the 22 brands of bottled water sold in Pakistan were “unsafe for human consumption,” Naeem Sadiq, an activist of Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment (Shehri-CBE) said on Wednesday, while citing a 2004 report of the science and technology ministry’s Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).

During a lecture at the office of the Urban Resource Centre (URC), Sadiq said that these brands were found to be unsafe by none other than the government of Pakistan due to poor microbiological and chemical quality. Small wonder then, that on December 31, 2004, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was compelled to take a serious view of the report, he said, adding however, that sadly, one finds various unsafe brands of bottled water being marketed with impunity in the impoverished country.

On November 30, 2004, the Sindh High Court (SHC) also made history when it restrained an international water company from providing water in “Education City” at the Super Highway, Karachi, for American soldiers fighting the “war on terror” in Afghanistan, he said.

Had the SHC not done this, the Gadap aquifer would have been drained, affecting the lives and livelihood of the local population.

Sadiq said that as many as 200 billion bottles of water were produced across the world every year for a whopping $50billion business. One liter of bottled water in Pakistan costs 30 times more than the same amount of tap water, he added.

Bottled water means environmental degradation of the worst and involved the wastage of precious resources, Sadiq said. Around 200 billion plastic bottles are produced across the world every year and only 20 per cent of them are re-cycled, which is perhaps why the developed world, which is short of landfills, has found the developing world to be an ideal dumping ground of plastic waste, he said.

“Bottled water is one of the biggest scams of our time,” he said. Common folk and the elite alike are given the impression that bottled water was “pure” “safe” and “fresh” and has pristine labels — this, however, is a farce, Sadiq claimed.

Bottled water was first introduced in Pakistan in 1968, and amazingly, while the worldwide growth of bottled water was 24 per cent per annum; it was 40 per cent per annum in Pakistan, he said, adding that common folk were finding it increasingly difficult to get water in Pakistan.

Four factors push the demand for bottled water: exaggerated fear of tap water; seduction of mineral water bottles; corruption of the government; and the greed of the corporate sector, Sadiq said. The Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) has a foreign debt of Rs 42 billion and no donor is ready to help anymore, he said.

“The plain truth is that there is no water shortage in Karachi because it receives 695 million gallons every day,” Sadiq said, adding however, that a major chunk of this is lost due to theft, pilferage and faulty lines.

Coke's Chinese Greenwash

2010-04-28T09:46:00.000-04:00

Hurdler twists bottles for environment
April 28, 2010
China Daily - Hong Kong Edition

Star hurdler Liu Xiang's popularity and influence among sports fans earned him another special role on Monday in Shenzhen as he joined in an environment protection campaign as an ambassador.

The "I Twist for Green" campaign was launched by Coca-Cola's drinking water brand, ICE Dew, which features eco-friendly, lightweight bottles for consumers.

The bottles are specially designed so they can be easily twisted and compressed after consumption, thereby saving more than 70 percent of the space needed while the bottle makes its way to recycling.

"It's very interesting. The bottle shows us environmental protection can be really simple and fun," said Liu. "I have to drink a lot during training and the bottle gives me the chance to do something for environmental protection. Everyone should be part of it."

Liu revealed some good habits in daily life.

"I ride my bicycle from home to my training base. I have also told my family and friends to drive less. Besides, I also try to save water every day."

The Ice Dew lightweight bottle will be launched in Shenzhen, Xi'an, Xiamen, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other cities in May and then throughout the country.

The launch also comes in time for the Shanghai Expo and, with Coca-Cola as a sponsor and beverage partner, the lightweight bottle will be available to the expected 70 million visitors.

Pepsico's 'purity' claim challenged

2010-03-25T10:34:00.000-04:00

Pepsico's 'purity' claim challenged
March 24, 2010
Hindustan Times

New Delhi, March 24 -- Does the phrase "purity guaranteed" mislead you while purchasing packaged drinking water?

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) believes it does. The bureau has even moved the Supreme Court to restrain Pepsico from using the phrase on its packaged water under the brand, Aquafina.

BIS has challenged a Delhi High Court verdict that allows the multinational to print "purity guaranteed" on its packaged water bottles. Water is not a single homogenous unit like petrol or oil and cannot be termed as pure, BIS has argued in its appeal against High Court judgment, permitting use of the "objectionable expression".

BIS's appeal states that pure water would only be distilled water used in batteries, which is not fit for human consumption. Hence, the use of words such as "pure" and "purity guaranteed" on packaged drinking water is a misnomer.

Water sold in packaged form, says BIS, is derived from any source of potable water and is later subjected to treatments, such as decantation, filtration, aeration and other methods to meet the prescribed standards.

"It may be disinfected by means of chemical agents or physical methods to reduce the micro-organisms to a level that would not lead to contamination in the drinking water, but a level that does not compromise food safety or suitability," reads the BIS appeal.

It adds the multinational organizations in trade or commerce are duty bound to take precautions and safeguards to promote and protect the rights of human beings, including their health and safety.

"Restrictions on the use of trade marks to achieve the said objectives is fair and reasonable," says BIS.Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.

WORLDWIDE RELEASE – The Story of Bottled Water

2010-03-22T10:58:00.002-04:00

RELEASED TODAY! The Polaris Institute is proud to co-release the Story of Bottled Water – a 7 minute animated film exposing the truth about bottled water. Co-produced by the Story of Stuff Project, the Polaris Institute and other leading organizations, the film exposes the bottled water industry and makes the case for the public tap.

WATCH IT NOW

Take action now in 3 easy steps:

1. Watch the video online

2. Visit www.storyofbottledwater.org for additional resources and information

3. Send this email to 5 friends and encourage them to find out the real Story of Bottled Water

Thanks,

The Polaris Institute InsideTheBottle.org campaign team

Tony, Joe, Richard, Elly, Tanya, Daniel, and Cam

Thousands Mark Canadaʼs First Bottled Water Free Day

2010-03-11T13:20:00.001-05:00

For immediate release

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thousands Mark Canadaʼs First Bottled Water Free Day

OTTAWA ––Today, Canadians across the country are participating in Canadaʼs first Bottled Water Free Day. Organised by the Canadian Federation of Students, Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute, Bottled Water Free Day is intended to raise awareness about the negative impacts of bottled water.

“Across the country students are standing up against the wasteful bottled water industry,” said Noah Stewart, National Deputy Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “Tired of having to pay Coca Cola, Pepsi or Nestle for a drink of water weʼre calling on schools to ban the sale of bottled water and re-invest in water fountains.”

Highlights of Bottled Water Free Day include:

* Events on more than 60 university and college campuses across the country
* An announcement that Ryerson University will stop selling and distributing bottled
water
* The public release of documents, obtained through an Access to Information request,
showing that the CBC spent nearly $500,000 on bottled water between 2004 and
2008

“The success of Bottled Water Free Day shows the strength of the back-to-the-tap
movement,” says Elly Adeland, Water and Energy Campaigner for the Polaris Institute.
“Bottled Water sales in North America have plummeted and across the country Canadians are pledging to kick the bottle – clearly the tap is making a comeback.”
Bottled Water Free Day is taking place after years of escalating bottled water backlash in Canada. To date 76 municipalities, 4 municipal associations (including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities), 8 school boards, 5 university campuses and countless businesses have implemented restrictions on bottled water.

For a full list of events and endorsing organisations visit: www.bottledwaterfreeday.ca

- 30 -

For more information, please contact:
Noah Stewart, Canadian Federation of Students, (613) 232-7394
Elly Adeland, Polaris Institute (613) 237-1717 x104

Thousands of Canadians to Participate in Canada’s First Bottled Water Free Day on March 11th

2010-03-10T10:25:00.001-05:00

MEDIA ADVISORY

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Thousands of Canadians to Participate in Canada’s First Bottled Water Free Day on March 11th

OTTAWA – On Thursday March 11, Canadians from coast to coast will be participating in Canada’s first Bottled Water Free Day.

Highlights of Bottled Water Free Day include:

Announcements by Ryerson University regarding the sale of bottled water; events on more than 60 college and university campuses; the release of data on spending by the CBC on bottled water obtained through an Access to Information Request.

More than 70 organisations, institutions and municipalities including the Sierra Club of Canada, Canadian Labour Congress, City of Sudbury, and Durham Catholic District School Board have endorsed Bottled Water Free Day to date.

Bottled Water Free Day is organised by the Canadian Federation of Students, Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute.

For a full list of events and endorsing organisations visit: www.bottledwaterfreeday.ca

- 30 -

For more information, please contact:

Noah Stewart, Canadian Federation of Students, (613) 232-7394 dchair@cfs-fcee.ca

Elly Adeland, Polaris Institute (613) 237-1717 x104 elly@polarisinstitute.org

2010-02-08T09:48:00.002-05:00

Interesting article from Pakistan that discusses the health impacts of poor drinking water and the role of the bottled water industry.

Bottled Water Sector in Pakistan- What is Needed To Be Done?
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Qudrat Ullah

In Pakistan, the unchecked and more than needed population explosion has heightened the need to ensure uninterrupted access to improved drinking-water supply, especially in mega cities like Karachi and Lahore where traces of multiple deadly rudiments including the human feces are reported by laboratory reports. This shows height of criminal neglect exhibited by the civic bodies towards public right of safe drinking water. Provision of pure water to all the people by the government is not only a basic need and precondition for a healthy life but it is also a vital human right of all the people which mustn’t be ignored at any cost. The whole edifice of human life revolves round it.

Various improved water supply technologies have been developed by the modern world nations which included household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug-wells, protected springs and rainwater collections.

It is reported in the media many times that the global water shortage of affordable and safe drinking water is conspicuously visible in Pakistan with an estimated 44 percent of the total population is without any access to safe drinking water. This paucity of clean drinking water can be more visibly seen in rural areas where up to 90 percent of the inhabitants may lack such access. On the other side, only three percent of Pakistan’s sweet water resources are used for household purposes and drinking. As one warning of the high-scale of the drinking problem prevalent in our society and the public ignorance of it, it is anticipated that more than 2.5 lakh infant children die of diarrheal diseases every year. Results of five years National Water Quality Monitoring Programme which covers 23 major cities, 8 Rivers, 9 lakes and many reservoirs show widespread bacteriological contaminants in the drinking water. Chemical contaminants in drinking water such as arsenic, fluoride and nitrate are discovered at various locations. Arsenic contamination is found in southern Punjab and central Sindh. Contamination in drinking water is the major cause of many serious water borne diseases.

Water is accepted in Islamic teachings as an essential source of life; of which, everybody has the right to a fair share. According to a Hadith, it was stated by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) “Muslims have common share in three (things): grass, water and fire”. Moreover, the Holy Quran has also warned the human beings against unfair distribution of common goods and Islamic scholars concur that Islam forbids unfair assumptions, exploitation and uneven earnings of common goods like water.

It is pity that even in this era of 21st century, majority of the population is destined to use or drink from unkempt and polluted water system and due to that, various problems have arisen-increasing the number of terminal diseases like Hepatitis etc. For those who can afford to avoid this unclean drinking water, bottled water is the only solution. Therefore, many in Pakistan have turned to bottled water as an apt substitute to drinking unfiltered faucet water or contaminated water of other sources where there is no public drinking water service. Average person consumes just two liters of bottled water per annum in Pakistan, compared to four in India and 10 in China. While bottled water is an awfully classy alternative to safe drinking water problem; it has been reported many times in the media that it is not for all time fit for human health because intermittent testing of contaminants and sporadic inspection of processing plants show that not all bottled water plants are being run according to health and hygiene standards set forth by the U.N.

Bottled water, it may be noted, should not be taken as an appropriate replacement to a sufficient service of tap-water as due to the lack of it, hapless buyers are forced to use bottled water. During the past thirty years, use of bottled water is increasingly moved up the world over, as it has become a global phenomenon. Bottled water sector, despite its excessively high price compared to tap water, is measured as one of the powerful sectors of all the food and beverage trade as its consumption increases by an average of 12% every year. Government has termed the bottled water market, with 33 million liters of consumption per annum in 1999, as small but positively on the rise. It is envisaged that a bottle of 1.5 liters has a production cost of Rs. 12.51 only. In United States, bottled water costs between 0.25 dollar to 2 dollar per bottle, while tap water costs less than US$0.01. This shows high rate of return in this field.

In our country, there are approximately twenty to thirty companies engaged in this business. Official figures show an estimated number of 26 corporations, while in summer time, this number increases up to 70. But from the perspective of quality control, Pakistan Council of Renewal Water Resources is witnessing a fluctuation in the market of 50 percent, e.g. half of the brands disappear and are replaced by new brands every year. Recently, it is told to the Lahore High Court that out of a total of 64 bottled and mineral water manufacturing companies in Punjab, only 10 are working under valid licences.

For the interest of the common readers, it may be added here that MNCs engaged in bottled water business are very powerful in our country where there is little room for the rule of law. One case is particular to note; on December 31, 2004, the Supreme Court approved the decision of the Lahore High Court, which dismissed a Rs. 6.35 million Pakistan Railways contract that granted Classic Needs Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd exclusive rights to sell bottled water to Railway passengers during 2004/2005. Furthermore, the Court directed the Railways administration to revoke the present contract, invite fresh bids and award the contract of bottled water supply to a firm after examination of water by a credible laboratory. Classic Needs Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd is the exclusive distributor of Nestlé’s ‘Pure Life’ which is its own brand. The Supreme Court declared the bottled water being supplied to passengers unfit for consumption and injurious to health. The decision of the Supreme Court was based on two different reports. The report of Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR) declared that both companies were bottling clean and healthy water; but the second report submitted by National Health Centre Islamabad, disclosed that even though mineral water products by both companies were contaminated, Nestlé water had a ‘low risk’ factor while the Classic Needs water was ‘high risk’. The then Supreme Court Justices namely Khalilur Rehman Ramday and Falak Sher took serious view of the reports and observed that the firms were making the people consume poisonous water and taking advantage of rail passengers as particularly captive buyers, as no hygienic water was available at Platforms and inside trains. But nothing happened afterwards and even media is silent on the issue. Bottled water sector has great scope to expand but it’s also need to develop composite regulatory authority to keep a constant check on quality and price.

We are facing a serious water challenge as Pakistan’s water quality ranks at 80th out of 122 nations. As a consequence, Government has to spend about Rs. 20 billion annually on medication for water borne diseases. In fact, water sector is repeatedly ignored by successive governments and due to that, Pakistan is also rapidly losing its legitimate water share of Rivers under Indus Basin Treaty. Due to that, severe effects have started to appear in our society like depletion of water level in cities grounds, lack of water in canals and rapid drying of Rivers.

This situation shows that criminal neglect has been shown by the public sector in providing clean drinking water to the people and on the other hand, government is also neglecting its obligations towards implementing laws for a healthy society. If we want to emerge as healthy, vibrant and developed nation in 21st century, then we will have to implement laws in their true spirit as no democracy can flourish without the rule of law.

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/97271/bottled-water-sector-in-pakistan-what-is-needed-to-be-done.html

Danone sticks with Evian

2010-01-12T14:36:00.005-05:00

In early 2009, some industry analysts were calling for Danone to sell off its struggling bottled water brands due to a serious drop in sales in mature markets (ie, Western Europe, Canada and the United States). Fast forward one year, and Danone's bottled water sales in these markets are still down having been hit very hard by the bottled water backlash.

Reporting yesterday on Danone's, the Financial Times paints an optimistic picture of the company's bottled water division citing a slight increase in sales overall in the third quarter of 2009. The overall growth was made possible through sales of the company's water products in the Global South where bottled water sales are booming while they continue to drop in the United States.

Danone's experience of developing markets pulling up their bottled water bootstraps should be the norm for the other three big global bottled water producers Nestlé, Coca Cola and PepsiCo, who will most likely see some marginal growth in their water sectors based on growing sales in the Global South.

What this all means of course, is that that these multinational corporations will use their brands of privatized water to exploit the continued crisis of access to clean, potable and publicly delivered tap water in the new major bottled water markets like India, China and Mexico.

Danone plans to retain its water brands
Jenny Wiggins in London and Scheherazade Daneshkhu in Paris
January 11, 2010
Financial Times

Danone, the owner of the Evian and Volvic bottled water brands, plans to stick with its water business in developed markets amid calls to sell it as sales recover slowly from an environmental backlash.

A sharp drop in bottled water sales in developed markets in 2008 and early 2009 led some financial analysts to argue that Danone should sell its bottled water brands - which account for about 18 per cent of total company sales - and focus on yoghurts and baby foods.

But Franck Riboud, Danone's chief executive, is understood to be committed to bottled water in developed markets because it fits with the French group's strategy of owning products with health benefits.

Water will also play an important part in Danone's strategy of switching from sales growth to volume growth - a strategy other consumer goods companies such as Unilever are also pursuing as it becomes harder to push through price rises to retailers.

Danone, along with other big bottled water producers such as Nestlé (owner of the Vittel, Perrier and Poland Spring brands) and PepsiCo (owner of the Aquafina brand), was hit hard by an environmental backlash against water bottled in plastic last year in the US and Europe. Consumers ditched branded bottled water brands for private label brands, soft drinks and tap water.

However, companies have responded to consumers' concerns by using more recycled plastic in their bottles - Nestlé has been trialling a brand in the US called Re-Source made with 25 per cent recycled plastic - leading sales to recover in some markets.

After reporting quarterly declines in underlying water sales in late 2008 and the first half of 2009, Danone's third-quarter underlying water sales rose 4.6 per cent, while volumes jumped 9.8 per cent. Danone is expected to produce underlying water sales growth of about 3 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Although emerging markets such as Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico were the main drivers of growth, Danone's volumes have shown signs of structural recovery in west European markets such as France, Germany and the UK.

But in the US, where Evian competes with the Fiji brand in the premium end of the water category, Evian's sales volumes and sales revenues remain in sharp decline, according to specialist soft drinks newsletter Beverage Digest. Evian's volumes have dropped by 29 per cent this year, compared with a 10.5 per cent drop for Fiji and a 3 per cent drop for the overall water category.

Just over half of Danone's bottled water sales are in emerging markets.

Industry Targets Global South

2009-12-17T12:45:00.003-05:00

An article appearing in today's Times Online highlights how future growth for the bottled water industry lies in Asia. The article echoes what we at the Polaris Institute have been saying over the past few months that led by Coke, Pepsi, Danone and Nestlé, the industry will increase its exploitation of the desperate lack of potable publicly delivered Water in the Global South.

Asia is definitely a major growth area for the industry, but we would add that Latin America, in particular Mexico and Brazil, are also major targets for bottled water companies.

Asian middle classes’ thirst for bottled water will pull trigger on an Eastern blue gold rush

Leo Lewis, The Times, December 17, 2009 - The relentless rise of Asia’s middle classes is poised to create an explosion in the global market for bottled water that will see the world consuming more than 280 billion litres annually by 2012.

According to sustainability analysts, bottled water will establish a permanent presence on dining tables in emerging markets despite abrupt reversals in the US and Western Europe, where recessionary thriftiness and environmental concerns have begun to bite.

The expected growth surge, which will be driven in large part by China, India and the Middle East, is expected to trigger what some are already dubbing a blue gold rush as investment money chases different ways to play the bullish consumption forecasts and back whichever brand appears likely to become the “Perrier of the East”.

The recently published Global Bottled Water report by the consultancy Zenith International said that worldwide bottled water growth in 2008 had been 4.5 per cent and predicted another 18 per cent rise over the next three years. However, others judge these figures too conservative and believe growth rates will be more like 25 per cent over the same period.

Behind the more bullish forecasts are three features of the Chinese market that suggest its growing thirst for bottled water may be even more vigorous than the one that gripped the US and Europe from the late 1990s. The first is a recent United Nations survey of tap water in 11 Chinese provinces that found more than half of all water samples contained unacceptably high levels of bacteria.

Increasing water shortages are also expected to play a big role as households stock themselves with bottled water to overcome seasonal droughts.

The biggest driver, though, is expected to be wealth. A recent report by McKinsey explored the probable economic impact of a huge Chinese middle class demanding better living standards. Bottled water was a symbol of middle class luxury in the US and Europe, and China’s middle class is expected to comprise at least 350 million people by 2011.

Brokers said there were few “pure” ways for investors to play the bottled water story in emerging markets: Danone, Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Pepsico all have significant water businesses in developing countries but are too diverse to track accurately bottled water growth.

Some believe that the bottled water story most strongly favours Thailand’s Indorama Polymer — the company poised to become the world’s secondbiggest producer of plastic bottles.

Senior investment bankers in Asia said they were also gearing-up for several years’ worth of potential deal-making as mergers reshape the landscape and the “new Nestlés and Coca-Colas” emerge from Asia as dominant players. Consolidation is expected to be a theme in India particularly, where the market is expected to grow by 100 per cent over the next five years and there are currently more than 2,000 bottled water producers.

Analysts described as “striking” the suddenness with which consumers in Europe and the US were turning back to tap water. Simon Powell, head of sustainability research for CLSA, the brokerage, said that awareness campaigns about the carbon footprint of plastic bottles and internationally transported water have successfully been waged against bottled water in the West. The result, he said, was that “at the extreme end, you have got people sloganeering that drinking bottled water is the moral equivalent of smoking or driving a Hummer”.

Mr Powell said: “It is so striking how the EU and US consumer have abandoned bottled water. Two years ago, if you asked for tap water in a restaurant, you’d practically be shown the door. Now, it’s the done thing. As bottled water emerges as a growth area in the developing world, investors are constantly going to find themselves underestimating the fashions involved.”

Aquablue Exposed!

2009-12-11T11:23:00.002-05:00

Back in June, the Polaris Institute released a report about the plans of a little known bottled water company to start bottling water at an old Hershey chocolate factory in the town of Smiths Falls, Ontario. The report posed some serious questions about the company and the bottled water industry.

Given that Smiths Falls has recently suffered huge job losses due to the closure of the Hershey's plant and other facilities, one of the main concerns raised in the report was that by embracing a bottled water plant the town would be relying on a diminishing industry with limited ability to create jobs. Further research conducted over the past few months showed that the company had a limited track record in operating a business, highlighted the questionable business dealings of the company's CEO and president, and revealed that the plant had not actually been purchased by Aquablue. Based on this information, our fears that the people of Smiths Falls were being taken for a ride seemed to be coming true.

This brings us to last Friday, December 7th, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) aired a story about Aquablue that confirmed many of our concerns about whether or not this business would ever actually open. Since December 7th the CBC has produced 4 radio pieces, posted 4 news stories and aired two television reports that speak about many of our concerns with Aquablue.

Here are some highlights of what the CBC has uncovered:

"When Aquablue International...announced in June that it would take over the closed Hershey chocolate factory and create a business that would employ 200 people, it was like a light at the end of a long tunnel for the residents of Smiths Falls."
"'We're actively looking to secure all our financing, especially on the equipment side, placing an order for the equipment,' Villeneuve said.When asked whether he had all the financing, he said: 'No, not completely, not totally, yes.'"
"One local man — who didn't want to give his name — said no one he knows believed it would actually happen. 'They think it's just a phoney setup,' he said. 'They make a lot of promises, but nothing's coming out.'"
"several local companies have already worked removing old production lines and retrofitting the building. Between them, they are owed more than $360,000 for the work."
"Tom Ondrejicka, who left his position as Aquablue's former marketing director six months ago, said he's still owed $14,000 from the company and he doubts it will ever reopen the Smiths Falls plant. He estimated taking over the plant would cost close to $50 million. 'That money's not there,' he said."
The company's president, Dan Villeneuve, said there's still no lease-to-own agreement with Hershey for the factory, and Aquablue hasn't ordered any equipment, but the company is committed to opening the plant by next June.

To see the December 7th television news report click here
To listen to the December 10th radio expose click here

State bottled water expenditures exposed

2009-12-09T11:26:00.005-05:00

A new report from our friends at Corporate Accountability International in Boston exposes State spending on bottled water.

Read the report here

Read The Polaris Institute and CUPE Nova Scotia's 2009 report on the Canadian Government's expenditures on bottled water here

Read CAI's press release below:

Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Flow to Bottled Water

New Report Calls Such Spending Wasteful, Calls for Support of Public Water

Contact:
Nick Guroff, 617-784-4753

For Immediate Release: December 9, 2009

BOSTON, MA – States in the Northeast have set aside or spent between $228,874 and $527,107 a year for bottled water, according to a new report Getting States Off the Bottle released today by Corporate Accountability International. The states surveyed include four Northeastern states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Pennsylvania – all known for their high quality tap water.

The findings come as public water systems face a $24 billion annual shortfall, and during financial times where states can ill afford to be spending public dollars on such a non-essential use of an essential public resource.

“Not only is the spending patently wasteful at a time when states can not afford unnecessary expenses, but it broadcasts the absolute wrong message about our high quality tap water,” said Connecticut State Representative Richard Roy, Chair of the House Environmental Committee.

Roy is one of hundreds of public officials nationwide that are now calling for taxpayer dollars to cease flowing to bottled water. In 2008, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing more than 1200 mayors, passed a resolution encouraging mayors to phase out city spending on bottled water. To date, more than 100 cities have taken action to cut spending on bottled water or support public water systems as well as three states, including Illinois, Virginia and New York.

Governors and mayors are stewards of public water systems, responsible for overseeing budgets that provide the overwhelming majority of public funding for this essential public service. But the need for greater investment in these systems is growing rapidly, while public fundings for these systems languishes.

A major cause of the gap in funding has been the marketing and promotion of bottled water. Marketing campaigns, such as Nestlé’s Born Better, have convinced one in five people to believe the only place to get clean drinking water is from a bottle. And as public confidence in tap water has waned, so too has the political will to invest in public water.

“Swift action by governors to cut bottled water spending can be a strong first step in restoring public water systems and the public’s confidence in them,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International.

After all, up to forty percent of bottled water sold comes from the same source as tap water. Tap water is also more highly regulated than what comes in the bottle.

Public education campaigns like Think Outside the Bottle are, however, restoring confidence in public water systems. A recent Harris Poll found that 29 percent of people switched from bottled to tap water in the last year. An overall decline in the North American bottled water market reflects this shift in behavior and attitude toward the tap. However, state action is still lagging. While each state profiled in the report has taken some steps to allocate funding towards water infrastructure – such as dedicating funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to water systems – even these steps are a drop in the bucket compared to what will be needed to close the gap.

“During these tough economic times our states need to be thinking, ‘we should only spend scarce public dollars on projects that grow the economy at large not just the bottom line for a handful of private corporations,’” said Louaillier. “Investment in public water is, in this respect, one of the wisest investments we can make.”

According to a U.S. Conference of Mayors report, every dollar invested in public water generates more than six for the economy at large in the long term.

For the full report visit www.StopCorporateAbuse.org/GettingStatesOffTheBottle

Coca Cola under fire for water takings in India

2009-11-30T13:49:00.002-05:00

Local resistance movements in Mehdiganj in the state of Varanasi, India staged a protest today against Coca Cola's continued mining of groundwater for a bottling plant.

For more information see the article below or visit the India Resource Center's website.

Protest for closure of Coca Cola plant in Varanasi on Nov 30
Nvember 28, 2009
UNI (United News of India)

Varanasi, Nov. 28 -- Residents of Mehdiganj and adjacent villages will protest on November 30 to demand the closure of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the area. Talking to reporters here today, Nand Lal Mater, the convenor of Lok Samiti -- a national alliance of peoples' movements -- said the Coca Cola company was responsible for worsening the water conditions in the area. The water conditions were set to get worse as the impacts of climate change became real in Varanasi. He said the ground water levels in the Araziline block, where Coca Cola's bottling plant is located, fell by six metres in the first six years of its operations in the area. He said the ground water level at Coca-Cola bottling plant was the lowest in the area, according to Coca Cola itself. Mr Lal added this year the water conditions in the Araziline block were some of the worst impacted in the region.

The State Irrigation department has confirmed that the majority of the tubewells that went dry in the area were in the same block. He said there was no place for Coca-Cola in Mehdiganj. ''Coca Cola must shut down its bottling plant in the area to ease the impacts of climate change,'' he added. Residents of Mehdiganj and adjacent villages will protest on November 30 to demand the closure of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the area. Talking to reporters here today, Nand Lal Mater, the convenor of Lok Samiti -- a national alliance of peoples' movements -- said the Coca Cola company was responsible for worsening the water conditions in the area. The water conditions were set to get worse as the impacts of climate change became real in Varanasi. He said the ground water levels in the Araziline block, where Coca Cola's bottling plant is located, fell by six metres in the first six years of its operations in the area. He said the ground water level at Coca-Cola bottling plant was the lowest in the area, according to Coca Cola itself. Mr Lal added this year the water conditions in the Araziline block were some of the worst impacted in the region. The State Irrigation department has confirmed that the majority of the tubewells that went dry in the area were in the same block. He said there was no place for Coca-Cola in Mehdiganj. ''Coca Cola must shut down its bottling plant in the area to ease the impacts of climate change,'' he added.Published by HT Syndication with permission from United News of India. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Nestlé Waters lays off workers in France

2009-11-24T14:00:00.002-05:00

Dealing with a 30% drop in production since 2006 at its bottled water plant in Vittel, France, Nestlé is taking steps to shed a further 250 employees from the plant. These layoffs, or voluntary retirements, are further indication that the company's bottled water division is in trouble in Europe.

Dropping sales across Europe as well as in Canada and the United States are resulting in lower production and unfortunately, layoffs. It is difficult to reconcile job losses wherever they occur, however, job losses in the bottled water sector are indicative just how important it is for governments to start emphasizing green jobs solutions.

People will continue to turn away from bottled water and other products that are bad for the environment. An unfortunate consequence of this will be the loss of jobs in these sectors. With many of the West's public water systems crumbling, there could be many employment opportunities for these workers if our governments had the will to reinvest in our public water systems.

Nestle Waters Vosges new voluntary departure plan to affect 250 jobs
November 24, 2009
French News Digest

(ADPnews) - Nov 24, 2009 - Nestlé Waters Vosges, the French arm of Swiss water bottling company Nestle Waters, told on Monday the works council that it would launch a voluntary departure plan, involving 250 people

The new plan, which will run over a two-year period, follows a previous one for the period 2008 to 2011, which envisaged 350 voluntary departures. The company said that decision was due to the decline of the bottled water market. No lay-offs are planned.

Nestle Waters Vosges markets mineral waters under the brand Vittel and Contrex.

The output of the Vosges region site, in northeastern France, has been falling since 2006, to the current 1.2 billion bottles from 1.6 billion bottles.

Nestlé is trying to buy back customers with new tv ads

2009-11-20T12:55:00.004-05:00

Last week Nestlé launched a series of television advertisements for their 'spring water' brands of bottled water in the United States. The advertisments come at a time when the company is trying desperately to stop the slide in sales of their bottled water products in Canada and the United States. In addition, the company is trying to counter sustained resistance from local communities where they take and bottle water.

These advertisments are an obvious ploy by Nestlé to influence the public image of their products and increase flagging sales.

Watch a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLZnaUYsyG4

Nestlé's press release:

Nestlé Waters North America Launches “Born Better” Marketing Campaign To Help Consumers Learn About What Makes Nestlé Waters’ Regional Spring Water Brands So Unique

GREENWICH, Conn.-- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Nestlé Waters North America’s regional spring water brands division is launching an integrated marketing campaign called “Born Better™.” The campaign shows people the small fraction of the Earth’s water that is unique enough to become one of the six regional brands for Nestle Waters’ family of 100% natural spring waters. The TV commercial celebrates where this unique water comes from, taking viewers on a journey to demonstrate how water that travels beneath the Earth where the water is naturally filtered, collects a distinct blend of minerals, and emerges as 100% natural spring water.

“Only one-billionth of one percent (of the water on Earth) is filtered naturally beneath the earth... with a distinct balance of minerals... and emerges crisp and refreshing enough to be called Poland Spring,” the TV spot’s narrator says. This selective process yields Nestlé Waters’ regional spring brands’ quality, great tasting, 100% natural spring water. The commercial, which debuted on November 2, 2009, concludes by showing footage of one of Poland Spring’s spring sources in Maine.

The campaign, which will include TV, online, print and radio, reinforces that all of the Nestlé Waters’ regional 100% natural spring water brands -- Arrowhead®, Deer Park®, Ice Mountain®, Ozarka®, Poland Spring® and Zephyrhills® -- have special origins, are naturally filtered beneath the earth, contain a distinct blend of natural minerals that impart a unique taste and are of high quality. The campaign rolls out to Arrowhead and Deer Park markets on November 9, 2009 and extends across the remaining brands’ markets in 2010.

To select its spring sources, Nestlé Waters’ natural resource managers, trained hydrologists, geologists and engineers analyze the spring, the surrounding land, soil, wildlife, as well as the water’s chemistry and how the water is replenished. Each source is managed and monitored for long-term quality and viability to help ensure the sources remain stable and abundant and the environment is sustainable. We preserve more than 14,000 acres around our U.S. spring sources, protecting the water’s quality, local watersheds, habitats and nature’s open spaces. It’s good for our 100% natural spring water and the environment.

“Our natural spring water is special. It’s a gift from nature. We work really hard to find it, and really hard to manage it,” says Tom Brennan, one of eleven natural resource managers for Nestlé Waters North America. “We’re proud to help bring it to the public to drink.”

About Nestlé Waters North America

Central to the leadership of Nestlé Waters North America Inc. is its 33-year history and single-focus on producing bottled water products. The company’s dedication to product quality, manufacturing expertise, efficient production, employee development and environmental stewardship, especially in the areas of water use, energy and packaging, has helped Nestlé Waters become the number one bottled water company in the U.S. To reach success, the company follows its credo: Respect for each other, respect for the environment, and respect for the community. To learn more, visit www.nestlewatersnorthamerica.com.

For Nestlé Waters North America
Erik Dawson, 617-939-8419
edawson@coneinc.com

PepsiCo targets India

2009-11-13T12:54:00.003-05:00

The Delhi based Economic Times reports today that PepsiCo's 3-day meeting of the company's Board of Directors in Mumbai, discussed, among other items, increasing the presence of the company's bottled water brands in the country. PepsiCo announced earlier this year that it will double investments in its Indian beverage business in 2009. The company’s Indian beverage investments will now total $220 million.

This is not surprising given that India is being touted as one of the fastest growing bottled water markets in the world. Company's like PepsiCo, Nestlé, Coca Cola and Danone are jumping at the opportunity to exploit India's growing middle class and the reality of poor public water infrastructure.

This is good news for PepsiCo shareholders, but for the communities in India where there is no public water infrastructure, more expensive bottled water brands will do nothing to create access to something that is a fundamental human right. On the contrary, once people are forced to pay for their drinking water, the commodification and privatization of water becomes a deadly bygone conclusion.

Pepsi to fizz up image with corporate social responsibility

November 12, 2009, The Economic Times - MUMBAI: PepsiCo on Wednesday discussed plans to widen its product portfolio in India and build the brand's image around corporate social responsibility at the $43-billion beverages and snacks foods multinational's first global board meeting in India, an official familiar with the matter said.

The three-day global board meet is being attended by PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi, International CEO Michael D White and 11 independent directors including Novartis AGchairman & CEO Daniel Vasella and Colgate-Palmolive president & CEO Ian M Cook.

The board of directors also discussed increasing the beverages maker's presence actively in the country's health and wellness portfolio, especially in the packaged water category, said the official requesting anonymity.

The meeting is seen as an indication of the importance of India in PepsiCo's global space, officials said. The only other time the company board met outside was five years ago, in Mexico.

The meet in India is believed to be the brainchild of Ms Nooyi. "We want to show them (PepsiCo board members) the glory of India and the issues in India so that we propose solutions," PepsiCo's India-born chairman and CEO had said at a meeting organised by the United States-India Business Council (USIBC) and CII on Tuesday.

India has been identified as one of the top three markets for PepsiCo, which came into the country almost 20 years ago, she had said. The board will use the Mumbai meet to learn more about the Indian market place, the firm's business strategies here and the progress it's making in environmental, human and talent sustainability, the company said in an official statement.

"They also will take an in-depth look at how our business and product lines are evolving to address the varied and changing needs of Indian consumers," the PepsiCo India release said.

PepsiCo allocated 'region' status to the Indian operations in 2008, which meant more room for decision-making and higher resource allocation. In January this year, it integrated beverages and snacks businesses in the country under a common leadership, in line with Ms Nooyi's 'power of one' strategy followed in many world markets.

The company has already announced investments of Rs 1,000 crore ($220 million) in its beverages business this calendar to step up manufacturing capacity, market infrastructure, supply chain, product innovations and research & development.

The investment, PepsiCo India's biggest in a single year in the beverages arm, is part of the company's $500-million investment allocated for India over three years.

Pepsi has invested $1 billion in India so far. It has 41 bottling plants in the country, of which its franchisee bottling partner Jaipuria Group owns 28. The Indian subsidiary recorded an all-time high volume growth of 33-35% last year at a time when its parent was grappling with falling sales.

Welcome to our Blog

2009-11-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

The Inside the Bottle Blog is designed to provide insight, news, and analysis on the global bottled water industry and the growing backlash against this environmentally harmful product.

Watch this space for regular updates from the Polaris Institute's team which is engaged in confronting the bottled water industry.