INDEX

Sr.No TITLE Page No.

01 Introduction

02 How Is Bottled Water Different From Tap Water

03 Types Of Bottled Water

04 Bottled Water Industry in India

05 New Development in Bottled Water Industry

06 Introduction of Bisleri

07 Growth In Bottled Water Industries

08 SWOT Analysis

09 Bisleri Today

10 Marketing Mix

11 Case Study

12 Conclusion

13 Research Design and Methodology

14 Bibliography

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

I NTRODUCTION

Water is the most important necessity for life. The drinking-water needs for individuals vary depending on the climate, physical activity and the body culture. But for average consumers it is estimated to be about two to four litres per day. The growing number of cases of water borne diseases, increasing water pollution, increasing urbanization, increasing scarcity of pure and safe water etc. has made the bottled water business just like other consumer items. Scarcity of potable and wholesome water at railway stations, tourist’s spots, and role of tourism corp. etc. has also added to the growth. Indians currently spending about $330m a year on bottled water, analysts estimate. The packaged water market constitutes 15 per cent of the overall packaged beverage industry, which has annual sales of at least $2.6bn, Deepak Jolly, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola India said. Naveen Luthra, CEO,Mulshi Springs says," the bottled water market in India, selling an estimated million bottles a day, makes the natural bottled water market a mere 6% of the total bottled water market in India. The natural bottled water market is growing at a phenomenal 40-50% a year".

Almost all the major international and national brands water bottles are available in Indian market right from the malls to railway stations, bus stations, grocery stores and even at panwala's shop. Before few years bottle water was considered as the rich people's choice, but now it is penetrated even in rural areas. The growth and status of Indian Bottled Industry in comparison with Western or Asian market, India is far behind in terms of quantum, infrastructure, professionalism and standards implementation. The per capita consumption of mineral water in India is a mere 0.5-liter compared to 111 liter in Europe and 45-liter in USA. Also As per UN study conducted in 122 countries, in connection with water quality, India's number was dismal 120. In comparison to global standards India's bottled water segment is largely unregulated.

Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has urged youngsters on July 17, 2010 to be aware of water conservation techniques to avoid grave water crisis in future.’ “It is so sad that today, people are forced to buy water in plastic bottles. I am told that bottled water industry is worth nearly 10000 crore rupees and

even big companies like the Coke and Pepsi are involved in this bottling of water and making money. So, it is imperative that we ought to save water," he added. Do not be surprise if today's bottles water industry becomes next Oil industry by 2025.

If oil is the focal point of world conflict now, it is possible that water will be the next battleground among monopoly capitalists and even among nations. Prices of water and water services keep on increasing because most of our public water utilities have already been privatized by the government.

Private beverage and water companies have been granted by the government with permits to practically control and operate our natural springs and water sources in natural parks and protected areas for water production and processing plants.

The bottled water category is growing at a rapid pace. The branded ‘market is 40 % of the category and non- branded contributes to 60% of the market. The category is growing at a rate of 30%. Bisleri is the market leader in mineral water in India with a 60% market share within organized mineral water category. Three key players mainly dominate the Indian Bottled Water Market Parle Bisleri, Coca Cola India Inc. Kinley and PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Limited. This market is expected to grow at a 30% rate in the next 7 years. In 2010 the revenue generated by this market was over $250 million.

CHAPTER 2

HOW IS BOTTLED WATER DIFFERENT FROM TAP WATER

How Is Bottle Water Different From Tap Water?

Consistent quality and taste are two of the principal differences between bottled water and tap water. While bottled water originates from protected sources - largely from underground aquifers and springs - tap water comes mostly from rivers and lakes.

Another factor to consider is the distance tap water must travel and what it goes through before it reaches the tap. In compliance with international regulations, bottled water is sealed and packaged in sanitary containers. If a bottled water product is found to be substandard, it can be recalled. This can’t happen in case of tap water.

According to regulations in the US, when bottled water is sourced from a community water system the product label must state so clearly. However, if the water is subject to distillation, de ionization or reverse osmosis, it can be categorized that way, and does not have to state on its label that it is from a community water system or from a municipal source.

Processing methods such as reverse osmosis remove most chemical and microbiological contaminants

Competition

The bottled water industry has two other industries as its biggest competitors in from of Water purifiers industry and the soft drinks industry. Though the water purifier industry should be credited to have done the spadework, for setting up the foundation of bottled water industry but still it acts as competitors especially in the household and institutional consumption market. So the water purifier is a strong competitor in household and institutional market the soft drinks market is a strong rather very strong competitor in the retail consumption market. Bottled water became a product in the West during the 1920’s and developed rapidly.

Huge market size, numerous local brands and controlled price mechanism are some of the features of the market there. Consumers in the West are quality conscious and display brand loyalty. Indian consumers lack on both the counts.

In Asia, Indonesia is the largest and the oldest market for bottled water. In India, bottled water is still not perceived as a product for masses though; the scene is changing slowly thanks to low pricing and aggressive marketing strategy adopted by new entrants. Some surveys show that truck drivers on highways form a major chunk of bottled water drinkers. Penetration in rural areas is another significant factor that is likely to play a key role in the development of the bottled water trade.

In comparison to global standards India’s bottled water segment is largely unregulated. Safe water is rated with a different yardstick in different countries. In India, the aspect has been overlooked for long. Indian consumers tend to believe that any bottled water is safe water. This may not be the case.

CHAPTER 3

TYPES OF BOTTLED WATER

TYPES OF BOTTLED WATER

There are several different varieties of bottled water. The product may be labeled as bottled water, drinking water or any of the following terms.

Artesian Well Water: Bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer (a water bearing underground layer of rock or sand) in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer.

Drinking Water: Drinking water is another name for bottled water. Accordingly drinking water is water that is sold for human consumption in sanitary containers and contains no added sweeteners or chemical additives (other than flavors, extracts or essences). It must be calorie-free and sugar- free, Flavors, extracts or essences may be added to drinking water, but they must comprise less than one-percent- by –weight of the final product or the product will be considered a soft drink.

Mineral Water: Bottled water containing not less than 250 parts per million total dissolved solids may be labeled as mineral water. Mineral water is distinguished from other types of bottled water by its constant level and relative proportions of mineral and trace elements at the point of emergence from the source. No mineral can be added to this product.

Purified Water: Water that has been produced by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other suitable process can be labeled as purified bottled water. Other suitable product names for bottled water treated by one of the above processes may include “distilled water” if it is produced by distillation, “de-ionized water” if the water is produced by deionization, or “reverse osmosis water” if the process used is reverse osmosis.

Sparkling Water: Water that after treatment and possible replacement with carbon dioxide contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had at emergence from the source.

Spring Water: Bottled water derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth.

Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation finding the spring.

Well Water: Bottled water from a hole bored drilled or otherwise constructed in the ground, which taps the water of an aquifer.

CHAPTER 4

BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY IN INDIA

BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The overall packaged bottled water in India is estimated to touch the Rs 10,000 crore mark in the 2012-13 fiscal, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19%, says a new report by Ikon Marketing Consultants. Presently, this market is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore, and could touch Rs15,000 crore by 2015, the report adds. While Bisleri continues as the top brand with a 36% share among national players, Coca-Cola's Kinley follows with 25% share, followed by Aquafina at 15%. Other smaller brands include Parle Argo’s Bailey, Kingfisher and McDowell’s No. 1, according to the report. The global bottled water market, which saw an increase of 40-45% over the past five years, is currently valued at close to US$ 85-90 billion, the report adds.

The domestic market is split between three sets of players -- national brands with a pan India presence worth around Rs 4,000 crore, local brands manufactured by registered plants but restricted to regions estimated to have a combined turnover of Rs 2,400 crore and unorganized local brands estimated at Rs 1,600 crore. The report estimates that there are over 2,500 brands in this category, of which over three-fourths are local.

The non-traditional category, or bulk packs, (with over 5 litre capacity) is growing rapidly, and has a current share of over 40% share. "The rising trend of bulk water consumption in homes and institutional segments will pave the way for bulk water packs to acquire half of the total bottled water market within next four-five years," the report adds. According to a national-level study, making bottled water is today a cottage industry in the country. Leave alone the metros, where a bottled-water manufacturer can be found even in a one-room shop, in every medium and small city and even rural areas there are bottled water manufacturers

. While India ranks in the top 10 largest bottled water consumers in the world, its per capita per annum consumption of bottled water is estimated to be five litres which is comparatively lower than the global average of 24 litres. Today it is one of India's fastest growing industrial sectors. Between 1999 and 2004, the Indian bottled water market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of

25 per cent - the highest in the world. The total annual bottled water consumption in India had tripled to 5 billion liters in 2004 from 1.5 billion liters in 1999. Global consumption of bottled water was nearing 200 billion liters in 2006.

Bottled Water Top Players in India

The market leader is Bisleri International, which boasts a 40 per cent share. It is followed by Coca- Coca’s Kinley (around 25 per cent) and PepsiCo’s Aquafina (around 10 per cent). The top players in bottled water industry in India are the major international giants like Coca cola, Pepsi, Nestle and noticeable presence of national players like Mount Everest, Manikchand, Kingfisher, Mohan Meakins, SKN Breweries , Indian Railways so on. With increasing competition, this sector will register a robust growth in 2010, predict industry analysts. To take on rivals in this sector, PepsiCo India is drawing up a fresh game plan which includes investment in capacity enhancement, packaging initiatives and below-the-line activities to pump up volumes in the over-crowded category. Meanwhile, swadeshi major Parle Agro is extending the manufacturing facility for Bailley from 29 to 60 plants this year. While swadeshi major Bisleri International is beefing up its distribution, manufacturing and marketing operations, Coca-Cola India is sharpening its focus on packaging initiatives of Kinley to woo new consumes. In essence, the packaged water industry in India will soon witness a major tussle between swadeshi and videshi players to gain market and mind share.

The western region accounts for 40 per cent of the market and the eastern region just 10. However, the bottling plants are concentrated in the southern region - of the approximately 1,200 bottling water plants in India, 600 are in Tamil Nadu. But a major problem is southern India, especially Tamil Nadu, is water starved.

Top multinational players such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been trying for the past decade to capture the Indian bottled water market. Today they have captured a significant portion of it. However, Parle Bisleri continues to hold 40 per cent of the market share. Kinley and Aquafina are fast catching up, with

Kinley holding 20-25 per cent of the market and Aquafina approximately 10 per cent. The rest, including the smaller players, have 20-25 % of the market share.

History of Bottled Water in India

Bisleri

Mineral bottled water in India under the name 'Bisleri' was first introduced in Mumbai by Bisleri Ltd., a company of Italian origin in 1965. Mineral bottled water were in glass bottles in two varieties - bubbly and still in 1965 This company was started by Signor Felice who first brought the idea of selling bottled water in India.

Parle

Parle bought over Bisleri (India) Ltd. In 1969 and started bottling Mineral water in glass bottles under the brand name 'Bisleri'. Later Parle switched over to PVC non- returnable bottles and finally advanced to PET containers. Since 1995 Mr.Ramesh J. Chauhan has started expanding Bisleri operations substantially and the turnover has multiplied more than 20 times over a period of 10 years and the average growth rate has been around 40% over this period. Presently it have 8 plants and 11 franchisees all over India. Bisleri command a 60% market share of the organized market.

Bailley

Currently, Bailley has a national presence in 5 lakh retail outlets across the country. “We plan to increase manufacturing plants for Bailley from 29 to 60, presently 40 plants are operational and few more will be ready for operations over the next few months,” informed Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director of Parle Agro.

Variety of packagesBottled water is sold in a variety of packages: pouches and glasses, 330 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, one- litre bottles and even 20- to 50-litre bulk water

packs. The formal bottled water business in India can be divided broadly into three segments in terms of cost: premium natural mineral water, natural mineral water and packaged drinking water. Premium natural mineral water includes brands such as Evian, San Pelligrino and Perrier, which are imported and priced between Rs.80 and Rs.110 a litre. Natural mineral water, with brands such as Himalayan and Catch, is priced around Rs.20 a litre. Packaged drinking water,

which is nothing but treated water, is the biggest segment and includes brands such as Parle, Bisleri, Coca-Cola's Kinley and PepsiCo's Aquafina. They are priced in the range of Rs.10-12 a litre. The FDA also classifies some bottled water according to its origin. Artesian well water Water from a well that taps an aquifer--layers of porous rock, sand and earth that contain water--which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay. Mineral water. Water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.Spring water Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earth's surface. Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must havethe same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.Well water. Water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.Tap Water Some bottled water also comes from municipal sources--in other words--the tap. Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled

Why Bottled water?Millions of people, both in rural and urban India, suffer from inadequate or no tap water supply. Even some parts of Mumbai, the country's financial capital,

get a mere two hours of daily water supply. The city's Virar suburb gets 45 minutes. So bottled water is much in demand by residents - even though the businesses profiting from the sales are thriving from access to public water sources. Bottled water fills a void created by government failure to address basic services, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute writes in its World Water report. "In many parts of the world, tap water is not available or safe to drink," writes . "In these regions, the failure of governments to provide basic water services has opened the door to private companies and vendors filling a critical need, albeit at a very high cost to consumers." The institute reasons that governments should tap into spending on commercial water by consumers to secure funds to provide safe water at fraction of the cost. Bottled water has been treated by distillation, reverse osmosis, or other suitable process and that meets the definition of "purified water". The bottled water treatments include: * Distillation. In this process, water is turned into a vapor. Since minerals are too heavy to vaporize, they are left behind, and the vapors are condensed into water again.* Reverse osmosis. Water is forced through membranes to remove minerals in the water.* Absolute 1 micron filtration. Water flows through filters that remove particles larger than one micron in size, such as "Cryptosporidium", a parasitic protozoan.* Ozonation. Bottlers of all types of waters typically use ozone gas, an antimicrobial agent, to disinfect the water instead of chlorine, since chlorine can leave residual taste and odor to the water.

Bottled Water: How Safe?The bottled water industry has spent billions over the past decade to sell you on the idea that bottled water is better than tap water. Well the short answer is they are both unhealthy. One of the most ironic parts of the bottled water tragedy is that the water bottling industry gets the water free, filters it, bottles it and sells it back to us at 1,900% profit. The ironic part is that tap water is legislated to be 7.0 pH neutral. They first dump a TON of cholrine in the water to kill off all the bad bacteria, this makes it highly acidic.In India around 100 companies sell an estimated 424 million litres of bottled water valued at around Rs 200 crore in the country annually. Most bottlers claim that their water is 100 per cent bacteria-free, safe, tastier and healthier.

But is the water in these bottles really safe to drink? Do they conform to international or national standards?

Water resources over-exploited The majority of the bottling plants are dependent on groundwater. They create huge water stress in the areas where they operate because groundwater is also the main source - in most places the only source - of drinking water in India. This has created huge conflict between the community and the bottling plants. Private companies in India can siphon out, exhaust and export groundwater free because the groundwater law in the country is archaic and not in tune with the realities of modern capitalist societies. The existing law says that "the person who owns the land owns the groundwater beneath". This means that, theoretically, a person can buy one square metre of land and take all the groundwater of the surrounding areas and the law of land cannot object to it. This law is the core of the conflict between the community and the companies as they are making the business of bottled water in the country highly lucrative. Take for instance the case of Coca-Cola's bottling plant in drought-prone Kala Dera near Jaipur. Coca-Cola gets its water free except for a tiny cess (for discharging the wastewater) it pays to the State Pollution Control Board - a little over Rs.5,000 a year during 2000-02 and Rs.24,246 in 2003. It extracts half a million litres of water every day - at a cost of 14 paise per 1,000 litres. So, a Rs.10 per litre Kinley water has a raw material cost of just 0.02-0.03 paise. (It takes about two to three litres of groundwater to make one litre of bottled water.) On April 7, more than 1,500 villagers defied a police cordon and marched to Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Mehdiganj village, Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh state, demanding that the company immediately shut down its bottling plant. In January, the New Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) advised Coca-Cola to shut a bottling plant in the drought-stricken state of Rajasthan. India's Ministry of Water Resources has ranked 80% of ground water resources in Rajasthan as "over- exploited" and nearly 34% resources as "dark/ critical", the gravest ranking across the country.

Bottled water companies earn high profitsWhat is amazing is that people are prepared to pay Rs. 12 for a liter of water-in India especially when the cost of material input (0.25 paisa per liter excluding

labors cost) pales into insignificance before the price of the product. Up to 40% of bottled water comes from the same source as tap water, but is sold back to consumers at hundreds of times the cost, says the website of the North American "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign. Not only the Coca-Cola but there are thousands of brands in India's $445 million packaged water industry. Not just bottlers are involved. In south India, thousands of fuel trucks converted to be water carriers sell ground water to households and establishments at about $10 for 5,000 liters. More than 13,000 tankers carry water drawn from farmland surrounding Chennai, according a social activist R Srinivasan. He estimates a $148 million tanker industry is cashing in on Chennai's acute water scarcity. The story is replicated across India, including in New Delhi.

Plastic Bottles Pollution Tap water is a local product that needs no packaging. Globally, bottled water accounts for as many as 1.5 million tons of plastic waste annually, according to the Sierra Club. In addition, billions of bottles end up in the ground every year. Sadly, only 20% ever get recycled, according to the Container Recycling Institute. The other 80%, besides landfills, many bottles end up in oceans, posing a risk to marine life. By purchasing bottled water, you’re indirectly raising the price of gasoline and contributing to Global Warming and climate change.

In 2007, the manufacturers of plastic water bottles generated more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, according to the Pacific Institute. Americans drank more than 30 billion single-serving bottles of water last year. Yet the vast majority of us have an unlimited source of clean, EPA-regulated tap water flowing from our faucets.

Plastic Bottles requires costly Oil Making the plastic in the bottles requires 47 million gallons of oil annually. And that doesn’t include the jet fuel and gasoline required to transport the bottles- sometimes halfway around the world.

The anti-bottling protests The anti-bottling protests in India against Pepsi and Coca-Cola echo increased concern in Europe and the United States over the proliferation of bottled water, including the creation of billions of soon unwanted plastic containers. In India,

protests against the bottling plant in drought-prone Kala Dera near Jaipur focus on the source of the packagedwater and how bottling companies are grabbing underground water. The truth is, many water companies get their water from sources in developing countries, such as India and Fiji. In those places, the companies take water that once belonged to an entire village and buy it for themselves, forcing the villagers to pay for water that they used to be able to use as a community, free of charge.

On February 25, 2011 the Indian state of Kerala has passed a bill allowing compensation claims against soft drink giant Coca-Cola over alleged environmental damage caused by a bottling plant. The legislation adopted by the state assembly on Thursday creates a tribunal empowered to process claims for alleged losses resulting from violations of environmental regulations. The Palakkad bottling factory in Kerala was closed in 2005 after protests from activists and residents. A high-level state panel concluded last year that the plant had caused environmental and soil degradation as well as water contamination, and recommended a fine of 47 million dollars. Coca-Cola denied all the allegations.

Pro-tap water consciousnessThe London Evening Standard newspaper ran a "Water on Tap" campaign in April to have tap water available for drinking in city restaurants and bars. The tabloid reported getting support for its anti-packaged water campaign from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the mayor's office, leading restaurants and chains such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee and McDonald's. Following growing pro-tap water consciousness, bottled water sales in Britain dipped 9% in the year to March 08. Economists at the California-based Pacific Institute that estimated the $100 billion value of the global industry, ask why consumers are readily paying for bottled water typically costing a thousand times more per liter than high-quality municipal tap water. "Are consumers willing to pay this price because they believe that bottled water is safer than tap water?" Pacific Institute experts ask. "Do they have a real taste preference for bottled water? Or is the convenience of the portable plastic bottle the major factor?

Are they taken in by the images portrayed in commercials and on the bottles?" The study, conducted by the US-based Earth Policy Institute, says the global consumption of bottled water has grown by 57 per cent over the past five years,

despite the fact that the product is often no healthier than tap water and costs up to 10,000 times more. Emily Arnold, the author of report, says that the $100 billion spent each year on bottled water is nearly 7 times the sum invested in providing safe drinking water in developing countries.

Bottled Water law in IndiaThe term "mineral water" is misleading because our laws do not stipulate the minimum mineral content level required for water to be labelled as such. Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), an independent non-profit institution with a sophisticated product-testing laboratory, recently carried out a detailed study on 13 major brands of bottled water available in the country. As many as 10 of the 13 brands had foreign floating objects in clear violation of norms found in the survey. The CERS study indicates that there is an urgent need to revise standards for bottled water.

Health Issue-Purity of bottled waterCity water systems must issue “right to know” reports about what’s in the water. Bottlers successfully killed this requirement for bottled water. Up to 70% of bottled water is unregulated by the Food & Drug Administration. Acceptance of the supposed purity of bottled water is being undermined in India by the government Health Department's warning of pesticides and contaminating organisms being present in some bottled products. The notion that commercial products taste better has also taken a knock from Decanter, a British magazine, which last December featured top wine tasters testing unmarked samples of water from 22 brands, along with tap water from utility company Thames Water and water from the Decanter office water cooler.

The Decanter panel ranked serviced tap water third in the list, above the world's leading brand, Evian (15th), and the world's most expensive bottled water 420 Volcanic (18th) and Bling H20 (22nd out of 24 brands tasted). 420 Volcanic sells at $99 a liter, and Bling H20 (in Swarovski crystal-studded bottles) at $79 a liter. Decanter editor Guy Woodward said the tasting test exposed the "outrageous" prices of mineral water.

Traditional Indian methods of cooling and purifying waterNow people of India turning their backs on the country's ancient methods of cooling and purifying water. Stored in earthen pots, for instance, it is not only

refreshingly cool and tasty but is said to become bacteria-free. Yet the common summer sight of water matkas (earthen pots) in public offices and spaces is giving way to upturned plastic drums dispensing packaged water.

Rainwater is safe, doesn’t bring about adverse effects.For centuries people have thought rainwater as unsafe, but contrary to their beliefs, as per an Australian study, drinking of untreated rainwater is safe for human health. The study was conducted under the auspices of eminent researchers from Melbourne’s Monash University. The entire team took a look at 300 homes that used rainwater collected in water tanks as their primary drinking source.This endeavor has been described as a world first study that comes in the midst of growing criticism of bottled water.

CHAPTER 5

NEW DEVELOPMENT IN BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY

NEW DEVELOPMENT IN BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY

November 15, 2012: Anand Shah’s Sarvajal came with the invention of the Water ATM.

October 19, 2012: Lady Gaga to launch water brand.

October 15, 2012: Amity scientists develop low cost, pocket friendly and reusable water purifier using Silver Nano particles.

October 12, 2012: The stock of Tata Global Beverages has appreciated 26 per cent in the last three weeks hitting a new high of Rs 163.30 today.

September 16, 2012: Coca-Cola to re-align India, SWA business unit operations

August 27, 2012: Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has notified 82 areas for regulation of ground water being used in the business of bottled water. In these areas, installation of new ground water abstraction structures is not permitted without prior specific approval of the Authority / Authorized officer.

June 22, 2012: Thirty-two packaged water units seized in Karimnagar district for not possessing BIS certificates as part of the Food Safety and standards Act 2006.

June 20, 2012: Japanese conglomerate Suntory, known for its whiskies and beers, has picked up majority stake in a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Narang Group to enter India's non-alcoholic beverage market.

May 10, 2012: Spectators will be banned from taking bottles of water into the Olympic Park in case they are used to conceal so-called "liquid bombs".

April 17, 2012: The Coca-Cola Company Reports First Quarter 2012- -Strong global volume growth of 5% in the quarter, with growth across every geographic operating group. North America volume grew 2% and international volume grew 6% in the quarter.

April 16, 2012: After a hiatus of 19 long years, when it closed its operation in 1993, the indigenous of all the soft drinks Campa-Cola, is making a comeback in the state. And if, everything goes by the plan, Campa would be available to its connoisseurs by August. Founded in 1942, Pure Drinks Group has leased out to franchisee Yash Raj Beverages and Agro Products Pvt. Limited in the state, which is coming up with a bottling plant in Banthra's Bhauka village on Harauni Road.

March 29, 2012: Tata Global Beverages (TGB), India-based Tata group’s consumer goods flagship, plans to acquire 4.17% stake in Mount Everest Mineral Water (MEMW) for INR280m ($5.5m). MEMW manufactures the premium brand of 'Himalayan' mineral water.

March 25, 2012: Coca Cola India will roll out 7.2 lakh `golden cans' featuring batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar to commemorate his historic 100th international century. The golden cans will be available for Rs20.

March 23, 2012: No Coca-Cola, Pepsi', Sri Lankan protestors demand ban on American goods after UN resolution

February 16, 2012:The joint venture (JV) between Tata Global Beverages and PepsiCo India, has launched a new packaged water brand, Tata Water Plus, in India. Tata Water Plus joins the company's existing portfolio of Tata Gluco Plus (a glucose based, lemon flavored drink) and Himalayan Natural Mineral water.

February 3, 2012: Food & beverage major PepsiCo, which has a joint venture called NourishCo. with Tata Global Beverages (TGB) to develop and market good-for-you beverages, has indicated that packaged water brand "Himalayan" is still part of the JV despite the announcement by the Tata-Starbucks combine

to sell the product at cafes in India.

February 1, 2012: The Ahmadabad-based Sheelpe Enterprises has launched Aava natural mineral water in Goa.

January 20, 2012: Luthra Water Systems, promoted by Mumbai-based Naveen Luthra, plans to invest INR30-35 crore ($5m-$6m) to set up a bottling plant in Ahirwadi village near Lonavla in the Sahyadri mountain range in India. The upcoming unit is the third plant dedicated to bottle natural spring water brand Mulshi Springs for the European market.

January 18, 2012: Dharampal Satyapal (DS Group), producer of Catch natural mineral water, is celebrating their 11th year as a NSF Certified Brand. Catch Natural Spring Water is bottled at the source without being subjected to any chemical treatment. As the only NSF-Certified Indian brand of pure and natural spring water, Catch has enjoyed a distinct competitive advantage in India's marketplace as their NSF Certification communicates their commitment toproducing a safer, higher-quality product to consumers worldwide.

November 22, 2011: The railways had decided to set up packaged drinking water bottling plants on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis and were seeking proposals from interested private parties for the same. The plan was meant to be implemented in March this year.

October 20, 2011: Juvenex Inc. announces the introduction of KarmaLife Coconut Water, the first line of Indian Coconut Water available to US consumers. Unique to the category, KarmaLife uses only Coconut Water from India. Indian Coconut Water has the best taste among coconut waters given the indigenous soil and growing conditions.

October 2, 2011: Red Lion has come up with a new campaign for mineral water brand Bisleri that features a new thought 'Stay Protected'. The baseline remains 'The sweet taste of purity'. Ramesh Chauhan, chairman, Bisleri International, explained, "'The sweet taste of purity' is still there as a baseline,

being the product attribute.

Bottled water company SCPF sets up microbreweries in West Bengal:August 25 , 2011: Shivsu Canada Pure Fillers Pvt.Ltd. (SCPF) a bottle water, soft drink and juice maker, announced that it is setting up "microbreweries and brew pubs" in West Bengal . “We expect 5 Microbreweries and 5 Brew pubs to be opened in the next 6 months through prospective investors,” said an official spokesperson here on Saturday. According to latest data, India’s demand for beer is growing at the rate of 25 to 30% per annum.

PepsiCo sales growing twice as fast as Coca-Cola:August 10, 2011: In the Rs 11,000-crore soft drinks market, where volume growth is significantly lower than two years back in any case, PepsiCo reported 17% volume growth during April-June while Coca-Cola grew 8%. This is the biggest gap in growth between the two cola rivals in the past 3-4 years when they were growing neck-to-neck.

Eureka Forbes to enter packaged drinking water market:MUMBAI: July 15, 2011: Water purification appliances-maker Eureka Forbes is making a foray into the packaged water segment and will roll out the bottled water product on a pan-India basis by next year, a top company officialsaid. The company will sell the product under the brand name 'AquaSure', in 20-litre and one-litre bottles, but has not divulged the prices.

Bisleri looking to enter Middle East countries;NEW DELHI, June 30, 2011: Bottled water major Bisleri International said it is looking at entering Middle East countries as part of its strategy to expand its overseas presence. As part of the plan, the company said it will consider setting up more manufacturing facilities outside India.

Egypt, India plan $160 mln PET plant in Ain Sokhna: June 21, 2011: A joint Indian-Egyptian venture will see the construction of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Ain Sokhna at a cost of $160 million, officials said. The factory’s production capacity will reach 1,200 metric tons per day producing about 420,000 metric tons of PET plastic chips per year. These

plastic products will include bottles, food containers, bottled water, bottled drinks, shampoos and cosmetics.

Railways hikes capacity of Rail Neer plant at Khagau:June 8, 2011: The Rail Neer (mineral water) plant at Khagaul has proved to be a good revenue earner for the railways. The railway has increased its production capacity to one lakh bottles daily to cope with the growing demand in other zones.

Coca-Cola Company looking ahead for water:Coca-Cola uses 309 billion liters of water annually to produce its beverages. That's about what Atlanta uses in five months, according to the city's Department of Watershed Management. In 2008, the company said, Coca-Cola used 2.43 liters of water to produce an average one-liter beverage. One liter goes into the beverage itself, and 1.43 liters are used for manufacturing processes such as rinsing, cleaning and cooling. The company says its global system of about 1,000 bottling plants is on track to improve water efficiency by 20 percent between 2004 and 2012.

India to Serve as Hub for Imported Alaskan Water:S2C Global Systems, based in San Antonio, Texas, has announced plans to export 12 billion gallons of water per year from the Blue Lake Reservoir in Sitka, Alaska, to a new, yet-to-be-built water hub on the west coast of India The first shipment to the new hub in India — whose location remains undisclosed for security reasons — is at least 18 months away, Rod Bartlett, president and CEO of S2C Global, told India-West October 15, 2010.The water hub will be built in the next six months, while custom-built water-transport tankers, costing about $75 million, will be built over the next 18 months. Existing oil tankers cannot be used because of potential contamination from leftover oil residues, he explained. The water will be packaged at the hub, and then distributed in India as well as several GCC – Gulf Cooperation Council – countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and UAE.

CHAPTER 6

INTRODUCTION

TO

BISLERI

INTRODUCTION OF BISLERI

In 1967, Bisleri an Italian company, started by Signor Felice Bisleri, first brought the idea of selling bottled water in India. It started a company called Bisleri India. In 1969, Ramesh Chauhan, the Chairman of Parle Exports, bought

over the brand. In those days, Bisleri packaged drinking water was available in glass bottles.

Being a returnable package owing to various other problems such as breakage and weight, in 1972-73, Bisleri was made available in PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) bottles. After this plastic packaging was introduced, things started to change, and sales increased rapidly.

The upsurge in the sales of Bisleri started in 1993 as Ramesh Chauhan sold off the Parle stable of brands, including Thums Up, Limca and Gold Spot. Recognizing the potential of the packaged drinking water market, he then went on to concentrate on making Bisleri a top selling brand in India.

Marketing and Brands Blog:-

Bisleri a brand name synonymous to mineral water in India. It has approximately 60% market share in packaged drinking water in country. Brand is owned by Parle Company, which bought over Bisleri in 1969 from Italian company. Initially, Bisleri faced the problems of acceptance from consumers. It was difficult to advertise for a company something as bottled water, which is colourless, tasteless and odourless. In mid-eighties company changed its packaging to PET bottles which shows transparency and clear water to consumers. This gave mineral water market a boost

In India, water is scarce and quality is poor so initially the consumers were only foreigners and NRI’s. Therefore, to increase its customer’s base, company came up with comfortable and affordable price bottle which was a great success and showed 400% growth.

India bottled water market is approx. is worth Rs 1,000-1,200 crore (Rs 10-12billion). Seeing this growth over the years, many new players have entered the market. Amongst them Kinely from Coke, Aquafina from Pepsi, kingfisher and now Himalayan from Tata are main players of industry. There are many ups and down in last couple of years but brand recall of Bisleri is amazing which helped company. In order to differentiate form other players company tries to come up with different and new campaigns on regular intervals

In case of food and water, whenever people are suspicious of the quality of product they don’t eat unhygienic food and instead of having non purified water

they prefer to stay thirsty. Bisleri itself seems to play on this need for safety, coining the popular tag-line ‘Play it safe’. The advertising helped differentiate the product from its competitors who, more or less, communicated nothing. Bisleri’s seal was also breakaway (hence irreplaceable), even though this manufacturing process of sealing seems to be slow and could clog up the assembly line.

Somewhere along the now that space was occupied by Aquafina and Kinley. The “safe” breakaway seal was replaced by a regular seal, but the change wasn’t communicated and more variants (packaging) emerged. Some of these variants were sold simultaneously. They were manufactured in different parts of Delhi, and one had the website www.bisleri.com printed on it, while the other had www.bisleri.co.in printed.

So, the mistake was a complete lack of communication on Bisleri’s part. Now they have a new product out - a mineral water brand (as opposed to a packaged drinking water brand), and they are advertising it. Still, there are three types of Bisleri bottles in the market in Delhi right now.

Now again Bisleri changed its packaging and came up with a new bottle. It has been general feeling that Kinley’s new packaging is more acceptable by the people as it is easy to grip it. In a packaged water market, where the product is not so differentiated, the company has to constantly innovate new branding techniques, distribution channels, advertising and in fact new packaging techniques.

According to the Bureau of India [Images] n Standards there are 1,200 bottled water factories all over India (of which 600 are in one state -- Tamil Nadu). Over 100 brands are vying for the Rs 1,000-crore (Rs 10 billion) bottled water market and are hard selling their products in every way possible -- better margins to dealers, aggressive advertising, catchy taglines.... In such a scenario, The Strategist takes a look at how it all started -- with Bisleri -- and how Ramesh Chauhan, chairman, Parle Bisleri created a market out of pure water. Excerpts from a conversation with Prerna Raturi:

Western Express Highway in Mumbai has been the route to success for two well-known men. One was the make-believe super biker cum thief Kabir aka John Abraham in the Bollywood flick Dhoom; and the other is the crafty Ramesh Chauhan, who has masterminded the runaway success of the Rs.500

crore bottled water brand, BISLERI in the country, from his 1st floor office in the sparkling green aqua fill BISLERI building.

BISLERI was originally an Italian Company created by Signor Felice BISLERI who first brought the idea of selling bottled water in India. BISLERI then was introduced in Mumbai in glass bottles in two varieties – bubbly & still in 1965. Parle bought over BISLERI (India) Ltd. in 1969 & started bottling Mineral water in glass bottles under the brand name ‘BISLERI’. Later Parle switched over to PVC non-returnable bottles & finally advanced to PET containers. Since 1995, Mr. Ramesh. J. Chauhan has started expanding BISLERI operations. In 2003 BISLERI announced its venture to Europe.

For over 30 years, BISLERI has been the pioneer in the bottled water industry with its innovations and an eye for perfection. And ever since it was established in 1969, BISLERI has constantly searched for inspiration in nature

MISSION STATEMENT

“To provide the highest quality product, keeping in mind all

aspect including freshness purity and safety and making it easy available to

the consumer at very affordable price.”

The Journey till Now:-

1969: Buys Bisleri’s bottled water from an Italian company, Felice Bisleri. It was bottled in glass bottles then.

RAMESH CHAUHAN

(M.D. OF BISLERI INTERNATIONAL PVT LTD)

Early-1980s: Shifts to PVC bottles. Sales surge

Mid-1980s: Switches to PET bottles, which meant more transparency and life for water.

1993: Sells carbonated drink brands like Thums Up, Gold Spot and Limca to Coca-Cola for Rs 400 crore.

1995: Bisleri launches a 500 ml bottle and sales shoot up by 400 per cent.

2000: Introduces the 20-litre container to bring prices down from Rs 10 a litre to Rs 2 a litre.

1998: Introduces a tamper-proof and tamper-evident seal.

2000: BIS cancels Bisleri's licence of a water bottling in Delhi [ Images ] since some of the bottles did not carry ISI label; the licence is restored one-and-a-half months later.

2002: Kinley overtakes Bisleri. The national retail stores audit by ORG-MARG show Kinley's market share at 35.1 per cent compared to Bisleri's 34.4 per cent.

CHAPTER 7

GROWTH IN BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRIES

GROWTH IN BOTTLE WATER INDUSTRIES

It was in 1967 that BISLERI set up a bottling plant for manufacturing and marketing its mineral water, which failed badly.

In 1968-69 the brand “ BISLERI” was sold to the “Parle group” by the Italian company, Parle group launched BISLERI soda and mineral water, but again the concept failed as the Indian customer was not ready to buy water in bottled form.

The market remained dormant for the next two decades (i.e. from 1970 to 1990) the market throughout this period was formed mainly by the premium segment like five- star hotels.

In the early 1990’s was the onset of liberalization policy, and sell-off of major soft drinks brands, BISLERI was compelled to test the waters again.

Today the demand of bottled water is increasing at a much higher rate that of carbonated soft drinks. The market size of bottled water too is expected to surpass the size of soft drinks market in near future. HLL, which too has identified the bottled water as a growth area of future, is presently looking or some suitable brand for acquisition. Britannia too evinced some initial interest in the market but now seems to have postponed its plans. The existing players too are set to expand their distribution network to have their presence across the country.

The market is also expected to undergo a major consolidation phase. As one of the major factors that are important for success in the market is the distribution network, the players with deep pockets are expected to go for acquisition of existing small regional players to spread their network across the country. Already Coke has tied up with Yes for manufacturing of its brands in areas where it doesn’t have presence.

Though Coke and Pepsi have both, well established distribution network as well as bottling & manufacturing plants, they seems to be at advantage but players like HLL and Nestle with strong financial muscle can easily turn the tables in their favor through acquisition route.

The following table shows the growth in the package drinking water industry

Year Growth rate1996-97 3-4 %1997-00 10 %2000-02 50 %2002-04 70 %2004-09 90%

Series1

CHAPTER 8

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH

1. QUALITY STANDARD:-

Every bottle of BISLERI is put through a rigorous Multi stage

purification processes which includes micron filtration and ozonation.

It acquires 6 stages of purification processes which ensure quality water which

is pure and safe for drinking purpose. Good manufacturing are the strength all

the time processing in religiously monitored at every stage.

2. TRUST FOR BRAND:-

More than 50 lakhs people trust the BISLERI. They buy only

BISLERI water because it has became generic name for mineral water. For

example: - When people go to buy the mineral water many of them ask for

BISLERI, even though they get other brand.

3. LARGE RANGE OF PRODUCTS:-

BISLERI offers a large range of products which attracts consumer

of all categories. For example: - 1 litre or 500 ml pack is useful for individual

buyers, 12 litres or 20 litres is useful for organization. Therefore it attracts large

number of customer.

4. MARKETING:-

BISLERI is promoted by an aggressive print & TV. TV is backed

by a Hoarding & point – of – sale material. Every interface with customer is

used as an opportunity to reinforce. For example: - All vehicles used for supply

have been painted in light green, bears the BISLERI logo & sport catchy

baseline likes “drink and drive”

5. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.

With little belief in the distributor system, the company leverage

its large fleet of truck to supply bottled water directly to retailers through a

system called ‘Route Selling’ where the driver of truck is trained to be a service

person. This ensures that water supplied is fresh and bottles are in good shape.

BISLERI has more than 80,000 outlets in the country.

6. EXPERIENCE OF MR.CHAUHAN (M.D OF BISLERI)

From the vast experience of marketing Gold Spot and Thums

Up, Mr. Chauhan knows that distribution plays a crucial role in the successful

marketing of bottled drinks. He knows that making fresh water available within

a particular period of time is crucial for its success. He is pursuing a multi- pack

and multi- price strategy.

7. BULK – SEGMENT IS USEFUL FOR HOUSEHOLDS ALSO:-

Households in certain parts of the country spend a huge amount of

money on fuel in order to purify the water. They are supposed to buy the impure

water and then they have to spend money to purify it.

For instance the water scarce south people spend large some of money to buy

water and still more to purify it. The 12 litre product is hit in various cities of

south.

8. GROWING POPULARITY:-

The popularity of BISLERI is increasing rapidly day by day.

People in the market when it comes to mineral water a person goes to any shop

and asks for BISLERI as his/her first preference. BISLERI is seeing a growth of

almost 50% per year. With the small pack being popular among individuals user

its bulk pack is also generating the huge demand which is capturing the market

for BISLERI. Today 60-70 % of total income of BISLERI comes from its bulk

segment and the company is planning to increase it up to 80%.

9. THE BREAK AWAY SEAL:-

Keeping in mind the consumers need to recognize a genuine

product that cannot be tempered with. The unique cap has been patented and

cannot be duplicated. This technical strength ensures that the consumer will

only get a high safe product when they will drink BISLERI.

WEAKNESS

1.METHOD ADOPTED FOR DISTRIBUTION:- THE

‘ROUTESELLING’ policy adopted by BISLERI for distribution is more

expensive than more commonly followed method of appointing distributors

in different towns. This reduces the profit of company. The dealer margin is

reduced due to this .therefore not many dealer keeps BISLERI in many

areas. Indirectly this is reducing the coverage of BISLERI.

2. REUSE OF BOTTLE BY LOCAL SELLERS AND ILLEGAL

MANUFACTURERS:- Market research conducted by BISLERI revealed

that the other overriding concern for this set of buyers is the tampering of

seal and the reuse of bottles. Many have witnessed used bottles being refilled

at railway stations. This deteriorates the brand image of BISLERI.

For example: - local sellers fill the bottle of BISLERI with impure water

and the bottles are purchased by illiterate customers as BISLERI water but

they buy water of low quality. In this way brand of BISLERI gets affected.

3. FAULTS IN PRODUCTION:-Tests conducted by various authorities

shows that it contains pesticides. In 2002 the 2cm long insect was found in

the bottle of BISLERI. This has affected its sales and reputation. The license

of its two factories one at Noida and other at Bangalore has been cancelled

because of fault in production.

4. PRESSURE BY GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY:- After insect was

found in the bottles, FDA (Food & Drug Adulteration) has cancelled the

production of BISLERI. Afterwards it was allowed to resume it but in this

period its customer were moved towards other products. It is constantly

under check by various authorities.

5. NOT MEETING THE DEMAND OF THE CUSTOMER:-In certain

parts of south in our country big bottles of BISLERI are in huge demand but

the company is unable to meet the demand of the consumers. This is

affecting the demand for the product. So People are forced to use other

brands of mineral water.

OPPORTUNITY

1. FAST GROWING FIELD:- The best beverage for India in the new

millennium seems to be water. In recent years, the bottled drinking water

market has been witnessing high decibel level of activity, with a host of new

entrants. The bottled water market which worth Rs. 1000 crore is expected to

be Rs. 5000 crore by 2010. This will increase a lot of scope for bottled water

market.

2. BISLERI CAN UTILISE ITS DISTRIBUTION CHAIN:- With

BISLERI becoming a generic name for bottled drinking water. If company

can manage the distribution chain of the product to make it available where

the consumer needs it the most, the company may well succeed in his

gamble with water. For this the company can connect it with dealers and

other distributors who will market the products for them all around the

world.

3. EXPANSION IN EUROPE:-The launch of BISLERI in the European

market on 4th September, 2003 has created a lot of scope for BISLERI in the

field. This will also compensate the deterioration of image; BISLERI has

suffered after insect was found in the bottle. It will silence the critics and it

will also increase the faith of the customer for the brand. It will create an

international brand image and the quality will increase.

4. LAUNCH OF PREMIUM PACK:- The company also has its premium

product range. This is prepared keeping 5-star hotels and other premium

customer. This pack will be sold at Rs. 20 per litre. This will give a tough

competition to the EVIAN, the biggest player in the premium water range

which sells its 1 litre water at a hefty of Rs.85 per litre.

5. CHANGE OF IMAGE:-The Company has changed the colour of the

product. It has changed from blue to green. By changing the colour, the

company has provided a new product to the consumers; they will be getting

a new and a refreshing product.

6.INCREASE IN PRODUCTION:-BISLERI is eyeing the Market and is in

the process of increasing the production by setting 4 new plants adding to its

23plants. This will increase the production capacity of the company.

THREAT

1. MARKET IS EYED BY THE BIG PLAYERS:- The growth of the market

indicates the need for the mineral water. Due to this the heavy weights are

eyeing the market. Coke, Pepsi, Britannia, Nestle, Auswater—is keen on

raising their stakes in this market. With the cut throat competition between

Coke and Pepsi, BISLERI is not safe.

2. ENTERING OF NEW PLAYERS:- To get some share in the market

many new players are entering in the market. Among them major names are

Godrej, which is launching its product AQUA-PURE and Tata-Tea is

looking forward to but Himalayan, this will increase the competition. Also

Britannia which is distributing EVIAN is planning to launch its own brand.

There are also new entrants ATCO with BRILLIANT water, DS FOODS

with CATCH are also coming. Even Hindustan lever is planning to enter

into the market. This is give a tough competition to the current water brands

including BISLERI.

3. WATER FILTER MANUFACTURERS:- BISLERI is not only getting

competition from mineral water maker but is also facing a tough

competition from various water filter manufacturers such as Eureka Forbes

(Aqua guard). They have been marketing there purifiers in the market which

has decreased the sales of bottled water supply to homely customers.

4. ILLEGAL MANUFACTURERS:- Company is facing a tough

competition from illegal manufacturers in the rural areas. The illegal

manufacturers provide water at a very cheaper rate then the branded

manufacturers. There are 1000’s of illegal manufacturers which are

providing the water at a very cheaper rate. This is a serious problem for

branded manufacturers. This companies also use the fake name of branded

bottled water i.e. BISLERI and supply their products in the market.

5. STRONG DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL OF THE OTHER

MANUFACTURERS:-Analysts feel that BISLERI’S break away seal will

not at all be effective the company having strong distribution channel will

only survive. This rings the warning bell for BISLERI because among other

players Kinley and Aquafina are having a strong distribution network of

Coke and Pepsi. Nestle will be banking on its chocolate distribution

network. Even though the BISLERI has a strong networks but its

concentration on bulk segment can lead to improper network.

For example: - A chemist who is selling the 1 litre pack may not sell the 20

litre pack. This could disturb the network.

6. NEW GOVERNMENT POLICY:- For preparing 1 litre of mineral water

3 litre of ground water is required. Government was not charging tax on the

extraction of the ground water. Now by introducing the new policy

government is going to impose tax on the extraction of the ground water,

this will increase the production cost because of which the companies will

be forced to increase the price which all consumers’ of all categories cannot

afford. The companies can compensate the high production cost by reducing

their marketing expenses but this will keep the consumer unaware about the

product. This also affects the quality of the bottled water.

CHAPTER 9

BISLERI TODAY

BISLERI TODAY

BISLERI values its customers & therefore has developed 8 unique pack sizes to suit the need of every individual. We are present in 250ml cups, 250ml bottles, 500ml, 1L, 1.5L, 2L which are the non-returnable packs & 5L, 20L which are the returnable packs. Till date the Indian consumer has been offered BISLERI water, however in our effort to bring to you something refreshingly new, we have introduced BISLERI Natural Mountain Water - water brought to you from the foothills of the mountains situated in Himachal Pradesh. Hence our product range now comprises of two variants: BISLERI with added minerals & BISLERI Mountain water

It is capturing its market in India as well as other continents. BISLERI has been no 1 and is capturing Indian market by providing best quality over a period of long time. None of the water products in line are able to compete with BISLERI and thus BISLERI stand unique in the market.

Bisleri’s commitment is to offer every Indian pure & clean drinking water. BISLER water is put through multiple stages of purification, ozonised & finally packed for consumption. . Rigorous R&D & stringent quality controls has made BISLERI a market leader in the bottled water segment.

BISLERI’S endeavor to maintain strict quality controls each unit purchases performs & caps only from approved vendors. BISLERI produces their own bottles in-house; & have recently procured the latest world class state of the art machineries that puts them at par with International standards. This has not only helped them improve packaging quality but has also reduced raw material wastage & doubled production capacity. You can be rest assured that you are drinking safe & pure water when you consume BISLERI. BISLERI is free of impurities & 100% safe. Enjoy the Sweet taste of Purity !

Manufacturing Process

BISLERI manufacturers its own products and has its own manufacturing unit which includes various machines, the whole manufacturing process is carried on by BISLERI at its plant. The whole manufacturing process is divided into different parts and it consists of different activities like water purification treatment, blowing of the bottles, filling of the bottles, packing of the bottles etc.

The manufacturing process of BISLERI is carried on in different parts:

Storing Of Water:- The water is taken from the boring well and then is stored in huge tanks, BISLERI has 6 tanks of 50,000 litres each, and water is first taken from the boring well and stored in these tanks.

Tanks in which water is Stored

6 STAGES OF WATER TREATMENT PLANT:

OZONATION

FILTERATION

CARBON FILTERATION

RESERVE OSMOSIS SYSTEM

MICRO FILTERATION

OZONE TREATMENT

OZONATION:

The process of ozonation ensures that the water remains free from bacteria, so that the water can have a longer life and the machine used for this process of ozonation is called ozonator.

FILTERATION:

The process of filteration removes suspended particles from the water by sand filteration.

CARBON FILTERATION:

The stage of carbon filteration removes bad odour and colour from water and purifies it.

REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM:

This stage of reserve osmosis system controls all the dissolves solid particles and it converts hard water into soft water.

MICRO FILTERATION:

Under this stage of micro filteration additional safety measures are taked to guarantee purity of water. In this stage addition of mineral magnesium sulphate and potassium bicarbonate is processed.

OZONE TREATMENT:

The ozone treatment increases the shelf life of water. To ensure mineral water is held safe free from contamination, ultraviolet treatment and ozonation process is carried out. Ozone is unstable trivalent oxygen, a very powerful bactericide with no side effect, as it disintegrates into oxygen within couple of hours. Sterilization effect of ozonized water continues even after water is packaged, thereby ensuring safety of Mineral Water up to its final packing. To ensure high quality of packing materials, components like caps and bottles are manufactured in-house from resins of quality suppliers.

Good Manufacturing Practices are stringently followed at all times. Processing is religiously monitored at every stage. Testing source water, processing parameters, microbial quality, packaging material integrity and finally, shelf life studies, forms an integral part of quality and safety assurance plan.

Distribution:-

Bisleri to have own distribution network

PARLE Drinks plans to put up its own distribution network across the country for the Bisleri mineral water brand.

The company will invest approximately Rs. 200 crores to procure 2,000 trucks and hire the same number of sales people by end-2000 to extend the penetration of the brand.

Mr. Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman, Parle Drinks, said he expects an almost 400 per cent growth in business when the number of trucks transporting Bisleri mineral water doubles from the current 1,000.

Predicting that he expects his company's turnover to touch Rs. 1,000 crores within the next two years, he said the idea is to ensure that the Bisleri brand reaches every nook and cranny of the country. He said: ``The key to success in any business is the distribution and if you have that in your control, you have won more than half the battle.''

Meanwhile, Mr. Chauhan, who puts Parle's 1999-2000 turnover at Rs. 350 crores (up from Rs. 160 crores last fiscal), also plans to grow the market with the five-litre value pack, targeted mainly at homes and institutions.

This bottle, priced at Rs. 25, essentially makes mineral water available to the consumer at Rs. 5 a litre. The one-litre bottle is available at Rs. 12, while the half-litre one is priced at Rs. 5. Mr. Chauhan is now on the look-out for high-quality cups to make the water available in smaller quantities.

Consumers who buy the five-litre value pack have to pay a Re. 1 deposit to the retailer, which can be redeemed once the bottle is returned. The five-litre packs, launched last December in Goa, are currently available in six cities, including Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore, and sell over 5,000 bottles a day, according to Mr. Chauhan.

The company hopes to make the value packs available across India in the next couple of months,'' he added.

He is, meanwhile, dispatching people to Japan this week to procure a recycling plant for the PET bottles and said at least two such plants would be set up in Chennai and Delhi at the cost of Rs. 5 crores each, by the end of the year.

Crushed and compacted bottles from other parts of the country will be transported to the two plants, Mr. Chauhan said, adding that a better part of the compacted PET will go into the manufacture of polyester yarn: “I have already discussed with Reliance and a couple of other manufacturers the possibility of selling the polyester yarn thus manufactured.” He hopes to ensure that all used Bisleri bottles come back to retailers by offering incentives.

The company plans to double its advertising budget from the Rs. 3 crores of last year to Rs. 6 crores next year, according to Mr. Chauhan, who said it will also promote the five-litre pack with events and PoP displays.

With business growing exponentially, Mr. Chauhan is convinced that water is the business to be in: ``Bisleri is almost a generic name, the No. 2 in the business is way behind me, and I hope to keep it that way.''

BLOWING PROCESS:

A small tube like plastic which is known as ‘PRE-FORM’ is blown with the help of a machine called SIDEL which has a temperature of about 80 to 90 degree Celsius, when this PRE-FORM is put into the SIDEL machine it is blown up by its heat and turns out into a bottle in a specific shape according to the mould plates available in the SIDEL machines which gives the bottles a specific shape

PRE-FORM

BLOWING PART:

The small tube made from plastic known as PRE-FORM; initially was manufactured but due to hygienic reasons it was stopped and now it is got from outside and is out sourced. The SIDEL machine is only used for blowing the empty bottles. Even the caps of the bottles are outsourced as the manufacturing of the caps would involve a lot of time. So the SIDEL machine only helps in the blowing of the bottle according to mould plates available in it which give it a perfect shape and the PRE-FORM and the bottle caps are outsourced.

SIDEL

FILLING PART:

Once the empty bottles are made and blown up the water is filled into it. The machine used for filling the water in the blown bottle is called Dynathronic. The speed of this Dynathronic machine is that in one minute 110 bottles can be filled.

There are 7 stages to the filling process; they are:

The bottle is sterilized with air pressure

Then the bottle is filled with water

The bottle is sealed with a cap

Labeling of the bottle takes place

All mandatory information such as marking the batch number, manufacturing date, expiry date and MRP.

Inspection of the bottle such as checking, sealing, printing and filling.

Lastly the bottle is packed.

CHAPTER 10

MARKETING MIX

MARKETING MIX:-

According to Philip kotler “marketing mix is the mixture of controllable marketing variables that the firm uses to pursue the sought level of sales in the targeted market”

In simple words marketing mix is the combination of four basic elements / ingredients under one head. The 4Ps i.e. Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.

PRODUCT:

Types of products

BISLERI values their customers & therefore have developed 8 unique pack sizes to suit the need of every individual. They presently have 250ml cups, 250ml bottles, and 500ml, 1L, 1.5L and 2L which are the non-returnable packs & 5L, 20L which are the returnable packs. 

Products Produced by BISLERI

BISLERI with added Minerals BISLERI Mineral Water contains minerals such as magnesium sulphate and potassium bicarbonate which are essential minerals for healthy living. They not only maintain the pH balance of the body but also help in keeping you fit and energetic at all times.

Bisleri’s Mountain Water:-BISLERI Natural Mountain emanates from a natural spring, located in Uttaranchal and Himachal nestled in the vast Shivalik Mountain ranges. Lauded as today's 'fountain of youth', BISLERI Natural Mountain Water resonates with the energy and vibrancy capable of taking you back to nature. BISLERI Natural Water is bottled in its two plants in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh and is available in six different pack sizes of 250ml, 500ml, 1 litre, 1.5 litre, 2 litre and 5 litres.

Himalayan Water The water that almost descends from the Gods: The Himalayas, the abode of the Gods, where the earth meets the heavens and where in lies nature's untouched bounty. White glaciers, snow-capped mountains and a plethora of exotic herbs and other flora that have therapeutic properties. This is where you'll find a treasure trove of hidden natural spring water that flows through natural purifying filters, mineral rich rocks and herbs from which it absorbs many healing properties. We bottle this pristine spring water directly at source, at the foothills of the Himalayas.

And now the customers will get every drop of purity, right here, in this bottle. BISLERI Mountain Water is available in 500ml. bottles & 1 litre bottles.

Quality:-

In endeavor to maintain strict quality controls each unit purchases pre-forms & caps only from approved vendors. BISLERI produces its own bottles in-house; they have recently procured the latest world class state of the art machineries that put them at par with International standards. This has not only helped BISLERI improve its packaging quality but has also reduced raw material wastage & doubled production capacity. You can be rest assured that you are drinking safe & pure water when you consume BISLERI. BISLERI is free of impurities & 100% safe. Enjoy the Sweet taste of Purity!

Rigorous Research and Development and stringent quality controls have made BISLERI market leaders in the bottled water segment. BISLERI has always been committed to offering every Indian pure and clean drinking water. Hence BISLERI water is put through multiple stages of purification, Ozonisation and is hygienically packed for final consumption.

The machines which are used for the blowing and filling of the bottles are also cleaned twice a month. All the tanks are also cleaned by the use of chemicals.

There is an online monitoring system where the batches of bottles are shown and once the batch crosses a certain limit, an alarm is heard. Everyday almost one lakh bottles are passed through the monitoring system. Moreover, in case there is a problem regarding the batch for example, the cap seal of a particular bottle is not there or labeling is not done properly, the system records that and

immediately the production is halted. This is followed as per the Bureau Standards and if any mistake occurs then the whole batch is discarded.

This shows that the whole batch is replaced and stopped which indicates high quality control. Even practically every 2 days testing and sampling of the water and its bottles are done in the market and in their Quality Department to check in case anything is wrong or not. In fact there is a quality checker under the quality department for the final checking done of the water before it is entered the market.

There is also a warehouse where the 20 litre bottles are kept for 48 hours to allow the ozone to settle in it. This helps in prevention of any germs or harmful chemicals and also purifies the water. The cost of quality undoubtedly is very efficiently taken care of in BISLERI, there are times when the cost of quality increases i.e. in the rainy seasons the cost increases because the water is purified twice than the normal seasons as sometimes the water might be dirty due to the rains, Bisleri’s doesn’t take any risks and does not compromise with their quality.

Online Monitoring System

Design/Creativity:

BISLERI has a separate creative department which promotes the different sizes of the bottles. They have introduced new mountain water which is in hexagon shaped bottle and is a new up gradation done by them. This helps in attracting new customers and creates a new sensation in the market. Also 2 years ago a new soda bottle was introduced which was named as BISLERI Fizzy bringing a huge demand among customers.

Moreover, the creative department has an expansion scheme which was introduced in October 2008 which was a compact and ideal gift for the customer. This includes a 20litre bottle, 2 fridge bottles, 1.5 litre bottle and a 250 ml bottle with a fridge stand .This was experimented for a month and which resulted in the lot of demand.

Value Engineering is redesigning the product already existing. The redesigning of the bottle has definitely taken place in BISLERI. Earlier they had a blue coloured bottle and then to bring in a different change, BISLERI decided to redesign the bottle to green colour.

Old Bottle New Bottle

Labeling

Labeling plays a very important role BISLERI takes good care about the labeling as it tries to create and come up with an exciting and attractive label as it will attract the customers; also labeling plays an important role as it gives a lot of information about the product; like what are the contents of a bottle how is it made what does it consist etc. Also labeling gives a lot of information about the product i.e. the price of the product; manufacturing date; expiry date etc.

PRICE:-

Price plays as very important role as it is the only P which helps in getting revenue:

Firstly one can explain the factors which affect the pricing decision i.e.

Price is directly related to:-

1. Demand

2. Competition

3. Break-even Point.

Secondly, if there is a novel product or almost no competition, one can Go for higher price in the beginning, make good profits to face Competition and innovations at a later date.

However if you are entering a competitive market your entry price should be low to ensure big volumes to earn reasonable profits.

In the beginning BISLERI had no competition, so the price of BISLERI was high, gradually the promoters dropped the price.

Buy Huge quantity at cheap rate, after confirming demand and sell at cheap price, make them addictive, then gradually increase price)

BRAND PACKAGINGS PRICE (in Rs.)

Per bottleBISLERI

20 litre 705 litre 501.5 litre 221 litre 18500 ml 10330ml 8250 ml cup 5

Customer Delight

BISLERI is in the business to serve the customer. It deserves the best quality and presentation at a worth of the price. They have world class quality, at the lowest production & distribution cost. This makes them unbeatable leaders, and helps them in having satisfied loyal customers.

BISLERI values its customers & therefore have developed 8 unique pack sizes to suit the need of every individual. At present they provide 250ml cups, 250ml bottles, 500ml, 1L, 1.5L, 2L which are the non-returnable packs & 5L, 20L which are the returnable packs. For the customers Bisleri’s has come up with a new scheme called the “REDUMTION” scheme designed especially for the customers. In the Redumption scheme BISLERI provides for Rs 300 a 20lt BISLERI bottle, 2 fridge bottles, a 1.5l bottle, a 250ml bottle and a fridge stand.

PLACE

BISLERI has a specific distribution channel which they follow:

Distribution Channel

From the manufacturing plant the bottles will come directly to the stockiest. Taking out the C&F agent from the distribution channel, so as to increase the margin to other elements in the chain.

The whole MUMBAI area is been divided into 4 zones: SOUTH, WEST, CENTRAL and NORTH.

The total number of stockiest would be 12.

In the area of SOUTH MUMBAI there would be 2 stockiest, one in the area of FORT and other in the area of MUMBAI CENTRAL. In the case of FORT it will require 5 distributors covering the area from DADAR to C.S.T and WADALA to C.S.T. The other stockiest at MUMBAI CENTRAL will require 2 distributors to cover the area from DADAR to CHURCHGATE.

In the area of west MUMBAI there would be 3 stockiest in the area of ANDHERI, BORIVALI & VIRAR, Covering the area from MAHIM to DHANU road. In the area of Mahim to Andheri 5 distributor would be there, in

RETAILER

DISTRIBUTORS

STOCKIST

BOTTLING PLANT

the area of Jogeshwari to Dahisar 5 distributor would be there, in the area of DAHISAR to DAHANU road 4 distributor would be there.

In the area of CENTRAL MUMBAI 4 stockiest would be needed. The stockiest would be in GHATKOPAR, KALYAN, AMBERNATH, and TITWALA. The stockiest in the GHATKOPAR would cover the area between MATUNGA to MULUND. The stockiest in KALYAN would cover the area between THANA to KALYAN and it would require 3 distributors. The stockiest in AMBERNATH would cover the area from KALYAN to KARJAT. A stockiest in TITWALA would cover the area from KALYAN to KASARA and would require 3 distributors.

In the case of NORTH MUMBAI there would be 3 stockiest. It would cover area of PANVEL, URAN, ALIBAUG, PENN, MAHAD, and VASHI. In the area of PANVEL stockiest 3 distributor would be needed and in the area of MAHAD stockiest it would require 3 distributor and same is the case with Vashi. In the case of KHOPOLI and ALIBAUG direct water would be supplied to the distributors.

Promotion

Positioning : Playing Safe

Target audience : Health and hygiene conscious people

Personality : Guardian, Authoritative, Reliable

Punch Line : “Play Safe”

To keep your company humming with profitable work, it’s vital to advertise your services. Your company is going to require the maximum exposure you can afford. This constant exposure will alert potential customers who you are

and where you are when they need a sign. By positioning YOUR name at their fingertips and even literally displaying it in front of their eyes, they’ll call YOU for identification products and services.

There are all types of promotion. They range from direct mail, word of mouth, advertising in newspapers and telephone directories to radio and T.V. spots, cold calls and telemarketing. Whatever the medium, consider the cost. Advertising will usually is an expense that remains in your budget.

Bisleri follows different promotion strategies and uses different ways to promote their product like

Advertisements

Advertisements are paid and electronic way of communication ie to convey the message to the customers, Bisleri comes up with different and attractive advertisements on televisions and cinema halls to attract customers today advertisements really attract the customers and by looking at the attractive advertisement people buy the product more.

Direct Mail

Direct mail is an avenue of promotion that targets a definite audience with a specific letter, brochure, or offer. Different potential customer groups have various needs that can be “bull’s-eyed” with a distinct service or product. For instance, we can draft a personalized letter to hotels, gyms, canteens and a different message to offices. In hotels where consumption of water is more as compare to the office so we can give them additional discount and better services compare to the office. In the case of the office where we there is less consumption of water and less availability of space we can promote our 5-litre jar, 10 litres jar and 20 litre jars.

The brochure or letter should contain information about our product, which we want to target and which is different and better than other product. In case of bottled water we can differentiate our product than other through the quality of water, price, packaging, service that is very important.

In a country like India where religion and festival play an important role in one’s life, we can send post cards or greeting cards to not only our own customer but also to the prospective customer.

Building and Vehicle Identification

Our OWN signs are an advertisement in them. For example a van or a tempo which is green in color, than all know that it is BISLERI cargo service’s van or tempo, same in the case of coca- cola it is red color and blue in case of Pepsi.

Price packs

A banded pack is two related products banded together for example: toothpaste and toothbrush. In the case of summer where in India the climate is very humid and hot, and consumption of water is also high, so in that case with the purchase of every one 1 litre bottle a free cold tissue paper can be provided.

Tie-in-promotions

In this case where two or more brands or companies team up to increase pulling power. Nowadays there is a craze of Sikkim super lotto so with a purchase of every 20 litre jar the ticket will be available at RS.5.

But today frankly Bisleri’s is recognized by the punch line ‘PURE N SAFE’ it has established itself so well that there is no need of any promotion as whenever a person goes to buy a bottle of mineral water he says ‘GIVE ME A BISLERI’ and does not say give me a bottle or mineral water

SEGMENTATION:-

The mineral water market is segmented according to the type of consumers:-

Foreign Tourists

Foreign tourists have been the main consumers of the mineral water as they face a lot of digestion problems due to different food habits.

Domestic Tourists

Domestic tourists have switched to mineral water mainly because of safety and hygiene factors.

Fashion Conscious

Like soft drinks, drinking mineral water is also considered fashionable by some people.

The mineral water consumer is mainly in the age group of 20-35 years and is an educated middle class person. This is also the segment of fruit drinks, which have usually been positioned as fun and health drink for young adults. The mineral water market is also segmented along pack sizes:

One litre bottle

This is meant to spell safety and security for consumers. It is positioned on a prestige platform for the achiever segment - who like to make a fashion statement by drinking mineral water. This segment gets the maximum sales.

500ml bottle

This size has been introduced in the market to target the individual and local travelers.

PET bottles

The size of the PET bottles varies from 10 to 20 litres. These are mainly for institutional sales (Wedding parties, Hotels, Corporate, etc.)

CONSUMER HABITS AND PRACTICES

Consumers are growing more health conscious and are more careful of their drinking habits.

Brand loyalty is very low as all the products taste the same so they can buy just any product which is on the shelf, same as that of soft drinks and fruit beverages.

Availability in the chilled form and brand awareness plays a crucial role in purchase decisions.

While there is no aversion to consumption of mineral water by any age group, this product is mainly consumed by the people in the age group of 20-35 years who have less attraction of soft drinks or other synthetic drinks whereas youngsters look in for soft drinks and fruit beverages to quench their thirst.

Visibility is another factor that should be taken care of by the companies as consumers are not very brand loyal and consume whatever is in front of them.

Consumers often drink bottled water as an alternative to tap water. They think it tastes better (no chlorine taste) and perceive it to be safer and of better quality. They also look for security: food scandals in industrialized countries and water-borne diseases in developing countries greatly influence consumers’ attitudes. Consumers buy bottled water to feel well and to lose weight. Bottled water is perceived as a healthy alternative to other beverages. Thus, for the aerated beverages bottled water offers a potential threat.

Moreover, increasing urbanization, causing declines in tap-water quality, can also explain the popularity. Because it is untreated, natural mineral water is perceived as “natural” by city dwellers looking for genuine products. Higher living standards and auto usage enable people to easily bring home more and heavier bottles of water. At the office, a bottle of water is now a common sight on the desk, next to the computer and the telephone. Drinking bottled water is a sign of a rise in the social scale. Above all, bottled water has become a huge marketing success.

CHAPTER 11

INDIAN WATER INDUSTRY

Indian Water Industry

Indian Water Industry - Creating a Better Environment

India faces a desperate situation of water shortage. Its fragile and finite water resources are depleting while the demands for water from various sectors of the economy are rapidly rising. In recent years, the industrial and domestic sectors have realized this disparity in the supply and demand. With the New Economic Policy launched in 1991, the government tried to lead to market-based approaches and privatization of urban water. The National Water Policy drafted last year looks at water as an economic good and looks at numerous macro and micro initiatives in this regard. If you are in the Indian water industry, you are in the right place at the right time.

India has devoted substantial resources to the water supply and sanitation sector, significantly increasing its commitment since 1980 with the launch of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. Today, drinking water investments constitute about 3% of the national budget. Due to these steps, today 85% of the urban and 75% of the rural population has access to public water supplies. 48% of the urban population and 36% of the rural population has access to sanitation services. But clearly, there is a lot of scope and opportunity to do more.

On the Crossroads

The Indian Water Industry is on the crossroads today. In a developing country with huge requirements for water recycling and purification of drinking water, there is a huge scope for growth. The total Indian water market is estimated to be about USD 15 billion. While the government sector contributes about 50% of this, the private industrial sector provides the remaining business. The overall market is growing at 18% every year.

In 2003, the Indian Government announced the mother of all projects - interlinking of major river networks all over the country, thereby connecting the water-deficit and the water-abundant areas. The project valued at over USD 100 billion is one of the largest in the world. It would kick start the economy and bring a huge set of requirements for equipment’s and construction.

Market for Water Treatment in India

The water treatment market in India is seeing immense expansion. While no reliable published figures are available, everything about Water estimates the total water and wastewater treatment market size to be about USD 420 million. It is growing at about 18% annually with certain segments like the industrial and drinking water segments seeing even higher growths.

The Key Drivers for Industry Growth:-

Increased awareness about drinking water quality and health.

Decreasing water quality and users having to go for ground water.

Environmental pressures on wastewater discharge from govt. pollution control boards.

Reducing availability of water forcing users to go for reuse & recycling of water. General Industrial and Economic Growth particularly in chemical, pharmaceutical, power plants, food and textile industry.

Industry Nature

The industry is currently highly fragmented and unorganized in nature. It can be split into three categories:

Large Players like VA Tech Wabag, Degremont, Hindustan Dorr-Oliver, Paramount, Ion Exchange, Thermax etc.

Medium Sized Players like Doshion, Aquatech, Fontus Water, Driplex, TEAM, and Ions Hydro.

Small Players over 500 in number.

The water treatment industry is largely concentrated in certain geographical pockets like Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. Some plant manufacturers are present in other areas, but this number is limited.

Level of Technology

The market knowledge and skill has been increasing in recent times. Most foreign manufacturers and products are commonly available in India now. The market is gradually shifting from chemical treatment and DM plants to membrane technology. Still, there are many huge segments like power plants and refineries that continue to use DM technology. The concept of wastewater recycling and zero discharge systems is growing in a big way in recent times.

The government sector is primarily involved in the raw water treatment and the sewage treatment operations. On the other hand, the private industrial sector includes equipment for clarification, sludge treatment, aeration, disinfection and filtration. Conventionally, the market has used demineralizers for treatment. However, over the last few years, Reverse Osmosis technology has grown in the market and gradually replaced DM. Newer technologies like Ultrafiltration and Electro dialysis are also entering the market now.

A Whole Different Market

The market has undergone a tremendous change in the last few years. Today, there are a dozen medium-sized companies who have rapidly increased their operations and won a number of projects. Also hundreds of small system-integrators have come up all over the country, addressing local requirements.

There has also been a geographical decentralization that has taken place. Earlier the water treatment industry was largely concentrated in Maharashtra. Over the last ten years, pockets of concentration have started all over the country in Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. This has had a positive and negative impact. While the market has grown and costs come down, at the same time, the quality and reliability of many of these suppliers has been suspect.

In the last few years, many international majors have also entered the market. While huge players like Veolia Water, Suez de Lyonnais (Degremont) and VA TECH Wabag are present in the market, chemical majors like Nalco and GE Betz-Dearborn also have operations. Indigenous development of various treatment vessels like resins, RO membranes and vessels have reduced costs and made various technologies easily available on a mass-scale. The other

interesting trend in the market has been the move towards standardization of treatment systems as standard DM and RO plants have become more common over the last two years.

International Companies with a significant presence in India

Veolia Water, France

Degremont, France

VA Tech Wabag, Austria

Thames Water, United Kingdom

GE Water, United States

Dow Chemicals, United States of America

DuPont, United States of America

Grundfos Pumps, Denmark

KSB Pumps, Germany

Nalco Chemicals, United States of America

Drew treat Chemicals, United States of America

Krohne Marshall, Germany

Endress + Hauser, Germany

Emerson (Fisher Rosemount), United States of America

Koch Group, United States of America

Hydranautics, United States of America

Pentair Group, United States of America

Schlumberger / Actaris, France

Amiantit, Saudi Arabia

Netzsch, Germany

George Fischer

Aplaco, Saudi Arabia

Metrohm, Switzerland

And many more...

Future Growth Opportunities:

A number of factors are fuelling growth in the market. Rapidly rising population has led to increased requirements for drinking water and sewage treatment. While this is largely in the urban areas at the moment, this could shift to smaller towns and villages in times to come. At the same time, water scarcity has led to many industries going in for water recycling systems to meet their requirements. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of environmental issues among industry as well as the public. Widespread coverage of environment issues by the media and NGOs has forced industries to install water treatment equipment to prevent social and legal action against them.

The government has also got into the action by imposing stringent legislations regarding wastewater treatment. There is also a compulsory requirement of Environment Clearances from Pollution Control Boards at the Centre and the states. The recent Supreme Court directive to move polluting units out of Delhi is also likely to act as an impetus to future sales of water treatment equipment. Also at the same time, many existing treatment plants would need to be replaced or upgraded to meet with more stringent standards.

Drinking water problems in India are quite different from those in developed countries. The main concern is with disinfecting the potable water at the point of use. Traditionally, the point of use market has been dominated by ultraviolet purifiers and filters. One company Eureka Forbes holds over 50% of the total purifier market with their UV purifiers, based on their excellent direct-marketing and service network. Industrial majors like Ion Exchange and Thermax have tried entering this market, but with limited success. In the last year, domestic reverse osmosis purifiers have struck the market and have been hugely successful. Recent advancements in Nano filtration and ultrafiltration are now entering this area and offer future opportunities.

One big area of growth has been the increase in bottled water plants in India. With liberalization and increased awareness of water quality, hundreds of bottled water brands have entered the market. The USD 250 million bottled water market is growing at the rate of 75-80% and a large number of reverse osmosis plants have come up in the last two years. With multinationals like

PepsiCo and Coke getting established in the market, the quality and technology in their plants has improved.

Indian manufacturers have also tried to export and build their presence in overseas markets. Treatment plants have been exported to the Middle-East and South-East Asia.

Big Projects:

The contribution of membrane desalination plants is progressively increasing. A number of reverse osmosis desalination plants are being installed by industries to meet their increasing water needs. In 1999, a 4500m3/day capacity RO plant has been commissioned at Sikka for Gujarat Electricity Board by Ion Exchange. A 10,000m3/day seawater RO plant has been commissioned by Thermax for NIRMA at Bhavnagar using Hydranautics membrane. RO has also been employed by many industries for waste water recycling. A 12000m3/day waste water RO plant has been recently commissioned by Aquatech(Asia) in Rashtriya Chemical Factory, Mumbai. Ion Exchange has commissioned another 3000 m3/day waste water RO plant at IFFCO, Phulpur. Since early nineties, hundreds of membrane based brackish water desalination plants of capacities of 10 to 100 cubic meters per day were set up for providing safe drinking water to selected problem villages in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

On the other hand, several thermal desalination plants have also been operating in the coastal areas of the country for inhouse use by the industries. A 48000 cubic meters per day Multi-effect Desalination plant has been commissioned in 1999 at Reliance Petrochemicals Complex in the western coast of the country at Jamnagar. The industrial giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has also commissioned a thermal desalination plant for their cement industry.

Challenges on the Road Ahead:

The industry still faces constraints moving ahead. The regulatory bodies lack the teeth to enforce many of the guidelines and the mandatory requirement of a functional treatment plant gets bypassed sometimes. Polluting industries have adopted an uncaring attitude and it has required active support of many NGOs to get them to act. There is still a large capital investment required for many treatment plants and most industries try to avoid it or go for a short-cut solution. Awareness and recognition of newer technologies has been slow in coming.

In recent times, the technical expertise and know how of the top water treatment manufacturers is pretty standard. Therefore, their success in getting big project orders has been dependent on their pricing, project execution skill and process engineering ability. This trend is likely to increase in the coming years.

Comparison of Kinley and Bisleri

KINLEY moved it off the No.1 slot a couple of years ago, but BISLERI brand

recall is eyebrow-raising -- the 38-year-old brand is still generic to bottled water

in India, which is worth Rs 1,000-1,200 crore (Rs 10-12billion).

And that is in spite of the more than 1,200 bottled water factories and 100

brands scampering for their share of the Rs 1,800-crore (Rs 18 billion) bottled

water market (Source: Technopak Advisors).

Still, 100 competitors’ means you can't sit back and relax, even if the market is

surging ahead at 40 per cent a year; you need to keep up the buzz around your

brand. Which is why in October last year, Parle Bisleri changed the look and

feel of its flagship product, introduced a new variant (natural mountain water)

and announced its plans to launch the brand in the US - a huge market for

designer waters?

BISLERI has ambitious plans to invest Rs 220 crore (Rs 2.2 billion) in its new

variant, manufacturing planets and distribution: it will invest Rs 100 crore (Rs 1

billion) -- funded through internal accruals -- in the natural mountain water

business, including Rs 40 crore (Rs 40 million) for two plants in Uttaranchal

and Himachal Pradesh, and Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) for infrastructure

development -- increasing the existing manufacturing facility as well as

widening the distribution network.

Over the next two years, the company will also spend more than Rs 60 crore (Rs

600 million) on aggressive marketing. It also plans to launch branded ice and

flavoured and vitamin-enriched water. But, laughs Parle BISLERI chairman

Ramesh Chauhan, "Those may have to wait. I am still overwhelmed by the

current changes."

To be sure, the changes are noteworthy. For decades now, BISLERI has been

sold in conical bottles -- a legacy from the 1960s when the water was sold in

glass beer bottles. Although it switched to PET in the 1980s, the shape didn't

change.

Instead, the company just added some more shapes: conical one-litre bottles,

hexagonal half-litre ones and rectangular two-litre bottles.

"We were just bumbling along," admits Chauhan. Now, both regular bottled

water and the mountain water variant are sold in a streamlined, round shape,

while the ubiquitous blue of the logo has given way to a more international

looking aqua green.

"It takes courage for a generic brand like BISLERI to make such a major

change," says Ashok Kurien, CMD, Ambience Publicis Advertising, the agency

that has been associated with Parle BISLERI for over 20 years.

The Colour of Money

Chauhan claims the changes are already bearing results -- apparently, sales are

up 50 per cent on a month-on-month basis. Equally importantly, the packaging

changes have helped Parle BISLERI shave costs.

Earlier, fixing labels on differently shaped bottles -- especially the ones that are

tapered at the neck -- was difficult and time consuming. Labeling round bottles

has increased the speed 10 times.

Eight months ago, the company also launched the prototype of a rounded bottle

with slightly wider necks ("Alaska neck", in industry terminology). The change

in design meant using 2-3 grams less of plastic in every bottle, which added up

to an annual saving of Rs 3 crore (Rs 30 million).

Even the new label helped the company cut costs -- by up to Rs 6 crore (Rs 60

million) a year. The earlier shrink label has been replaced with one made of

superior biaxially-oriented polypropylene film that can not only take more

colours, but costs half of shrink labels.

Now Chauhan is hoping the new bottle design will help improve the output as

well. "Earlier, the quality of the bottles wasn't consistent - some were thicker

than others, some were bent around the bottom and so on. All this hampered our

efforts to increase productivity," he says.

With a uniform design for all product sizes, the company aims to double

bottling capacity in its 23 plants, to 200 million cases a day, by the first half of

2007.

Market buzz

By and large, most brand analysts approve of BISLERI’S attempt to reinvent it.

Says Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consult Inc., "The aqua green is

representative of freshness and health, two qualities you associate with water."

The changed colour scheme also helps the brand stand out in a sea of almost-

uniformly blue-toned bottles of water, the colour that was brought into India by

BISLERI. Aqua green connects with the images of water, agrees A G

Krishnamurthy, chairman, AGK Brand Consulting, and former chairman and

MD of Mudra.

The extension into mountain water, though, has taken some market watchers by

surprise, especially since it carries the same brand name (which is virtually

synonymous in India with plain bottled water).

"I did not expect them to use the same name since BISLERI is generic to

packaged water," emphasizes Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak Advisors.

He adds that while building a new brand from scratch would have meant huge

costs for the company (perhaps up to half the present turnover of the company),

the opportunity it afforded would have been worth the investment.

There's another potential problem with the new launch: it looks the same as the

regular version, has the same brand name, and is just another type of water --

but costs Rs 8 more. Isn't there a risk in that strategy of confusing customers

who may think their retailer is trying to rip them off?

"Look at the label closely before you jump to conclusions," warns Kurien. Well,

the mountain water bottles do show a mountain in the green label background

and also clearly state what kind of water it is, with the cap bearing the same

image.

Kurien adds that even the crates for the new variant look different because of

the clear image of mountains on them. "We tried to create a family colour for all

BISLERI brands as well as make the difference clear," he defends.

Chauhan, too, feels that people demanding mountain water are a select few,

who will know what they are buying. Natural mineral water is a very niche

category at present, accounting for just 2-5 per cent of the packaged water

industry.

Still, BISLERI will have to deal with entrenched competition - Himalaya and

Catch have been present in this category for some time now. And BISLERI is

prepared for a battle.

In November, it kicked off a high-decibel print, outdoor and television

campaign, anchored by Ambience. The company has been targeting malls,

multiplexes, five-star hotels and premium restaurants to stock the variant, in a

bid to reach out to its target customer -- affluent, urban and health conscious.

It will probably do well, predicts Bijoor. "We are entering a generation that is

more concerned about health and wellness than ever before," he points out.

Chauhan is equally optimistic about the success of his new ventures. He is

counting on natural water sales crossing Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) in the next

two years.

Meanwhile, the market is buzzing with talks that the action surrounding Bisleri

is a "dress-up" to impress potential buyers for the brand -- speculation has

extended to the level that the brand has been valued at close to Rs 150 crore (Rs

1.5 billion).

Future Plans:

Mumbai: After dominating the Indian mass packaged drinking water market

with a 60 per cent share, BISLERI is all set to make a splash abroad.

In the next few months, it will start exporting BISLERI Mountain Water to take

on the likes of French brand Evian in the premium packaged drinking water

space.

“Now that we have launched BISLERI in a new hexagonal bottle, it is getting a

lot of appreciation. We’ll soon be launching it in Europe and America in 2-3

months’ time,” says Chairman, BISLERI International, Ramesh Chauhan.

Chauhan says BISLERI is aiming for at least $ 3 - 4 million of sales in the first

year.

However, BISLERI isn't eyeing the lucrative foreign market alone. The Tata’s,

too, want to go abroad with the revamped Himalayan mountain water brand.

The company plans to introduce new products like flavored and sparkling water,

both in the domestic and the international markets.

“We would be looking at the entire consumer pyramid which straddles every

kind of product offering, but that has to be on the plank of wellness. So that's

the platform we are creating,” CEO, Mount Everest Mineral Water, Pradeep

Poddar says.

BISLERI, too, plans to launch its own brand of flavored water by the end of the

year.

And certainly, for the Indian companies that have so far been restricted to

India's $ 500-million market, quenching the thirst of billions of more customers

makes great business sense.

BISLERI’s Plans of Expansion

BISLERI International Private Limited, India’s largest selling mineral water

company, has announced plans to establish 25 new bottling plants across India

to meet growing consumer demand. The company is aiming to achieve a 40%

growth rate in the current fiscal year.

Speaking in Mumbai, BISLERI International Chairman and Managing Director

Ramesh Chauhan said, "With the additional plants it will now be easier to reach

every corner of the country. Besides, with every new plant, there would be

would be increased capacity."

The company, which already has 52 bottling plants, is planning to invest Rs 500

million ($10.4million) in setting up these new bottling plants in Maharashtra,

Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, UP,

Orissa, Jharkhand and north Bengal states.

With a 60% share in the Rs12billion ($250 million) mineral water category,

BISLERI is also venturing into flavored water later this year, having already

launched BISLERI Fizzy Soda and BISLERI Mountain mineral water.

The company has outlined an aggressive market penetration strategy; a dual-

distribution plan, reaching newer markets, including townships and rural India.

The company is also setting up dedicated channels for its 20 litre jars to ensure

that every household and company gets service at their door step.

Anjana Ghosh, Director, BISLERI International Private Limited, said, "The

unavailability of clean drinking water, increase in water contamination and

health awareness among consumers has led to the growth of mineral water

segment. In the wake of rising consumption of mineral water even in the rural

hinterland there is a huge growth opportunity in India.

"BISLERI has become a strong consumer brand over the years and today we

have a long-standing relationship with our distributors and consumers”, she

added.

The company´s distribution network is being expanded to meet the increasing

retail and consumer demands. On a national level, there are 2,000 trucks on call

for BISLERI, while the number of trucks averages 300 and 250 in the Mumbai

and Delhi market alone. Every day, some 5,000 delivery vans drive out of the

52 strategically located BISLERI bottling plants carrying over 1 million units of

pure drinking water to replenish the stocks of 2,500 distributors and nearly

600,000 retail outlets.

EXPANSION

Chauhan may be short, stocky and nearing 70, but his enthusiasm and vibrancy over the years has not diminished an iota. After all, despite the entry of a slew of MNCs (including Coca- Cola with KINLEY and PepsiCo with AQUAFINA and their cutting edge marketing gimmicks, Chauhan has not lost his first mover advantage in the segment. He has been able to sustain and grow his market share in the over Rs.2000 crore Indian bottled water mart. “We have no competitor. Our biggest competition is our own incompetence,” he grins, describing how it is the unorganized sector, which is presently walking away with the largest chunk of their potential consumers. BISLERI claims 66% market share of the organized segment. “If we were present where the unorganized players are selling, they would not be there at all,” grimaces Chauhan.

Parle Bisleri Limited: Expansion plans

Parle Bisleri Limited is undertaking a major expansion to increase its manufacturing facility as also to widen the distribution network. The total project cost is estimated around Rs 260 crore. Of this, Rs 60 crore will be utilised to expand the existing manufacturing facilities wherein the bottling capacity would be doubled to 200 million cases per day. Around Rs 200 crore will be spent on increasing its distribution network five-fold over the next two years. As a result, the company will have 10-lakh retail outlets backed by a fleet over 5,000 vehicles.

Parle Bisleri also plans to procure recycling plants from Japan, for its PET bottles, and set up at least two such plants in Chennai and Delhi at a cost of Rs five crore each by this year-end. Crushed and compacted bottles from other parts of the country will be transported to the two plants and a better part of the compacted PET will go into manufacturing polyester yarn.

Though the company plans to come out with an IPO, two years down the line, the present capital expenditure plan will be financed entirely through internal accruals.

Under the leadership and vision of Mr. Ramesh J. Chauhan, BISLERI has undergone significant expansion in their operations. The company has witnessed an exponential growth with their turnover multiplying more than twenty times in a short span of 10 years. The average growth rate over this period has been around 40% with BISLERI enjoying more than 60% of the market share.

Currently BISLERI has 11 franchisees and 8 plants across India; with plans of setting up 4 new plants on water industry in India which has made it

Synonymous to Mineral water and a household name. So naturally 'When you

think of bottled water, you think BISLERI'.

CHAPTER 12

CASE STUDY

Case Study

Reinventing Bisleri: Introduction

In the early 1990s, Parle Bisleri Ltd.’s (Parle Bisleri's) Bisleri1 had become synonymous with branded water and had a market share of 70%. In the late 1990s, Bisleri's market share began to erode with new players entering the market. The new players also positioned their products on the purity platform and Bisleri felt the need to differentiate itself from the crowd. In the late 1990s, Bisleri launched its Pure and Safe ad campaign to convince the consumers that it was the only pure and safe branded water in the market. However, in 2000-01, Bisleri faced another challenge.

The Cola majors, Pepsi and Coca-Cola and the confectionery giant, Nestle, also entered the branded water market in India. Pepsi and Coca-Cola had an established distribution network. Bisleri realized that with the new players also clambering on to the purity plank, it had to reposition itself to arrest its declining market share. In September 2000, Parle Bisleri launched its Play Safe ad campaign. The company tried to add a fun element to Bisleri to rejuvenate the brand. The ultimate aim was to increase Bisleri's turnover from Rs 4 billion2 in 2000 to Rs 10 billion by 2003.

Bisleri Feels The Heat

In the early 1990s, the branded mineral water industry was worth Rs 3 billion, producing around 95 million litres in 1992. Parle Bisleri's Bisleri brand launched in 1971, was the leader with 70% market share. After 1993, the branded mineral water industry saw some hectic activity. On an average, every three months, a new brand was launched and another died.

In the late 1990s, many international brands were planning to enter the branded mineral water market. According to some analysts, the main reason for the boom in branded water was the fact that people were becoming more health and hygiene conscious. Branded mineral water which sold in only 60 towns in 1993, was available in 250 towns in 1997. In 1998, Bisleri's market share came down to 60%, while Parle Agro's3 Bailley had 20%. The remaining 20% was shared by regional players.

In 1998, the branded mineral water market had grown to a 424 million litre business, valued at Rs 4 billion. There were 200 brands available in the country. In their bid to garner greater market share, many companies, including Parle Bisleri tried to make quality and the purification processes they used their unique selling proposition (USP).

In 2000, the branded water market had grown to Rs 7 billion. New players like Pepsi's Aquafina, Coca-Cola's Kinley and Nestle's Pure Life entered the market. The market was segmented into premium, popular and bulk segments (Refer Table I for the price range in different segments).

The premium segment was the least crowded with just four brands: French transnational-Danone's Evian and Ferrarelle and Nestle's Perrier and San Pellagrino. The popular segment was where most of the action was.

Bisleri, Bailley, Aquafina, and Kinley were some of the dominant brands in this segment. In the bulk segment (5, 12 & 20 litres), Bisleri was a major player with Kinley and Aquafina staying out of this segment.

As product differentiation on the basis of quality became increasingly difficult, with each company claiming that its brand was safe and pure, companies began to use packaging to differentiate their products. Bisleri introduced a tamper proof seal in the 500 ml bottle.

However, analysts felt that Bisleri's efforts to reinforce its pure and safe image with a tamper proof seal may not be all that effective as competitors also had similar tamper proof sealed bottles. They felt that it was companies with strong distribution channels that would do well in the long run. Pepsi's Aquafina was strongly placed because it had the backing of Pepsi's distribution network in the country.

In August 2000, Coca-Cola India launched its bottled water brand, Kinley. Some analysts said that it would be difficult for Kinley to make a dent in the branded water market in India because it was already overcrowded and highly competitive. Commenting on Kinley's launch, Ramesh Chauhan (Chauhan), CEO of Parle Bisleri Ltd said, "It will be tough for anyone to beat us in this game. We will remain market leaders."

By 2001, the mineral water market was worth Rs 10 billion and was growing at the rate of 40% a year. Kinley and Aquafina made inroads into the market and by March 2001, Kinley had a 10% market share, Aquafina had 4% and the share

of Bisleri had come down to 51%. By June 2001, Bisleri's market share was 47% and Aquafina and Kinley together accounted for over a third of the market (Refer Table II).

In 2001, both Kinley and Aquafina were making huge investments in bottling plants and distribution. By 2002, Coca-Cola India planned to double the number of water bottling plants to 16 and Pepsi announced that it would add seven more plants to the existing five. In contrast, Bisleri had only 15 bottling plants and three franchisees. Kinley had 500,000 outlets compared to Bisleri's 350,000. Analysts felt that Kinley and Aquafina had an edge over Bisleri because of their strong distribution network.

However, one area in which Bisleri seemed to have an advantage over Kinley and Aquafina was the bulk segment. In 2000 Bisleri's 5 and 20 litres packs accounted for 20% of its sales. In 2001, the company planned to have 75% of its sales from bulk packs of 5 and 20 litres. According to analysts the bulk segment had vast potential, and was expected to grow fast. In 2000, 40% of the branded water consumption was in eateries, homes and restaurants.

Large shops and commercial complexes were fast emerging as attractive targets for mineral water marketers and Bisleri wanted to be the first to establish itself in the bulk pack segment.

Bisleri reportedly wanted to focus on the bulk segment because Pepsi and Coca-Cola seemed to be strong in the retail segment and would take some time to strengthen their presence in the bulk segment.

Said Vibha Paul Rishi, executive director (marketing), of Pepsi, "The bulk segment is not our core strength, so we would like to confine Aquafina to the retail segment for the time being."5 To strengthen its presence in the bulk segment, Bisleri was investing heavily on marketing and distribution.

According to some analysts the competition between Pepsi and Coca-Cola in India would shift to branded mineral water. With the cola market having remained stagnant for the past few years, the branded water market, with 40% growth would be an attractive option for these companies.

Coca-Cola planned to invest Rs 700-750 million in its water business by 2005 and Pepsi around Rs 800 million to Rs 1 billion. In 2001, Kinley contributed 5% to Coca-Cola's revenues in India and Pepsi claimed that by 2002, Aquafina would contribute 7% of Pepsi's revenues in India.

From "Pure and Safe" To "Play Safe"

In the late 1990s, Parle Bisleri launched an ad campaign to create a distinct brand image-'There is just one Bisleri.' Hoardings and point-of-sale promotion material backed an aggressive print-and-TV campaign, and every interaction with the consumer was used as an opportunity to reinforce the message that Bisleri was "pure and safe."

The entire campaign was built around the tamper proof seals. The campaign focused on the safety provided by the "breakaway" seal, by illustrating the ease with which conventionally sealed bottles could be refilled and recycled. Said Ashok Kurien, CEO, and Ambience D'Arcy, Bisleri's ad agency, "Our objective with the campaign was to highlight the tamper-proof seal and create doubt in the consumer's mind of the purity of the other brands.

That is, Bisleri is the only one that guarantees purity." In 2000, in the face of competition from the new entrants, Bisleri decided to penetrate every possible segment of the market by introducing more pack sizes and to establish the brand strongly with trendy packaging. In 2000, Bisleri launched the 1.2 litre pack. This added to the five pack sizes that Bisleri had (500 ml, one, two, five and 20 litres). The new pack was priced at Rs 12.

This pack was targeted at the regular mineral water consumer who is accompanied by a friend and also restaurants and hotels. In the long run, Bisleri planned to replace the standard one litre pack with the 1.2 litre pack. The company felt that although the one litre pack accounted for 35% of sales in terms of volume, it had problems in the form of leakages, loose caps and foreign particles in the water. Bisleri thought that a heavier 1.2 litre bottle would solve most of these problems.

Analysts felt that Bisleri would find it difficult to market an unconventional pack like the 1.2 litre one. This would require increased spending on marketing and advertising. However, according to company officials, the higher margins that a crate of 1.2 litres bottle (12) would generate, would be spent on marketing, advertising and on dealers.

The retailer price for a crate of 1.2 litres bottles would be Rs 120, against a total cost (including excise and sales tax) of Rs 60.87 to the company. Thus, the company would have a margin of Rs 59.13 per crate. The comparable margin for a crate of 1 litre bottles was Rs 44.57. This meant that the company would

have an extra Rs 14.56 per crate. Bisleri planned to spend this amount on advertising and marketing.

In 2000, Bisleri also launched smaller packs like the 300 ml cup. This 300 ml cup was targeted at large gatherings like marriages and conventions. A study conducted by Bisleri showed that its one litre pack was not considered trendy enough.

Analysts' felt that since Bisleri had become generic to the category, the one litre pack was not really considered a brand but merely synonymous with the product. The new look was expected to correct this perceptions. In place of the round ringed bottles, Bisleri would be available in hexagonal flat-sleeved bottles. The new pack was already introduced in 500 ml and 5 litre sizes and would be used for other packs. The new design was patented to prevent it from being copied by others.

Said Chauhan, "The new pack is trendy and has been well accepted by the consumers as we have experienced in the case of 500 ml and 5 litre sizes." The new pack also allowed better brand display. Vertical labeling was easier on flat sleeved packages. It made label information visible from all sides of the bottle. Bisleri also planned to target the soft drinks market. Chauhan was confident that by 2003, the water business would grow at the cost of the soft drink market.

Most analysts agreed that this was possible. In 2000, pure bottled water sold over 500 million litres a year. Soft drinks sold over 1 billion litres a year. With an annual growth rate of 40% for water, water sales were expected to catch up with soft drinks. Bisleri planned to target the soft drinks market by adding a fun element to the product. Chauhan felt that soft drinks were all about quenching thirst and having fun.

While it was widely accepted that branded water quenched thirst, there was very little that branded water could do to provide a fun element. Chauhan said that Bisleri would soon launch an ad campaign to address this problem. By 2000, the smaller players also began to position their products on the purity platform. They also offered better trade margins. New entrants like Aquafina and Kinley concentrated purely on building their brands in a big way. Bisleri had to come out with an ad campaign to make its brand stand apart.

In September 2000, Bisleri launched its Play Safe ad campaign. In the print ad, a lady in a bikini is shown lying face down, soaking up the sun. A part of the

lady's body is shielded by a bottle of Bisleri with the message: Play Safe on the bottle. The television version of the ad ran for 45 seconds. The film opens with a couple sitting on a beach in front of a bonfire. The girl suddenly starts running and is followed by the boy.

As she collapses on the sand, she whispers something in his ear which sends him back to the bonfire. He rummages through the bags, but can't find what he is looking for. He rushes to the nearest chemist's and picks up a huge carton. Back at the beach, he opens the carton, and finds 500 ml Bisleri bottles inside. The girl quenches her thirst, almost in ecstasy, as the boy watches her with a comical expression on his face. Then comes the message: Play Safe.

The campaign targeted the youth and hoped to convey a social message: young people need to make sure they are safe even when they are having fun. The ad campaign saw a shift in positioning from "pure and safe" to "play safe."

According to Ambience D'Arcy, the shift had been necessitated by the fact that every new entrant in the mineral water market adopted the purity. Said Chauhan, "Our observation is that people consume mineral water not for the minerals, but for safety. Hence the word "safe" is critical."

Will Bisleri Ever be a Rs. 10 Billion Brand?

Parle Bisleri's aggressive marketing was aimed at making Bisleri a Rs 10 billion brand by 2003. However, new entrants into the branded water market like Pepsi and Coca-Cola were equally aggressive in marketing their brands. In August 2001, Kinley launched an ad campaign with the tag line Boond Boond Mein Vishwas (Trust in every drop). The ad focused on trust in relationships. The 40 second commercial opens in a rural setting, showing cracked earth and a young boy waiting for rain. A Kinley truck arrives and sprinkles water all over.

The boy's face breaks into a smile. The ad also shows a father running behind his son's school truck to hand over a Kinley bottle. Commenting on the ad, Pandrang Row, executive creative director, McCann-Erickson, Kinley's ad agency said, "We were trying to show images where people had to trust the water they were drinking, or giving their children. Kinley is the water you use when you need to be able to trust what you're drinking or giving someone to drink."

In late 2001, Coca-Cola announced that it would enter the bulk segment where Bisleri was a dominant player. The 20 litre bulk water packs would be targeted

at institutional and home segment. Kinley's brand positioning of trust and purity would be maintained. With the entry into the bulk segment, Coca-Cola aimed to garner a market share of 40% by 2002. Sanjiv Gupta, Senior Vice-President, Coca Cola India said, "We are aiming to be either number one or a close number two within a year."

Analysts felt that with the cola giants shifting their focus to branded water in India, Bisleri would be the worst sufferer. Chauhan was already planning to sell a 49% stake in Bisleri. However, according to some analysts; he would wait till 2003 when Bisleri was likely to touch a turnover of Rs 10 billion, before selling out the 49% stake. Others felt that given the pace at which Kinley and Aquafina were eroding Bisleri's market share, 2003 could be too late. What remained to be seen was whether Bisleri's new positioning would help it to increase its turnover to Rs 10 billion by 2003.

CHAPTER 13

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

The important increase in India can be easily explained through the growth of 7the population and problems of water quality and water supplies. Until 1992, the demand for bottled water in India was mostly limited to foreign tourists, corporate meetings, conferences, etc. The introduction of bulk packaging extended the market to new and numerous consumers.

Bottled water is a particularly competitive market, hence companies need to develop diverse marketing strategies, such as accessing new markets by owning or developing partnership with regional brands, developing new products (such as flavored water) or by-products (such as cosmetics) and developing services (home and office delivery of water).

Today more and more companies are coming up in the package drinking water market as there is a lot of scope in bottle water market as seeing the increase in Indian population. Today the people of India are very hygienic and only prefer bottle water which increases in the scope of bottle water market.

By looking at the increasing demand of bottle water companies have to see that they use modern marketing strategies and also come up with trendy bottles and satisfy the wants of the consumer.

CHAPTER 14

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLGY

A Research Methodology defines the purpose of the research, how it proceeds, how to measure progress and what constitute success with respect to the objectives determined for carrying out the research study. The appropriate research design formulated is detailed below.

Exploratory Research: This kind of research has the primary objective of development of insights into the problem. It studies the main area where the problem lies and also tries to evaluate some appropriate courses of action.

The research methodology for the present study has been adopted to reflect these realties and help reach the logical conclusion in an objective and scientific manner. The present study contemplated an exploratory research

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The following are the main objectives of my Research study:-

1. To make a brand analysis of Bisleri as a brand.

2. To conduct a market survey of Bisleri.

3. The effects on Bisleri sale, profit and market share after the launch of ‘Aquafina’ by Pepsi and ‘Kinley’ by Coca Cola.

4. To find out the current position of Aquafina, Hello and Kinley mineral water.

5. Threats caused by Aquafina, Kinley and Hello to Bisleri.

6. Strategies and measures adopted by Bisleri to counter the competition by Hello & Kinley.

NATURE OF DATA :-

PRIMARY DATA: Data which is collected through direct interviews and by raising questionnaires to retailers.

SECONDARY DATA: Secondary data that is already available and published. Various internet sites, newspaper, magazines like A&M were searched in order to find information useful for completion of this project. It could be internal and external source of data.

Internal source:

Which originates from the specific field or area where research is carried out e.g. publish broachers, official reports etc.

External source:

This originates outside the field of study like books, periodicals, journals, newspapers and the Internet.

DATA COLLECTION:-

Primary Data:

The primary data has been collected by conducting survey which was carried on in south Mumbai especially in areas like Churchgate and Colaba.

SAMPLE DESIGN:-

Sampling unit: Residents & Retailers in the above mentioned areas.

Sample size: 100 persons

SAMPLING PROCEDURE:-

Simple Random Sampling to select the sample

DATA COLLECTION:-

Sources of data:

1) Primary Data which included the input received from directly the residents through Interview.

2) Secondary data from the Industry manual, policy manuals, books and internet etc.

Method of collecting data:

Interview method, Questionnaire

FINDINGS OF RESEARCH

1. Out of 100 retailers, everyone stored mineral water and basically these shops were centrally located to the market and were basically general store, confectionery shop and small kirana shop.

The survey revealed that almost every shop stored mineral water, therefore it can be interpreted that mineral water in current market scenario is on general demand and retailer enjoy selling it, as the get good margin out of it.

2. Brand of mineral water kept by the retailers

The survey revealed that out of 100 retailers surveyed, all over Delhi, 70% of the retailers kept Bailey's mineral water, 25% Kinley, 30% Aquafina, 40%Yes and 50% the retailer kept Hello mineral water.

However it can be noted that retailers prefer Bisleri mineral water which has got a share of 70% this is so because people or customer recalls mineral water with the brand name of Bisleri.

The new entrants basically Aquafina and Kinley is been kept by 30% and 26% of the retailers and they consider that this product will soon capture market share as the brand name will speak its quality.

3. Weekly sales of mineral water from the outlet

Out of 100 shopkeepers surveyed all over Delhi, the weekly sales of the mineral water averaged approx. 225 bottles of 1 lit. Each which means that a total number of bottles case or cases sold from the single outlet averaged around 15 cases. Out of this Bisleri mineral water is sold most i .e. approx. 45% of the cases sold from the single outlet belongs to Bisleri mineral water, whereas Kinley acquired average of 7-8% of the total sale. Aquafina sale constitute of 10%, Bailey's sale on an average constitute of 20% of the total sale. However other mineral water sales comprised of 18% of the total sale.

Thus from the above analysis it is very clear that Bisleri still holds on dominant position in the mineral water market, but at the same time new entrants like Aquafina and Kinley with market share of 10% and 8% respectively may pose threat to Bisleri the long run.

4. Frequency of distribution visit

Distribution is important parameters which holds on key position for any fast-moving consumer goods as the sale of this particular type of product highly depend on distribution network and its availability, also frequency of distribution is taken into consideration for the sale of this kind of product.

Therefore it can be interpreted that sale of any product depend on its distribution and thus we can say that distribution and sales are interrelated. The total number of retailers covered for the purpose of my analysis is 100, and out of this almost every shop considered gets the mineral water of each brand on a regular basis i.e. on a daily basis,

therefore linkage is always there with the company regarding the demand for mineral water. This is good sign for an almost all the company as they are in regular touch with the retailers.

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Daily Alternatively Weekly

5. Analysis on the credit policy of the distributor/company

It was found out that no company gives the mineral water to the retailers on the credit basis that is basically they like to sell their products on cash. However, this can one of the area where one can come and find a way to capture longer chunk of market share by offering credit to the small retailers who doesn't have sufficient liquid to invest in items like this, there if credit policy is being offered by any one of this companies for small period of time, say for a day or two, then this small retailers combined together may able to push the product in the market in a successful manner.

The company must think in this content and should follow push strategy, whereby they will able to have larger chunk of market size from a limited market share.

6. Analysis regarding information about the scheme

The consent regarding the prior information about the schemes from the retailers show varying percentage

BRAND YES NOBisleri 56% 44%Aquafina 60% 40%Kinley 63% 37%Bailey’s 57% 43%Hello 70% 30%Other 40% 60%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Others Hello0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Yes

No

Retailers are very sensitive regarding the schemes.

They prefer that product which gives them more margins and for this they depend mainly on schemes provide by the company. However, from the analysis it was found out that retailers prior information regarding the schemes is maximum in case of Kinley that is 63% of retailer gave consent regarding the prior information on of the scheme in the case of Kinley whereas rest of the 37% are not informed about the scheme. Followed by Aquafina, 60%, Yes ad 40% No, then Bailey’s 57% yes and 43%NO, and Information regarding Bisleri scheme is 56% Yes and 44% No. Thus it can be interpreted that, new entrants like Aquafina, Kinley are on aggressive path in order to increase their market share and at the same time its creating effect on the sale of Bisleri by giving incentive of schemes which the retailers prefers a lot and like to keep their product.

7. Availability of the various mineral water among retailers shows varying percentage

From the data, it can be interpreted that availability of Bisleri mineral water among the retailers is73% of retailers gets the product easily, whereas 18% of them feels that they do not get the product offer and rest of the 9% retailers feels that they do not get this product at all. Thus it can be said that, distribution system of Bisleri is good and should try to maintain this pattern in order to compete with Kinley and Aquafina which have strong distribution network due to their soft drink link. However, in the case of Aquafina 65% of retailers gets the product regularly,18%f get the product on an irregular basis whereas rest of the 15% retailer do, not get the product at all, therefore Aquafina should use its full distribution network of Pepsi in order to capture large chunk of market size. In the case of Kinley 60% retailers get the product easily whereas 15% of the retailers get this mineral water on an irregular basis and rest of the 25%retailers do not get the product at all. In the case of Hello 65% retailers get the product easily whereas 20% of the retailers get this mineral water on an irregular basis and rest of the 15%retailers do not get the product at all.

Therefore Coca-Cola should do something with its distribution network in order to capture more market share as it does not need to create it separate distribution network for mineral water; this is because they have already strong presence in the market due to its soft drink link. Thus it can pose major threat to Bisleri in a long run, if its potential is used at full capacity.

• Bisleri’s has strong presence in the market as it can be seen from the table that 70% of retailers gets the product easily. 20% retailers get the mineral water on an irregular basis, whereas rest of the 10% retailers feels that they do not get the product at all.

• Other mineral water accounts 60% in case of easy availability, 20% feels that they do not get the mineral water in a regular basis and rest of the 20%retailers feels that they do not get the product all.

8. Analysis regarding the sale of Bisleri and other mineral water prior to the launch of Kinely and Aquafina

The total number of outlet covered for this purpose is 100; and coverage sale of mineral water from a single outlet is approximately 15 cases of 1 lit. each. Prior to the launch of Aquafina and Kinley, the market size of each of the mineral water is as follows:

Bisleri 8/15 53%Bailey’s 3/15 20%Others 4/15 27%

If we compare this data from the analysis of third question data, then we will find that sale of Bisleri has gone down by 8-10% after the launch of Aquafina and Kinley. Thus we say that new entrants like Aquafina and Kinley which has very strong brand name attached to its tag ad with strong distribution network and aggressive promotional strategy can push away Bisleri ad may pose threat to it by capturing larger chunk of market size.

9. Analysis regarding the forecast of demand in the near future

The analysis regarding the forecast of demand of particular brand is derived out by taking an average of 100 retailers ranking. The percentages of demand for the particular brand of mineral water in the near future are as follows:

Bisleri 3/5 60%Aquafina 4/5 80%Kinley 4.5/5 90%Bailey’s 2.5/5 50%Hello 2.5/5 50%Other 2/5 40%

The demand for the Bisleri mineral water will be little higher than the medium i.e. it will have approx. 60% of the demand, whereas Aquafina demand will be high suggesting that its demand will go up to 80%, Kinley is predicted to be higher in demand due to its pricing, quality and brand image, the average of 100retailers feels that, it will have 4.5 (on a scale of 5,) demand i.e. its demand will be approx. 90% in the near future. Bailey's demand will be somewhere

around 50% as its average is coming out to be approx. 2.5 on a scale of 5, whereas other mineral water demand is predicted only 40%.

Thus it’s very clear from the chart that in near future demand for new entrants like Kinley and Aquafina will be very high and this may lead to major threat to Bisleri and other mineral water.

CONCLUSION

The players who will endure will be those who have a strong regional presence. Take the case of Team, which enjoys immense popularity in Tamil Nadu. Similar brands with a regional presence are Siruvani, and Koday. Thus, new players will be looking for a distinct positioning. One such brand is Pepsi’s Aquafina, the largest selling bottled water brand in the US. After its successful test launch in Mumbai and Bangalore, Aquafina was released in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Pune. Pepsi has invested over Rs.5 crore in the new Aquafina water project in Maharashtra, which is the only Aquafina plant outside the US.

According to the executive vice president, corporate communications, Pepsi Foods Ltd. “Aquafina will be helped by Pepsi’s network. Moreover, Aquafina will be served absolutely chilled.”

That makes sense too, since surveys have indicated that an overwhelming majority of the bottled water that is consumed in India is by people who are travelling.

With the big players, who have the support of the financial muscle and a large consumer base in other categories with them, like Pepsi, Britannia, Nestle and Coke — the battle is the tougher arena of brand building.

All the multinationals are looking at high-octane advertising targeting specific consumer segments. Sensing troubled waters ahead,

Bisleri is busy working on a strategy to soak up the competition and protect his water kingdom.

At the end I would like to say that being a market leader Bisleri have to adopt few things as follows because previously it was working under an environment which was equivalent to monopoly. Because he was the initiator in water trade business, but as the changing rules of business and market, one has to adopt & implement different &effective strategies at the right time to attain a position in this competitive world. I would recommend the few things to the company.

•Develop new marketing strategies due to raising competition in water trade.

•Give more margins to the retailers and distributors so that they eagerly participate in increasing the company revenue by rising sales.

•Reducing the cost of production by finding, changing & adopting new advance technologies.

•Should respond to the competitors when they give something new to the consumer by giving the same or better.

•Should give more stress & attention to the media and advertising.

•Should give proper service to the existing consumers.

•Reducing the delivery time and the water will be refilled within half an hour of the phone call.

•Awareness programmes about the hygiene water in schools & colleges.

•Displays of hot & cold dispensers and bottles at places like airports, metro stations.

•The company should organize camps at various parts of the city, Also road shows to bring about the difference between mineral water and purified water

CUSTOMER QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Do you use mineral water?

Yes

No

YES

2. If no then why not?

Price is the concern

Carry home water

Health is not an issue

3. If yes then why mineral water?

Health conscious

Convenience is the key

Others

Convenience is the key

4. On what occasions do you usually use mineral water?

When travelling

In College

To the office

At home

Hotel

others

When travelling

5. Do you think of a specific brand when you think mineral water?

Aquafina

Kinley

Bisleri

Bailey

Hello

Evian

Others

None

Bisleri

6. If any specific brand then the reason?

Price

Purity of water

Trust in the brand

Availability

Others

Purity of waterTrust in the brand

7. Do you have aqua guard, zero B, etc., at home?

Yes

No

Yes

8. If the price of another brand of mineral water is reduced would you shift your brand?

Yes

No

No

CHAPTER 14

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

While working on this project I did a lot of surveys by asking people personally about the brand of package drinking water they prefer; as well as caring on survey by questionnaires.

Most of the project was made on the basis of Primary data.

I personally visited the BISLERI plant at Western Express Highway Andheri East, visiting the plan was an experience of a life time I say the whole manufacturing process and how the water is purified and then packed. Most of the project was done by myself by my observation as I had visited the BISLERI plant an the certificate is attached above I personally visited the Marketing Manager of BISLERI where he told me about their marketing strategies and how they carried on their distribution and how BISLERI is able to maintain its standard at the top.

All the information collected was my own where I did lot of surveys of students, people etc.

I even personally visited different theaters and shops and hotels in the areas of south Mumbai specifically Colaba and church gate as different theaters, hotels and shops sell different brands of water. Also a questionnaire survey was done to find out the most preferred brand by the people.

Apart from this I visited sites like:-

www.bisleri.com

www.managementcases.com

www.icri.com

I referred newspapers economic times