copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington doi 101111j1467-8373200600310x

Asia Pacific Viewpoint Vol 47 No 3 December 2006ISSN 1360-7456 pp342ndash350

lsquoThe Taste of Paradisersquo Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

John Connell

School of Geosciences University of Sydney NSW 2006 AustraliaEmail jconnellmailusydeduau

Abstract

Effective global competitiveness is rare in the Pacific islands yet FIJI Water has been amajor success story since 1997 exporting bottled water to the USA and elsewhere A blandcommodity has been linked to an lsquoexoticrsquo place and sold to elite consumers as a form of culturalcapital The company website and newspaper extol the virtues of a lsquopristinersquo product produced ina natural context in an environmentally sensitive manner Marketing these themes and productplacement have enabled success in a highly competitive market Place has been used as a meansof marketing perceived taste distinctiveness and quality

Keywords

Fiji

marketing

niche

place

water

perhaps especially with water which might inmost contexts be seen to be an lsquooldrsquo standard-ised generic and homogeneous food whoseregional distinctiveness is far from obvious Thepaper therefore looks at how the particular con-struction and use of information has enabledone source of water to successfully differentiateitself from other competitors and in so doinghas produced a new structure of bottled watermarketing lsquobuilt and shaped around new typesof comparative advantage competition andpower structuresrsquo (Renting

et al

2003 408)and above all shaped around place

In the last decade bottled water has becomea major food product and a new segment of thelsquofoodrsquo market This has followed both somedegree of concern over the quality of tap waterand the perceived purity of lsquospringrsquo water andthe status attached to drinking a bottled prod-uct What is essentially the oldest lsquofoodrsquo of allhas been popularised and through reinventionas a health product sold to health-consciousindividuals in the same way that such productsas lsquoextra virginrsquo olive oil are marketed Con-sumption is thus not merely an individual pro-cess but typifies the emergence of a newurbane consumer niche where people use con-sumer goods to signify who they are and in sodoing are constituted as a new lsquocultural classrsquo(May 1996) Through this process bottled waterhas become both fad and fashion

The global market for bottled water has rap-idly grown primarily in developed countries

Try it for yourself ndash FIJI Water is quenching anddelicious not to mention virtuous and effica-cious It is from a beautiful far-away place andis the true taste of an island paradise (

WaitroseFood Illustrated

2004)

Small island states are usually disadvantaged inthe global market by remoteness scarceresources shortages of skills transport costsabsent economies of scale and other factorshence their ability to compete is restricted Glo-bal market access has thus tended to be effec-tively subsidised (as in the case of garments andsugar from Fiji) or has taken the form of verysmall niches (such as ylang-ylang from theComoros) However the former is at risk frommovements towards global free trade whereassuccessful niches are often replicated else-where as has been the case with Pacific kavaexports mainly from Fiji (Murray 2000) orexperience excessive domestic competitionDespite such constraints in the past decade onevery successful niche export has been devel-oped in Fiji ndash bottled mineral water This paperexamines the emergence of the market createdby FIJI Water and the relationship between thatniche and the effective marketing of both theproduct and the place

The paper focuses on the manner in whichfood products are increasingly marketed byplace and how imaginative geographies ofplace are constructed as marketing tools This isparticularly the case with food products and

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

343

but also in relatively poor countries whereconcerns over water quality have some validityFrom the late 1990s the world bottled watermarket grew at an annual rate of over 10 andhas achieved double-digit growth in all but twoyears since the start of the 1990s (Cioletti2004) Major transnational food companiessuch as Nestle Pepsi and Coca-Cola have allmoved into water and more than 120 bottledwaters were introduced into the USA in 2004(MacArthur 2005) More than 2900 brands ofbottled water are produced in over 115 coun-tries (httpwwwmineralwatersorg) and themajority of these stress some kind of linkbetween product and place (as much as linkswith quality) Most recently bottled water hasbeen marketed in specific categories with atleast in one American context the help ofgraphics lsquothe spring section shows familieswhile purified shows an active lifestyleImported has a French Alps look enhancedshows sports and sparkling shows food sinceitrsquos often served with dinnerrsquo (Turcsik 2004 54)

The rise of FIJI Water has reflected this ongo-ing trend as food (and drink) production hasshifted from geographical anonymity to closerassociation with place As the success of FIJIWater demonstrates geography increasinglymatters as a perceived arbiter of taste distinc-tiveness and quality This paper examines thatsuccess and its link to place

The rise of FIJI Water

FIJI Water began in 1996 when the wealthyCanadian but Fiji-based hotelier David Gilmourfounded Natural Waters of Viti Ltd after discov-ering a substantial artesian aquifer on the north-ern side of Viti Levu Fijirsquos main island Gilmourwas the owner of the exclusive Wakaya Clubhotel on its own private island off Levuka thathe had purchased in 1972 where he noticedthat guests (including specifically Bill Gates)brought in their own bottled water The com-pany website suggests that the actual impetuscame in a road-to-Damascus moment whenGilmour playing golf with his wife observed afellow golfer on the tee ahead drinking waterprovided by the resort At which point he wasquoted to have said lsquoIrsquove imported water from10 000 miles away probably from a highly pol-luted area and I bet within 100 miles there

is the most unique source in historyrsquo (httpwwwfijiwatercom) With geologists from hisBarrick Gold Company he confirmed a sourceof water in the Yaqara valley and took out along-term lease on 20 acres where the bottlingplant was constructed in his intention to lsquopro-duce a bottled water as unique as the islandsthemselvesrsquo (

The Story

of FIJI Water

NaturalWater of Viti nd)

The company was formed in 1996 and bothbottled water production and the first sales tothe USA began in 1997 Subsequent years dem-onstrated exponential growth From 1998 to2000 production went from 10 million bottlesto 25 million bottles and a new factory had tobe constructed During the present century pro-duction grew by about 60 per annum in everyyear and within Fiji itself there was a similarrapid growth with sales increasing from 90 000cases in 2001 to 250 000 cases in 2003 (CWatkins FIJI Water Finance Director Suvapers comm 2004) In terms of global and localsales there was no hint of any slowing of thegrowth rate at the end of 2004 and plans tofurther redevelop and expand the plant wereaimed at tripling production by February 2005It represented a remarkable success story

More than 97 of production is exportedwith the major market being the USA (seebelow) where in October 2004 it was awardedthe prestigious Secretary of Statersquos 2004 Awardfor Corporate Excellence for its lsquoexemplaryconduct corporate responsibility and innova-tions in overseas operationsrsquo Ironicallyalthough Gilmour resented the import of waterto Fiji from 10 000 miles away he had now veryprofitably reversed that process FIJI Water hadundoubtedly arrived

The company pays a lease fee and royaltiesto the local landowners and has set up theVatukaloko Natural Waters Trust Fund to pro-vide hygiene sanitation and education facilitiesin the five nearby villages The company paysan annual fee of about US$30 000 into theFund It has constructed five kindergartens inthe landownersrsquo villages and has providedscholarships to enable kindergarten teachers togain formal education qualifications Villagersare given free laundry and transport to workand wages that are above the Fiji minimumwage In a wider context the company hasprovided disaster relief in Fiji

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

343

but also in relatively poor countries whereconcerns over water quality have some validityFrom the late 1990s the world bottled watermarket grew at an annual rate of over 10 andhas achieved double-digit growth in all but twoyears since the start of the 1990s (Cioletti2004) Major transnational food companiessuch as Nestle Pepsi and Coca-Cola have allmoved into water and more than 120 bottledwaters were introduced into the USA in 2004(MacArthur 2005) More than 2900 brands ofbottled water are produced in over 115 coun-tries (httpwwwmineralwatersorg) and themajority of these stress some kind of linkbetween product and place (as much as linkswith quality) Most recently bottled water hasbeen marketed in specific categories with atleast in one American context the help ofgraphics lsquothe spring section shows familieswhile purified shows an active lifestyleImported has a French Alps look enhancedshows sports and sparkling shows food sinceitrsquos often served with dinnerrsquo (Turcsik 2004 54)

The rise of FIJI Water has reflected this ongo-ing trend as food (and drink) production hasshifted from geographical anonymity to closerassociation with place As the success of FIJIWater demonstrates geography increasinglymatters as a perceived arbiter of taste distinc-tiveness and quality This paper examines thatsuccess and its link to place

The rise of FIJI Water

FIJI Water began in 1996 when the wealthyCanadian but Fiji-based hotelier David Gilmourfounded Natural Waters of Viti Ltd after discov-ering a substantial artesian aquifer on the north-ern side of Viti Levu Fijirsquos main island Gilmourwas the owner of the exclusive Wakaya Clubhotel on its own private island off Levuka thathe had purchased in 1972 where he noticedthat guests (including specifically Bill Gates)brought in their own bottled water The com-pany website suggests that the actual impetuscame in a road-to-Damascus moment whenGilmour playing golf with his wife observed afellow golfer on the tee ahead drinking waterprovided by the resort At which point he wasquoted to have said lsquoIrsquove imported water from10 000 miles away probably from a highly pol-luted area and I bet within 100 miles there

is the most unique source in historyrsquo (httpwwwfijiwatercom) With geologists from hisBarrick Gold Company he confirmed a sourceof water in the Yaqara valley and took out along-term lease on 20 acres where the bottlingplant was constructed in his intention to lsquopro-duce a bottled water as unique as the islandsthemselvesrsquo (

The Story

of FIJI Water

NaturalWater of Viti nd)

The company was formed in 1996 and bothbottled water production and the first sales tothe USA began in 1997 Subsequent years dem-onstrated exponential growth From 1998 to2000 production went from 10 million bottlesto 25 million bottles and a new factory had tobe constructed During the present century pro-duction grew by about 60 per annum in everyyear and within Fiji itself there was a similarrapid growth with sales increasing from 90 000cases in 2001 to 250 000 cases in 2003 (CWatkins FIJI Water Finance Director Suvapers comm 2004) In terms of global and localsales there was no hint of any slowing of thegrowth rate at the end of 2004 and plans tofurther redevelop and expand the plant wereaimed at tripling production by February 2005It represented a remarkable success story

More than 97 of production is exportedwith the major market being the USA (seebelow) where in October 2004 it was awardedthe prestigious Secretary of Statersquos 2004 Awardfor Corporate Excellence for its lsquoexemplaryconduct corporate responsibility and innova-tions in overseas operationsrsquo Ironicallyalthough Gilmour resented the import of waterto Fiji from 10 000 miles away he had now veryprofitably reversed that process FIJI Water hadundoubtedly arrived

The company pays a lease fee and royaltiesto the local landowners and has set up theVatukaloko Natural Waters Trust Fund to pro-vide hygiene sanitation and education facilitiesin the five nearby villages The company paysan annual fee of about US$30 000 into theFund It has constructed five kindergartens inthe landownersrsquo villages and has providedscholarships to enable kindergarten teachers togain formal education qualifications Villagersare given free laundry and transport to workand wages that are above the Fiji minimumwage In a wider context the company hasprovided disaster relief in Fiji

344

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

The company employs only one expatriate inFiji hence there have been substantial employ-ment gains directly at the plant and in associ-ated transport marketing and office functionsSome hundred people are employed in Fiji andabout 50 overseas most in the USA (where theyare mostly employed in marketing) The com-pany employs about 100 villagers mainly at theplant where 90 people are employed and intransport Both ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijiansare employed In a relatively remote part of theisland it has made a significant contribution tolivelihoods

What lies beneath Selling place

FIJI Water has developed a highly successfulbranding strategy that emphasises the imagina-tive geography of Fiji The bottle itself (Fig 1)stresses the Natural Artesian Water and the labelndash entitled lsquoTaste of Paradisersquo ndash observes along-side tropical flowers a waterfall and a map thatdeliberately enhances the isolation of Fiji that

The origin of FIJI Natural Artesian Water israinfall which over decades filters into anaquifer deep beneath volcanic highlands and

pristine tropical forests on the main island ofViti Levu in Fiji Separated by over 1500 milesof the open Pacific from the nearest continentthis virgin ecosystem protects one of the purestwaters in the world

The company website develops these themes indetail

Birth by fire The geology of purity

To appreciate the water you must understandits source FIJI Water comes from Fiji a chainof 332-coral-rimmed islands lost in the vastblue reaches of the South Pacific It comes toyou from a virgin ecosystem far from acid rainherbicides pesticides and other pollutantsfound close to most water sources

Its home is the Yaqara Valley on the island ofViti Levu close to the sacred Three Sisters peaksof Nakauvadra Mountains revered for centu-ries as the ancestral home of the first Fijians

This is water born of fire Water that pours froma vast artesian aquifer sheltered beneath a val-ley formed by the furnace of the earth itself 4million years ago

The company promotional video

The Story ofFIJI Water

further emphasised that Yaqara is anlsquoancient valley virtually untouched by the handof man where nature has worked for a thou-sand yearsrsquo and its company newspaper the

Paradise Times

records that a Fijian spirit lsquoDegindash the omniscient snake god ndash guards the brandnew FIJI Water factoryrsquo (

Paradise Times

2004)Geological antiquity is combined with socialantiquity Social history thus proclaims this asthe home of the first Fijians (although there isno archaeological evidence for this) who arealso stated to have had no apparent impact onthe environment

The website provides a geological model ofthe nearby mountains entitled lsquoPristine pro-tected and sustainablersquo that shows rain waterfalling on the mountains lsquoremains confinedstraining to reach the surface in a naturally pres-surized sealed chamber that protects the waterfrom all outside influencersquo Indeed the websitenotes that not only is the aquifer lsquoin a virginecosystem at the edge of a primitive rainforestrsquobut lsquowinds that carry acid rain and pollution toother parts of the planet just donrsquot come ourwayrsquo Moreover

Figure 1

FIJI Water bottles

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

345

Carbon dating tells us this water fell as rainmore than 450 years ago 200 years before theIndustrial Revolution And it has been perco-lating ever since through layers of silica basaltand sandstone The result is a perfect naturalfiltration system so perfect that municipalwater systems try to emulate this kind of for-mation when designing water treatment plants

In various ways purity is said to be inherentin the product hence consumers might reason-ably trust in its purity and consequent safety

1

Advertising material is replete with referencesto the environment as is the intermittent com-pany newspaper the

Paradise Times

(initiallycalled

The Fiji Current

)It is argued in parallel that the taste of the water

is distinctive and it owes this distinctiveness to itsspecific natural origins It boasts a taste of lsquosoftfreshnessrsquo that distinguishes it from the compe-tition lyricism is even more evident here

The Taste of Paradise

Rainfall in a Fijian forest is a symphony ofsound in a theater of green Somewhere over-head raindrops strike palm fronds that movewith the wind clicking and tapping like hun-dreds of castanets Around you is a glimpse ofEden giant leaves large enough to lie on fernslike trees bamboo and grasses taller than aman And the rain formed in clouds above theblue Pacific dances down through the forestcanopy and seeps into the rich volcanic soilwending its way to the aquifer far below theforest floor

Prosaic this is not As the website furthernotes lsquoYou can also taste the unique mineralcomposition because geology creates its owntaste profile distinctive as a fingerprintrsquo FIJIWater is argued to be high in colloidal silicalsquoessential for maintaining good healthrsquo andwith a slight alkalinity that helps balance acid-ity and low in minerals that create an unpleas-ant aftertaste lsquoThis is what gives FIJI Water thesoft delicious smooth taste Florence Fabricantraved about in

The New York Times

rsquo Colloidalsilica ndash a compound whose properties areunlikely to be widely known ndash lsquocontributes tothe butter-smooth texture and sweet characterof the water This also explains why FIJI Wateris the accessory of choice for The Beautiful Peo-ple ndash supermodels swear that it makes their skin

elastic and retards the aging processrsquo (

ParadiseTimes

2004) All this emphasises the role ofthe healthy body in promotions the lsquocommonsensersquo idea among consumers that productsmade with fewer chemical substances arehealthier and ultimately that consumers canbelong to an elite market

Production and marketing similarly haveenvironmental consequences The websitenotes how the bottles are made of resin ratherthan glass because they are unbreakable and lsquoitis kinder to the environment requires one-thirdless energy to recycle than glass creates lesssolid waste per unit of content and enables ahigher recycle rate than glassrsquo Very little bottledwater is actually sold in bottles Similarly thewebsite notes how the square bottle was a con-scious choice as lsquoit allows for more compactsecure and efficient shipping Simply put youcan pack more water onto a pallet with a squarebottle with less wasted space So the energycost to a ship is a little bit less per bottle Inaddition FIJI Water leaves the islands on cargoships that are returning basically empty to theUS mainland This is simply an ecologicalbonus So there is no added burden of extratraffic in and out of Fijirsquo In practice FIJI Waterexported to the USA is loaded on containerships travelling from Auckland New Zealandto the American west coast

The resin for the bottles comes from the USAthe caps from Taiwan and the labels from NewZealand The resin bottles are argued to be supe-rior because breakage is rare they are lighter andeasier to stock are less costly to recycle and takeup less space as solid waste and use less energyin all these processes (

Fiji Current

2001) On thewebsite it is emphasised that the water is drawninto the plant and bottled in a completely sealedsystem hence lsquountil you unscrew the cap FIJIWater never meets the compromised air of the21

st

centuryrsquo Marketing is thus not only linked tothe purity of the natural environment of lsquopara-disersquo but to production processes that emphasisesustainable development in apparent contrastwith most competitors

Even the workforce is seen to convey distinctadvantages lsquothe final ingredient of success forFIJI Water is the people chosen to work for thecompany FIJI Water founders value passionintegrity and intellect and these are the qualitiescentral to the character of the Viti Levu teamrsquo

346

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

David Gilmour has stated lsquoWhen I first camehere I realized there was something veryunusual about the people There is a sense ofwelcome a sense of tradition and civility aworld of caringrsquo whereas the website extendsthis notion lsquoThere is no word for stress in FijianGrowing up here surrounded by some ofnaturersquos best handiwork engenders a serenelypositive outlook that comes from the core of theindividual the family the culture itself In Fijiyou feel a relaxed attentiveness that is in shortsupply in other parts of the spinning worldrsquoSuch uncritical and essentialist notions of pastand present Fijian culture are crucial to theimage of the enterprise

Ultimately these themes converge in thewords of the company Vice President JohnHarris who argues that lsquothere is this great imageof this tropical paradise but the beautiful thingis itrsquos true it exists itrsquos all around usrsquo (

The Storyof FIJI Water

) The name of Fiji alone is seen bysome as a major marketing device as the ownerof an American online bottled water storenoted lsquoIt sells because of is exotic soundingnamersquo (

The Palm Beach Post

2002 quoted in

Paradise Times

2002) As the first

ParadiseTimes

oriented to a British market observes

Fiji is as far away as you can go before cominghome again Fifteen hundred miles from thenearest land mass the 330 Fijian Islands strad-dle the International Date Line [

sic

] punctuat-ing the lapis-blue unpolluted South Pacificwith splashes of green fringed by fairytaleface-powder beaches and neon turquoisereefs The archipelago that is home to FIJIWater has a god-blessed climate and softlyspoken broadly smiling islanders making it asought-after hideaway for the very rich (

Para-dise Times UK Supplement

2004)

Finally FIJI Water may offer a virtual travelexperience The website notes lsquoOpen a bottleof FIJI water And remember this ndash we savedyou a trip to Fijirsquo Website and

Times

claims aregrandiose inaccurate clicheacute-ridden essential-ist and strategic and they are highly effective

Meeting the market

Although marketing place has been crucial tosuccess so too has the packaging of the waterin a square plastic bottle printed with images of

Fiji and the extraordinary success of productplacement The bottle has given the productenhanced designer appeal at a time whenalmost all competitors use familiar round bottlesand further suggested the uniqueness and par-ticular quality of the product The bottle wasdesigned to provide a three-dimensional labelCompany President Edward Slade argued thatlsquowe literally broke the mold with the packagebecause itrsquos square and itrsquos got three dimensionalgraphics and its positioning is differentrsquo (quotedin Anonymous 2000 70) He went on to notethat lsquowhat Fiji Waterrsquos done is go out there witha package that clearly looks like itrsquos worth moremoney and wersquove gotten people to pay moremoney for usrsquo (Anonymous 2000 70)

Shape was supposedly enhanced throughplace As Slade argued lsquoMost bottled waters arefrom cold mountainous regions The associa-tions with these places are great but theyrsquore notjust distinctive Water from Fiji Nobody wasplaying in that particular arenarsquo (quoted inAnonymous 2000 70) As the company VicePresident John Harris suggested lsquoWhen peo-ple look at our bottle they like to transport them-selves to a place that is tropical a place thatis serenersquo (

The Story of FIJI Water

) Packagingplace was an invaluable marketing tool

Few products have been as successful withplacement as FIJI Water in terms of the fre-quency of its appearance in films and theendorsements provided for it by prominentindividuals That placement has extended intoarticles in prominent newspapers that tend toeulogise the product and the company has alsosponsored causes such as AIDS and breastcancer research through fun runs FIJI Water hasbeen placed in several prominent long-runningAmerican TV drama series including

AllyMcBeal

Friends

Sex and the City

Buffy

TheSopranos

and

West Wing

The film star WhoopiGoldberg has been a strong advocate of FIJIWater and other stars such as Cameron DiazHalle Berry Julia Roberts Catherine Zeta-JonesKevin Costner and Reese Witherspoon havebeen photographed with FIJI Water as havesuch celebrities as Tina Turner Hugh HefnerMartin Scorsese Venus Williams and the boxerLennox Lewis during one title fight (where thebottle was covered up ndash for sponsorship reasonsndash but was given away by the shape) The golferGary Player is quoted lsquoI canrsquot tell you how

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

347

important good hydration is particularly in thesummer months Drink FIJI Water Whywould you put anything but the best in yourbody at my age Irsquom entitled to a little self-indulgencersquo (

Fiji Current

2000

Paradise Times

2003a) Gourmet cooks such as Nobu Matsu-hisa are quoted along similar lines lsquoSoft wateris best for cooking and I have not found a softerwater than FIJI Waterrsquo (

Paradise Times

2003a)Health and nutrition were repeatedly empha-sised By 2003 it was said to be lsquothe in thing asfar as accessories are concerned for the Holly-wood glitteratirsquo (Ragogo 2003 29) Howeverthis has now begun to come close to parodywhere in the film

Jesus is Magic

(2005) thecomedienne Sarah Silverman in diva modeimperiously demands a bottle of FIJI Water

Various upmarket hotels were quoted as pre-ferring FIJI Water The general manager of theBeverly Hills Four Seasons which places a bot-tle and two glasses next to all beds noted lsquoItrsquosall about being reflective of peoplersquos lifestylesrsquo(

Paradise Times

2003a) The

Times

frequentlylisted other hotels and restaurants where theproduct was sold Thus the general manager ofTrump International Hotel and Tower is quotedas saying

In our quest for excellence at the Trump Inter-national Hotel and Tower in New York we tryto offer our guests the very best of everythingFIJI Water is clearly the best water availableInitially we offered FIJI Water as a welcomeamenity and at turn-down Once our clientstried FIJI Water they wanted it served through-out the hotel The soft smooth taste and thesleek packaging of FIJI Water are a perfectcomplement to our property so we now serveit in our hotel rooms restaurant and spa(

Paradise Times

2003b)

Similar themes and messages fill the pages ofthe

Times

Some stressed the initial resistanceto a plastic bottle from hotels where only crystalwas hitherto used until FIJI Water devised alsquosilver slipperrsquo so that the plastic bottle could beserved in style

Doctors of various kinds have been quoted inthe

Times

and even contributed short articleswith their support for its perceived health prop-erties More generally the

Times

and the web-site extol the virtues of water as an essentialhealth and nutritional product Water is seen as

lsquoliving waterrsquo which lsquoin biophysical terms isbased on three main principles water is livingenergy water has memory water is a carrier ofinformationrsquo in contrast to processed waters thatare lsquoconsidered bio-physically deadrsquo (

ParadiseTimes

2003c) In the world of advertising wateris far from homogeneous even if the taste is noton the palate but in the imagination

Taste tests are argued to show that FIJI Waterperforms well in blindfold tests and separatetaste tests cited in the

Paradise Times

fromseveral American newspapers naturally supportthis Unsurprisingly the website and the

Times

are happy to quote statements such as lsquowaterworthy of walking onrsquo (

Boca Raton Magazine

)lsquomorning dew from the Wings of Godrsquo (

TooMuch

Coffee Man

) and lsquoTreat your loved ones toa clean taste of the tropicsrsquo (

Town and Country

)Correspondents to the website httpwwwmineralwatersorg provide a rather wider rangeof perspectives The

Times

also stresses how FIJIWater is regulated as a food product unlike tapwater and excludes such additives as chlorineIt has also been certified kosher by the Union ofOrthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Ironically American tap water is said to beone of the cleanest waters on tap anywhere inthe world whereas in Australia the AustralianConsumers Association has stated that thehealth benefits of drinking bottled water areminimal and thus described the industry aslsquoone of the cleverest gold-mine products of allgiven itrsquos virtually free on taprsquo (Nowlan 200430) The Australian Consumers Association hasalso pointed to the fact that the bottled waterindustry creates considerable packaging wastecompared with tap water (Plastic bottles andtheir caps are both in the top 10 items collectedin Clean Up Australia days and a comparablesituation probably exists elsewhere) Howeverlsquobottled water has a much sexier image than thetap variety and both consumers and landfillsites are paying the pricersquo (Nowlan 2004 30)Long-distance transport creates high energycosts and means considerable lsquofood milesrsquo

Shrewd marketing brought expandingexports By 2003 it was said to have becomeFijirsquos biggest export (Ragogo 2003) Subsequentdata suggest that it is probably about the fifthmost important export earner worth aboutF$35 million per year but could be rankedalongside sugar clothing and gold As water is

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

345

Carbon dating tells us this water fell as rainmore than 450 years ago 200 years before theIndustrial Revolution And it has been perco-lating ever since through layers of silica basaltand sandstone The result is a perfect naturalfiltration system so perfect that municipalwater systems try to emulate this kind of for-mation when designing water treatment plants

In various ways purity is said to be inherentin the product hence consumers might reason-ably trust in its purity and consequent safety

1

Advertising material is replete with referencesto the environment as is the intermittent com-pany newspaper the

Paradise Times

(initiallycalled

The Fiji Current

)It is argued in parallel that the taste of the water

is distinctive and it owes this distinctiveness to itsspecific natural origins It boasts a taste of lsquosoftfreshnessrsquo that distinguishes it from the compe-tition lyricism is even more evident here

The Taste of Paradise

Rainfall in a Fijian forest is a symphony ofsound in a theater of green Somewhere over-head raindrops strike palm fronds that movewith the wind clicking and tapping like hun-dreds of castanets Around you is a glimpse ofEden giant leaves large enough to lie on fernslike trees bamboo and grasses taller than aman And the rain formed in clouds above theblue Pacific dances down through the forestcanopy and seeps into the rich volcanic soilwending its way to the aquifer far below theforest floor

Prosaic this is not As the website furthernotes lsquoYou can also taste the unique mineralcomposition because geology creates its owntaste profile distinctive as a fingerprintrsquo FIJIWater is argued to be high in colloidal silicalsquoessential for maintaining good healthrsquo andwith a slight alkalinity that helps balance acid-ity and low in minerals that create an unpleas-ant aftertaste lsquoThis is what gives FIJI Water thesoft delicious smooth taste Florence Fabricantraved about in

The New York Times

rsquo Colloidalsilica ndash a compound whose properties areunlikely to be widely known ndash lsquocontributes tothe butter-smooth texture and sweet characterof the water This also explains why FIJI Wateris the accessory of choice for The Beautiful Peo-ple ndash supermodels swear that it makes their skin

elastic and retards the aging processrsquo (

ParadiseTimes

2004) All this emphasises the role ofthe healthy body in promotions the lsquocommonsensersquo idea among consumers that productsmade with fewer chemical substances arehealthier and ultimately that consumers canbelong to an elite market

Production and marketing similarly haveenvironmental consequences The websitenotes how the bottles are made of resin ratherthan glass because they are unbreakable and lsquoitis kinder to the environment requires one-thirdless energy to recycle than glass creates lesssolid waste per unit of content and enables ahigher recycle rate than glassrsquo Very little bottledwater is actually sold in bottles Similarly thewebsite notes how the square bottle was a con-scious choice as lsquoit allows for more compactsecure and efficient shipping Simply put youcan pack more water onto a pallet with a squarebottle with less wasted space So the energycost to a ship is a little bit less per bottle Inaddition FIJI Water leaves the islands on cargoships that are returning basically empty to theUS mainland This is simply an ecologicalbonus So there is no added burden of extratraffic in and out of Fijirsquo In practice FIJI Waterexported to the USA is loaded on containerships travelling from Auckland New Zealandto the American west coast

The resin for the bottles comes from the USAthe caps from Taiwan and the labels from NewZealand The resin bottles are argued to be supe-rior because breakage is rare they are lighter andeasier to stock are less costly to recycle and takeup less space as solid waste and use less energyin all these processes (

Fiji Current

2001) On thewebsite it is emphasised that the water is drawninto the plant and bottled in a completely sealedsystem hence lsquountil you unscrew the cap FIJIWater never meets the compromised air of the21

st

centuryrsquo Marketing is thus not only linked tothe purity of the natural environment of lsquopara-disersquo but to production processes that emphasisesustainable development in apparent contrastwith most competitors

Even the workforce is seen to convey distinctadvantages lsquothe final ingredient of success forFIJI Water is the people chosen to work for thecompany FIJI Water founders value passionintegrity and intellect and these are the qualitiescentral to the character of the Viti Levu teamrsquo

346

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

David Gilmour has stated lsquoWhen I first camehere I realized there was something veryunusual about the people There is a sense ofwelcome a sense of tradition and civility aworld of caringrsquo whereas the website extendsthis notion lsquoThere is no word for stress in FijianGrowing up here surrounded by some ofnaturersquos best handiwork engenders a serenelypositive outlook that comes from the core of theindividual the family the culture itself In Fijiyou feel a relaxed attentiveness that is in shortsupply in other parts of the spinning worldrsquoSuch uncritical and essentialist notions of pastand present Fijian culture are crucial to theimage of the enterprise

Ultimately these themes converge in thewords of the company Vice President JohnHarris who argues that lsquothere is this great imageof this tropical paradise but the beautiful thingis itrsquos true it exists itrsquos all around usrsquo (

The Storyof FIJI Water

) The name of Fiji alone is seen bysome as a major marketing device as the ownerof an American online bottled water storenoted lsquoIt sells because of is exotic soundingnamersquo (

The Palm Beach Post

2002 quoted in

Paradise Times

2002) As the first

ParadiseTimes

oriented to a British market observes

Fiji is as far away as you can go before cominghome again Fifteen hundred miles from thenearest land mass the 330 Fijian Islands strad-dle the International Date Line [

sic

] punctuat-ing the lapis-blue unpolluted South Pacificwith splashes of green fringed by fairytaleface-powder beaches and neon turquoisereefs The archipelago that is home to FIJIWater has a god-blessed climate and softlyspoken broadly smiling islanders making it asought-after hideaway for the very rich (

Para-dise Times UK Supplement

2004)

Finally FIJI Water may offer a virtual travelexperience The website notes lsquoOpen a bottleof FIJI water And remember this ndash we savedyou a trip to Fijirsquo Website and

Times

claims aregrandiose inaccurate clicheacute-ridden essential-ist and strategic and they are highly effective

Meeting the market

Although marketing place has been crucial tosuccess so too has the packaging of the waterin a square plastic bottle printed with images of

Fiji and the extraordinary success of productplacement The bottle has given the productenhanced designer appeal at a time whenalmost all competitors use familiar round bottlesand further suggested the uniqueness and par-ticular quality of the product The bottle wasdesigned to provide a three-dimensional labelCompany President Edward Slade argued thatlsquowe literally broke the mold with the packagebecause itrsquos square and itrsquos got three dimensionalgraphics and its positioning is differentrsquo (quotedin Anonymous 2000 70) He went on to notethat lsquowhat Fiji Waterrsquos done is go out there witha package that clearly looks like itrsquos worth moremoney and wersquove gotten people to pay moremoney for usrsquo (Anonymous 2000 70)

Shape was supposedly enhanced throughplace As Slade argued lsquoMost bottled waters arefrom cold mountainous regions The associa-tions with these places are great but theyrsquore notjust distinctive Water from Fiji Nobody wasplaying in that particular arenarsquo (quoted inAnonymous 2000 70) As the company VicePresident John Harris suggested lsquoWhen peo-ple look at our bottle they like to transport them-selves to a place that is tropical a place thatis serenersquo (

The Story of FIJI Water

) Packagingplace was an invaluable marketing tool

Few products have been as successful withplacement as FIJI Water in terms of the fre-quency of its appearance in films and theendorsements provided for it by prominentindividuals That placement has extended intoarticles in prominent newspapers that tend toeulogise the product and the company has alsosponsored causes such as AIDS and breastcancer research through fun runs FIJI Water hasbeen placed in several prominent long-runningAmerican TV drama series including

AllyMcBeal

Friends

Sex and the City

Buffy

TheSopranos

and

West Wing

The film star WhoopiGoldberg has been a strong advocate of FIJIWater and other stars such as Cameron DiazHalle Berry Julia Roberts Catherine Zeta-JonesKevin Costner and Reese Witherspoon havebeen photographed with FIJI Water as havesuch celebrities as Tina Turner Hugh HefnerMartin Scorsese Venus Williams and the boxerLennox Lewis during one title fight (where thebottle was covered up ndash for sponsorship reasonsndash but was given away by the shape) The golferGary Player is quoted lsquoI canrsquot tell you how

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

347

important good hydration is particularly in thesummer months Drink FIJI Water Whywould you put anything but the best in yourbody at my age Irsquom entitled to a little self-indulgencersquo (

Fiji Current

2000

Paradise Times

2003a) Gourmet cooks such as Nobu Matsu-hisa are quoted along similar lines lsquoSoft wateris best for cooking and I have not found a softerwater than FIJI Waterrsquo (

Paradise Times

2003a)Health and nutrition were repeatedly empha-sised By 2003 it was said to be lsquothe in thing asfar as accessories are concerned for the Holly-wood glitteratirsquo (Ragogo 2003 29) Howeverthis has now begun to come close to parodywhere in the film

Jesus is Magic

(2005) thecomedienne Sarah Silverman in diva modeimperiously demands a bottle of FIJI Water

Various upmarket hotels were quoted as pre-ferring FIJI Water The general manager of theBeverly Hills Four Seasons which places a bot-tle and two glasses next to all beds noted lsquoItrsquosall about being reflective of peoplersquos lifestylesrsquo(

Paradise Times

2003a) The

Times

frequentlylisted other hotels and restaurants where theproduct was sold Thus the general manager ofTrump International Hotel and Tower is quotedas saying

In our quest for excellence at the Trump Inter-national Hotel and Tower in New York we tryto offer our guests the very best of everythingFIJI Water is clearly the best water availableInitially we offered FIJI Water as a welcomeamenity and at turn-down Once our clientstried FIJI Water they wanted it served through-out the hotel The soft smooth taste and thesleek packaging of FIJI Water are a perfectcomplement to our property so we now serveit in our hotel rooms restaurant and spa(

Paradise Times

2003b)

Similar themes and messages fill the pages ofthe

Times

Some stressed the initial resistanceto a plastic bottle from hotels where only crystalwas hitherto used until FIJI Water devised alsquosilver slipperrsquo so that the plastic bottle could beserved in style

Doctors of various kinds have been quoted inthe

Times

and even contributed short articleswith their support for its perceived health prop-erties More generally the

Times

and the web-site extol the virtues of water as an essentialhealth and nutritional product Water is seen as

lsquoliving waterrsquo which lsquoin biophysical terms isbased on three main principles water is livingenergy water has memory water is a carrier ofinformationrsquo in contrast to processed waters thatare lsquoconsidered bio-physically deadrsquo (

ParadiseTimes

2003c) In the world of advertising wateris far from homogeneous even if the taste is noton the palate but in the imagination

Taste tests are argued to show that FIJI Waterperforms well in blindfold tests and separatetaste tests cited in the

Paradise Times

fromseveral American newspapers naturally supportthis Unsurprisingly the website and the

Times

are happy to quote statements such as lsquowaterworthy of walking onrsquo (

Boca Raton Magazine

)lsquomorning dew from the Wings of Godrsquo (

TooMuch

Coffee Man

) and lsquoTreat your loved ones toa clean taste of the tropicsrsquo (

Town and Country

)Correspondents to the website httpwwwmineralwatersorg provide a rather wider rangeof perspectives The

Times

also stresses how FIJIWater is regulated as a food product unlike tapwater and excludes such additives as chlorineIt has also been certified kosher by the Union ofOrthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Ironically American tap water is said to beone of the cleanest waters on tap anywhere inthe world whereas in Australia the AustralianConsumers Association has stated that thehealth benefits of drinking bottled water areminimal and thus described the industry aslsquoone of the cleverest gold-mine products of allgiven itrsquos virtually free on taprsquo (Nowlan 200430) The Australian Consumers Association hasalso pointed to the fact that the bottled waterindustry creates considerable packaging wastecompared with tap water (Plastic bottles andtheir caps are both in the top 10 items collectedin Clean Up Australia days and a comparablesituation probably exists elsewhere) Howeverlsquobottled water has a much sexier image than thetap variety and both consumers and landfillsites are paying the pricersquo (Nowlan 2004 30)Long-distance transport creates high energycosts and means considerable lsquofood milesrsquo

Shrewd marketing brought expandingexports By 2003 it was said to have becomeFijirsquos biggest export (Ragogo 2003) Subsequentdata suggest that it is probably about the fifthmost important export earner worth aboutF$35 million per year but could be rankedalongside sugar clothing and gold As water is

346

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

David Gilmour has stated lsquoWhen I first camehere I realized there was something veryunusual about the people There is a sense ofwelcome a sense of tradition and civility aworld of caringrsquo whereas the website extendsthis notion lsquoThere is no word for stress in FijianGrowing up here surrounded by some ofnaturersquos best handiwork engenders a serenelypositive outlook that comes from the core of theindividual the family the culture itself In Fijiyou feel a relaxed attentiveness that is in shortsupply in other parts of the spinning worldrsquoSuch uncritical and essentialist notions of pastand present Fijian culture are crucial to theimage of the enterprise

Ultimately these themes converge in thewords of the company Vice President JohnHarris who argues that lsquothere is this great imageof this tropical paradise but the beautiful thingis itrsquos true it exists itrsquos all around usrsquo (

The Storyof FIJI Water

) The name of Fiji alone is seen bysome as a major marketing device as the ownerof an American online bottled water storenoted lsquoIt sells because of is exotic soundingnamersquo (

The Palm Beach Post

2002 quoted in

Paradise Times

2002) As the first

ParadiseTimes

oriented to a British market observes

Fiji is as far away as you can go before cominghome again Fifteen hundred miles from thenearest land mass the 330 Fijian Islands strad-dle the International Date Line [

sic

] punctuat-ing the lapis-blue unpolluted South Pacificwith splashes of green fringed by fairytaleface-powder beaches and neon turquoisereefs The archipelago that is home to FIJIWater has a god-blessed climate and softlyspoken broadly smiling islanders making it asought-after hideaway for the very rich (

Para-dise Times UK Supplement

2004)

Finally FIJI Water may offer a virtual travelexperience The website notes lsquoOpen a bottleof FIJI water And remember this ndash we savedyou a trip to Fijirsquo Website and

Times

claims aregrandiose inaccurate clicheacute-ridden essential-ist and strategic and they are highly effective

Meeting the market

Although marketing place has been crucial tosuccess so too has the packaging of the waterin a square plastic bottle printed with images of

Fiji and the extraordinary success of productplacement The bottle has given the productenhanced designer appeal at a time whenalmost all competitors use familiar round bottlesand further suggested the uniqueness and par-ticular quality of the product The bottle wasdesigned to provide a three-dimensional labelCompany President Edward Slade argued thatlsquowe literally broke the mold with the packagebecause itrsquos square and itrsquos got three dimensionalgraphics and its positioning is differentrsquo (quotedin Anonymous 2000 70) He went on to notethat lsquowhat Fiji Waterrsquos done is go out there witha package that clearly looks like itrsquos worth moremoney and wersquove gotten people to pay moremoney for usrsquo (Anonymous 2000 70)

Shape was supposedly enhanced throughplace As Slade argued lsquoMost bottled waters arefrom cold mountainous regions The associa-tions with these places are great but theyrsquore notjust distinctive Water from Fiji Nobody wasplaying in that particular arenarsquo (quoted inAnonymous 2000 70) As the company VicePresident John Harris suggested lsquoWhen peo-ple look at our bottle they like to transport them-selves to a place that is tropical a place thatis serenersquo (

The Story of FIJI Water

) Packagingplace was an invaluable marketing tool

Few products have been as successful withplacement as FIJI Water in terms of the fre-quency of its appearance in films and theendorsements provided for it by prominentindividuals That placement has extended intoarticles in prominent newspapers that tend toeulogise the product and the company has alsosponsored causes such as AIDS and breastcancer research through fun runs FIJI Water hasbeen placed in several prominent long-runningAmerican TV drama series including

AllyMcBeal

Friends

Sex and the City

Buffy

TheSopranos

and

West Wing

The film star WhoopiGoldberg has been a strong advocate of FIJIWater and other stars such as Cameron DiazHalle Berry Julia Roberts Catherine Zeta-JonesKevin Costner and Reese Witherspoon havebeen photographed with FIJI Water as havesuch celebrities as Tina Turner Hugh HefnerMartin Scorsese Venus Williams and the boxerLennox Lewis during one title fight (where thebottle was covered up ndash for sponsorship reasonsndash but was given away by the shape) The golferGary Player is quoted lsquoI canrsquot tell you how

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

347

important good hydration is particularly in thesummer months Drink FIJI Water Whywould you put anything but the best in yourbody at my age Irsquom entitled to a little self-indulgencersquo (

Fiji Current

2000

Paradise Times

2003a) Gourmet cooks such as Nobu Matsu-hisa are quoted along similar lines lsquoSoft wateris best for cooking and I have not found a softerwater than FIJI Waterrsquo (

Paradise Times

2003a)Health and nutrition were repeatedly empha-sised By 2003 it was said to be lsquothe in thing asfar as accessories are concerned for the Holly-wood glitteratirsquo (Ragogo 2003 29) Howeverthis has now begun to come close to parodywhere in the film

Jesus is Magic

(2005) thecomedienne Sarah Silverman in diva modeimperiously demands a bottle of FIJI Water

Various upmarket hotels were quoted as pre-ferring FIJI Water The general manager of theBeverly Hills Four Seasons which places a bot-tle and two glasses next to all beds noted lsquoItrsquosall about being reflective of peoplersquos lifestylesrsquo(

Paradise Times

2003a) The

Times

frequentlylisted other hotels and restaurants where theproduct was sold Thus the general manager ofTrump International Hotel and Tower is quotedas saying

In our quest for excellence at the Trump Inter-national Hotel and Tower in New York we tryto offer our guests the very best of everythingFIJI Water is clearly the best water availableInitially we offered FIJI Water as a welcomeamenity and at turn-down Once our clientstried FIJI Water they wanted it served through-out the hotel The soft smooth taste and thesleek packaging of FIJI Water are a perfectcomplement to our property so we now serveit in our hotel rooms restaurant and spa(

Paradise Times

2003b)

Similar themes and messages fill the pages ofthe

Times

Some stressed the initial resistanceto a plastic bottle from hotels where only crystalwas hitherto used until FIJI Water devised alsquosilver slipperrsquo so that the plastic bottle could beserved in style

Doctors of various kinds have been quoted inthe

Times

and even contributed short articleswith their support for its perceived health prop-erties More generally the

Times

and the web-site extol the virtues of water as an essentialhealth and nutritional product Water is seen as

lsquoliving waterrsquo which lsquoin biophysical terms isbased on three main principles water is livingenergy water has memory water is a carrier ofinformationrsquo in contrast to processed waters thatare lsquoconsidered bio-physically deadrsquo (

ParadiseTimes

2003c) In the world of advertising wateris far from homogeneous even if the taste is noton the palate but in the imagination

Taste tests are argued to show that FIJI Waterperforms well in blindfold tests and separatetaste tests cited in the

Paradise Times

fromseveral American newspapers naturally supportthis Unsurprisingly the website and the

Times

are happy to quote statements such as lsquowaterworthy of walking onrsquo (

Boca Raton Magazine

)lsquomorning dew from the Wings of Godrsquo (

TooMuch

Coffee Man

) and lsquoTreat your loved ones toa clean taste of the tropicsrsquo (

Town and Country

)Correspondents to the website httpwwwmineralwatersorg provide a rather wider rangeof perspectives The

Times

also stresses how FIJIWater is regulated as a food product unlike tapwater and excludes such additives as chlorineIt has also been certified kosher by the Union ofOrthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Ironically American tap water is said to beone of the cleanest waters on tap anywhere inthe world whereas in Australia the AustralianConsumers Association has stated that thehealth benefits of drinking bottled water areminimal and thus described the industry aslsquoone of the cleverest gold-mine products of allgiven itrsquos virtually free on taprsquo (Nowlan 200430) The Australian Consumers Association hasalso pointed to the fact that the bottled waterindustry creates considerable packaging wastecompared with tap water (Plastic bottles andtheir caps are both in the top 10 items collectedin Clean Up Australia days and a comparablesituation probably exists elsewhere) Howeverlsquobottled water has a much sexier image than thetap variety and both consumers and landfillsites are paying the pricersquo (Nowlan 2004 30)Long-distance transport creates high energycosts and means considerable lsquofood milesrsquo

Shrewd marketing brought expandingexports By 2003 it was said to have becomeFijirsquos biggest export (Ragogo 2003) Subsequentdata suggest that it is probably about the fifthmost important export earner worth aboutF$35 million per year but could be rankedalongside sugar clothing and gold As water is

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

347

important good hydration is particularly in thesummer months Drink FIJI Water Whywould you put anything but the best in yourbody at my age Irsquom entitled to a little self-indulgencersquo (

Fiji Current

2000

Paradise Times

2003a) Gourmet cooks such as Nobu Matsu-hisa are quoted along similar lines lsquoSoft wateris best for cooking and I have not found a softerwater than FIJI Waterrsquo (

Paradise Times

2003a)Health and nutrition were repeatedly empha-sised By 2003 it was said to be lsquothe in thing asfar as accessories are concerned for the Holly-wood glitteratirsquo (Ragogo 2003 29) Howeverthis has now begun to come close to parodywhere in the film

Jesus is Magic

(2005) thecomedienne Sarah Silverman in diva modeimperiously demands a bottle of FIJI Water

Various upmarket hotels were quoted as pre-ferring FIJI Water The general manager of theBeverly Hills Four Seasons which places a bot-tle and two glasses next to all beds noted lsquoItrsquosall about being reflective of peoplersquos lifestylesrsquo(

Paradise Times

2003a) The

Times

frequentlylisted other hotels and restaurants where theproduct was sold Thus the general manager ofTrump International Hotel and Tower is quotedas saying

In our quest for excellence at the Trump Inter-national Hotel and Tower in New York we tryto offer our guests the very best of everythingFIJI Water is clearly the best water availableInitially we offered FIJI Water as a welcomeamenity and at turn-down Once our clientstried FIJI Water they wanted it served through-out the hotel The soft smooth taste and thesleek packaging of FIJI Water are a perfectcomplement to our property so we now serveit in our hotel rooms restaurant and spa(

Paradise Times

2003b)

Similar themes and messages fill the pages ofthe

Times

Some stressed the initial resistanceto a plastic bottle from hotels where only crystalwas hitherto used until FIJI Water devised alsquosilver slipperrsquo so that the plastic bottle could beserved in style

Doctors of various kinds have been quoted inthe

Times

and even contributed short articleswith their support for its perceived health prop-erties More generally the

Times

and the web-site extol the virtues of water as an essentialhealth and nutritional product Water is seen as

lsquoliving waterrsquo which lsquoin biophysical terms isbased on three main principles water is livingenergy water has memory water is a carrier ofinformationrsquo in contrast to processed waters thatare lsquoconsidered bio-physically deadrsquo (

ParadiseTimes

2003c) In the world of advertising wateris far from homogeneous even if the taste is noton the palate but in the imagination

Taste tests are argued to show that FIJI Waterperforms well in blindfold tests and separatetaste tests cited in the

Paradise Times

fromseveral American newspapers naturally supportthis Unsurprisingly the website and the

Times

are happy to quote statements such as lsquowaterworthy of walking onrsquo (

Boca Raton Magazine

)lsquomorning dew from the Wings of Godrsquo (

TooMuch

Coffee Man

) and lsquoTreat your loved ones toa clean taste of the tropicsrsquo (

Town and Country

)Correspondents to the website httpwwwmineralwatersorg provide a rather wider rangeof perspectives The

Times

also stresses how FIJIWater is regulated as a food product unlike tapwater and excludes such additives as chlorineIt has also been certified kosher by the Union ofOrthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Ironically American tap water is said to beone of the cleanest waters on tap anywhere inthe world whereas in Australia the AustralianConsumers Association has stated that thehealth benefits of drinking bottled water areminimal and thus described the industry aslsquoone of the cleverest gold-mine products of allgiven itrsquos virtually free on taprsquo (Nowlan 200430) The Australian Consumers Association hasalso pointed to the fact that the bottled waterindustry creates considerable packaging wastecompared with tap water (Plastic bottles andtheir caps are both in the top 10 items collectedin Clean Up Australia days and a comparablesituation probably exists elsewhere) Howeverlsquobottled water has a much sexier image than thetap variety and both consumers and landfillsites are paying the pricersquo (Nowlan 2004 30)Long-distance transport creates high energycosts and means considerable lsquofood milesrsquo

Shrewd marketing brought expandingexports By 2003 it was said to have becomeFijirsquos biggest export (Ragogo 2003) Subsequentdata suggest that it is probably about the fifthmost important export earner worth aboutF$35 million per year but could be rankedalongside sugar clothing and gold As water is

348

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

aggregated with other mineral products includ-ing gold in Fijirsquos trade statistics its actual statusis uncertain However its export role has beeninvaluable at a time when several of Fijirsquos tradi-tional exports notably sugar and clothing havebeen declining in value

The major overseas market is the USA whereby late 2004 at the time Gilmour sold thecompany it was the second largest source ofimported water in the USA after Evian fromFrance The company was then exporting 45million litres per year about 95 of which wasgoing to the USA and its market value wasestimated to be around A$63 million (

SydneyMorning Herald

2004) By 2003 FIJI Water wasgoing to about nine overseas countries andthat number has steadily increased In 2003relatively new markets were the UK AustraliaDominican Republic Mexico and parts of theCaribbean including the Bahamas Regionalmarkets had also been established in Samoaand Tonga In the following year the companywas seeking to add Germany and Japan to thelist of major destinations as part of a wider pushto enter Europe and South-East Asia After theUSA markets have largely been strategicallychosen by a combination of proximity (such asAustralia) and the extent to which bottled wateris already drunk (which is related to somedegree of affluence) Germany was targetedbecause of the very substantial amounts of bot-tled water consumed there and Japan becauseof the thousands of vending machines thatwould provide easy access

The international market represents some-thing of a geography of exclusivity Although FIJIWater reaches every American state except

Alaska its coverage is very uneven Californiais relatively over-represented and there aremany more stockists in Santa Monica alonethan in the whole of Alabama Arkansas andWest Virginia Similarly in the UK Chelsea hasmore stockists than such northern counties asDerbyshire and Yorkshire whereas the four east-ern states of Canada have no stockists at all InAustralia Sydney is over-represented relative toother cities and such harbour-side suburbs asElizabeth Bay and Double Bay are well suppliedcompared with western suburbs like Penrithwhere FIJI Water was slow to arrive

Locally in Fiji it has gained a large marketand considerable support The author wasin a Fijian cinema on one occasion when itappeared in the film

Paycheck

being handed toBen Affleck to the applause of the cinema audi-ence Gilmour has received the Order of Fijiand in 2002 Fiji brought out a set of four stampseffectively legitimating the virtues of Fiji NaturalWater (Fig 2) literally illustrating the impor-tance of the product at a national level

The future of a niche

FIJI Water has emerged to meet the needs of agrowing health food market and has strategi-cally sold the image of Fiji as an environmentalparadise This is part of a wider context wheregeneric tropical islands have become gratuitousadvertising backdrops to all manner of goodsand especially holidays where primitivism andthe harmony of culture and nature are constantlyreinvented (Connell 2003 574) Isolation asremoteness from industrialisation has actuallyenhanced the image of FIJI Water rather than

Figure 2

First day cover November 2002 FIJI Water bottle plant delivery van and consumers

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

349

being a marketing disadvantage Indeedalthough the greater global interest in food qual-ity has tended to result in shorter food supplychains and reduced lsquofood milesrsquo for FIJI Waterthe trend has been quite the opposite ndash distanceand exoticism are marketed as advantages Thishas also occurred with particular wines andcheeses and lsquofair tradersquo products like coffee andtea (Smith 1996 Renting

et al

2003 400)although these have tended to be either relativelyclose to the main markets (in the former case)or always at a great distance (in the latter) Thecompany itself argues that as people becomemore educated the source and content of foodand drink become more important (

The Story ofFIJI Water

) At the same time this has reflectedthe global shift to lsquonaturalrsquo foods and the rein-vention and popularisation of lsquoold foodsrsquo asinnovative products geared to health-consciousindividuals alongside the marketing of a pristineproduct and place Place and quality are criticalstrategic marketing mechanisms

FIJI Water is thoroughly embedded with value-laden information when it reaches the consumer(as the bottle label and its design emphasise)that ensures that both consumers and retailersmake connections with the place of productionand thus with health and quality This embed-dedness is even more evident in the website andcompany newspaper designed primarily forretailers The positive reception and endorse-ment of these values has meant that FIJI Waterhas become an excellent example of how lsquothesuccessful translation of information allowsproducts to be differentiated from more anony-mous commodities and command premiumprices if the encoded information is consideredvaluable by the consumersrsquo (Renting

et al

2003400) In so doing it has carved out one of themost successful marketing niches in the contem-porary Pacific for a product that ironically mayactually be less distinct than almost any otherPacific island export Success in marketing whatis essentially a free and tasteless product empha-sises the extreme manner in which lsquothe signs ofcommodities have become more important thanthe commodity itselfrsquo (Thrift 1994 89)

Part of this success has come through themarketing of place both in its lsquopurityrsquo andisolation but also through the marketing ofparticular components of that place ndash itsdistinctiveness the uniqueness of both place and

product being produced on site (right over thesource) and by a lsquotraditionalrsquo and lsquocaringrsquo work-force The website is replete with smiling indig-enous Fijians Both place and process define thequality of the product Marketing combines nov-elty (an exotic Pacific island group) and fashionAuthenticity is implicit in the link between thecommodity and an lsquoancientrsquo place and peopleand is rooted in notions of tradition and taste

The company has thus sought to create ele-ments of what can be seen as distinct localcharacteristics that place Fiji the Yaqara valleyand local residents as part of a lsquofair tradersquocontext in which everyone gains Marketingemphasises difference and even authenticity aslsquoevocations of exotic far-off realmsrsquo in languagethat effectively deploys lsquomany of the colonialtropes and writing strategies that have beenidentified in recent postcolonial theoryrsquo (Smith1996 516ndash517) The notion of a unique tasteconveys distinction or cultural capital on eliteconsumers (Bourdieu 1984) as they are markedout as somehow different exceptional and ulti-mately superior An enormous amount of sym-bolic meaning has been invested in water

Many Pacific market niches have been unsuc-cessful in the past primarily because of globalcompetition from better-placed sources hencecrops such as ginger kava and squash have strug-gled to survive as major exports from Pacificisland states FIJI Water has creatively produceda unique niche within the Pacific by establishingan idyllic product identity in a very distant mar-ket Its success at marketing place offers possi-bilities for other island niches and one of thefastest growing national exports is now a rangeof cosmetics made by Pure Fiji which uses islandfragrances and products employs 500 peopleand has a major American market (Baselala2003) The quest for new niches continues

The global market for bottled water continuesto grow but an increasing number of competi-tors have begun production Almost all are inlarger states ndash nearer to key markets ndash and mostalso emphasise close links with nature in nameand bottle label design and wording Althoughtransport costs are disadvantageous to FIJIWater the market is primarily of more affluentconsumers to whom price differentials are lessimportant than perceived purity and status Yetdespite competing for an elite market FIJI Waterdoes not and cannot sell for significantly more

350

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

than its competitors In Fiji there has also beenlocal competition Bula Water entered the mar-ket in 2003 (selling more cheaply than FIJIWater) and two other companies Aqua Fiji andDiamond Aqua followed In 2004 FIJI Waterfought and lost a lawsuit against Aqua Fiji onthe grounds that Aqua had copied FIJI Waterrsquoslabelling Despite following some of FIJI Waterrsquosdesign concepts none have made a significantlocal (or international) impact although a newcompany in nearby Tavua exporting IslandChill water became successful at the end of2005

FIJI Water faces challenges to safeguard theexclusivity of the product as markets becomeprone to imitations and possible downwardpressure on prices The bottled water industry ischaracterised by fierce competition low mar-gins a capital-intensive nature and constantchange so future market success can never becertain A regional market remains in place bothin Fiji itself and in neighbouring island states(such as Tonga and the Cook Islands) wherethere is no local competition and more realisticconcerns over water quality (although marketsize is small) New European Japanese andother markets may prove successful In simpleeconomic terms market success is no moreuncertain than for any other Fijian export goods

For any product that depends so heavily on itsimage future market success is unusually com-plicated As the water is depicted as having comefrom an idyllic place were such a perception ofFiji to change perhaps following political unrestthe market might respond negatively Here tooremoteness may be an advantage Health per-ception may also change in some quarters thereis cynicism over the marketing of a productdesigned (some would say) to taste of nothing Asthe managing director of one company hasrecently argued lsquoWater is one place people psy-chologically go for its perceived health benefits [Marketers] are trying to make the categorymore excitingrsquo Consequently it is argued thatthe water market is shifting to fruit-flavouredwaters (MacArthur 2005) Intensified competi-tion and relentless capitalist innovation andtransformation are certain Yet ultimately theelite and exotic status of FIJI Water may primarilywane with familiarity and market success interms of food consumption cultural capital isnotoriously fickle and transient

Note

1 In response to FIJI Waterrsquos constant claims that its wateris exceptionally pure through coming from a remoteaquifer and being 450 years old one of its competitorsTrinity Springs advertises that it is sourced from theIdaho Batholith lsquoa chunk of granite the size of NewHampshirersquo and that the water has been carbon datedat 16 000 years old and lsquowas rain and snow at the endof the last ice agersquo (Turcsik 2004 56)

References

Anonymous (2000) Island water floats on luxury and pres-tige

Beverage Industry

91(9) 70ndash73Baselala E (2003) From the kitchen to stardom

Fiji Times

17 December p 32

Bourdieu P (1984)

Distinction

London RoutledgeCioletti J (2004) Go with the flow

Beverage Aisle

13(5)24ndash25

Connell J (2003) Island dreaming The contemplation ofPolynesian paradise

Journal of Historical Geography

29(4) 554ndash581Fiji Current (2000)

Fiji Current

SummerFiji Current (2001)

Fiji Current

SpringMacArthur K (2005) Drink your fruits veggies Waterrsquos the

new fitness fad

Advertising Age

76(1) 4ndash5May J (1996) lsquoA little taste of something more exoticrsquo The

imaginative geographies of everyday life

Geography81(1) 57ndash64

Murray W (2000) Neoliberal globalisation lsquoexoticrsquo agro-exports and local change in the Pacific Islands A studyof the Fijian kava sector Singapore Journal of TropicalGeography 21(3) 355ndash373

Natural Water of Viti (nd) The Story of FIJI Water videoNowlan S (2004) The thirst for bottled water Habitat

Australia 32(5) 30Paradise Times (2002) Paradise Times FallParadise Times (2003a) Paradise Times SummerParadise Times (2003b) Paradise Times WinterParadise Times (2003c) Paradise Times DecemberParadise Times (2004) Paradise Times SeptemberParadise Times UK Supplement (2004) Paradise Times UK

Supplement SeptemberRagogo M (2003) FIJI Water making waves Pacific Maga-

zine July p 29Renting H T Marsden and J Banks (2003) Understanding

alternative food networks Exploring the role of shortfood supply chains in rural development Environmentand Planning A 35(2) 393ndash411

Smith M (1996) The empire filters back Consumptionproduction and the politics of Starbucks coffee UrbanGeography 17(6) 502ndash524

Sydney Morning Herald (2004) Gone to water SydneyMorning Herald 30 November

The Palm Beach Post (2002) The Palm Beach Post 15 JulyThrift N (1994) Consumption in R Johnston D Gregory

and D Smith (eds) The dictionary of human geogra-phy 3rd edn pp 88ndash89 Oxford Blackwell

Turcsik R (2004) H2Oh Progressive Grocer 83(5) 53ndash56Waitrose Food Illustrated (2004) Waitrose Food Illustrated

August

Selling Fiji and FIJI Water

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

349

being a marketing disadvantage Indeedalthough the greater global interest in food qual-ity has tended to result in shorter food supplychains and reduced lsquofood milesrsquo for FIJI Waterthe trend has been quite the opposite ndash distanceand exoticism are marketed as advantages Thishas also occurred with particular wines andcheeses and lsquofair tradersquo products like coffee andtea (Smith 1996 Renting

et al

2003 400)although these have tended to be either relativelyclose to the main markets (in the former case)or always at a great distance (in the latter) Thecompany itself argues that as people becomemore educated the source and content of foodand drink become more important (

The Story ofFIJI Water

) At the same time this has reflectedthe global shift to lsquonaturalrsquo foods and the rein-vention and popularisation of lsquoold foodsrsquo asinnovative products geared to health-consciousindividuals alongside the marketing of a pristineproduct and place Place and quality are criticalstrategic marketing mechanisms

FIJI Water is thoroughly embedded with value-laden information when it reaches the consumer(as the bottle label and its design emphasise)that ensures that both consumers and retailersmake connections with the place of productionand thus with health and quality This embed-dedness is even more evident in the website andcompany newspaper designed primarily forretailers The positive reception and endorse-ment of these values has meant that FIJI Waterhas become an excellent example of how lsquothesuccessful translation of information allowsproducts to be differentiated from more anony-mous commodities and command premiumprices if the encoded information is consideredvaluable by the consumersrsquo (Renting

et al

2003400) In so doing it has carved out one of themost successful marketing niches in the contem-porary Pacific for a product that ironically mayactually be less distinct than almost any otherPacific island export Success in marketing whatis essentially a free and tasteless product empha-sises the extreme manner in which lsquothe signs ofcommodities have become more important thanthe commodity itselfrsquo (Thrift 1994 89)

Part of this success has come through themarketing of place both in its lsquopurityrsquo andisolation but also through the marketing ofparticular components of that place ndash itsdistinctiveness the uniqueness of both place and

product being produced on site (right over thesource) and by a lsquotraditionalrsquo and lsquocaringrsquo work-force The website is replete with smiling indig-enous Fijians Both place and process define thequality of the product Marketing combines nov-elty (an exotic Pacific island group) and fashionAuthenticity is implicit in the link between thecommodity and an lsquoancientrsquo place and peopleand is rooted in notions of tradition and taste

The company has thus sought to create ele-ments of what can be seen as distinct localcharacteristics that place Fiji the Yaqara valleyand local residents as part of a lsquofair tradersquocontext in which everyone gains Marketingemphasises difference and even authenticity aslsquoevocations of exotic far-off realmsrsquo in languagethat effectively deploys lsquomany of the colonialtropes and writing strategies that have beenidentified in recent postcolonial theoryrsquo (Smith1996 516ndash517) The notion of a unique tasteconveys distinction or cultural capital on eliteconsumers (Bourdieu 1984) as they are markedout as somehow different exceptional and ulti-mately superior An enormous amount of sym-bolic meaning has been invested in water

Many Pacific market niches have been unsuc-cessful in the past primarily because of globalcompetition from better-placed sources hencecrops such as ginger kava and squash have strug-gled to survive as major exports from Pacificisland states FIJI Water has creatively produceda unique niche within the Pacific by establishingan idyllic product identity in a very distant mar-ket Its success at marketing place offers possi-bilities for other island niches and one of thefastest growing national exports is now a rangeof cosmetics made by Pure Fiji which uses islandfragrances and products employs 500 peopleand has a major American market (Baselala2003) The quest for new niches continues

The global market for bottled water continuesto grow but an increasing number of competi-tors have begun production Almost all are inlarger states ndash nearer to key markets ndash and mostalso emphasise close links with nature in nameand bottle label design and wording Althoughtransport costs are disadvantageous to FIJIWater the market is primarily of more affluentconsumers to whom price differentials are lessimportant than perceived purity and status Yetdespite competing for an elite market FIJI Waterdoes not and cannot sell for significantly more

350

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

than its competitors In Fiji there has also beenlocal competition Bula Water entered the mar-ket in 2003 (selling more cheaply than FIJIWater) and two other companies Aqua Fiji andDiamond Aqua followed In 2004 FIJI Waterfought and lost a lawsuit against Aqua Fiji onthe grounds that Aqua had copied FIJI Waterrsquoslabelling Despite following some of FIJI Waterrsquosdesign concepts none have made a significantlocal (or international) impact although a newcompany in nearby Tavua exporting IslandChill water became successful at the end of2005

FIJI Water faces challenges to safeguard theexclusivity of the product as markets becomeprone to imitations and possible downwardpressure on prices The bottled water industry ischaracterised by fierce competition low mar-gins a capital-intensive nature and constantchange so future market success can never becertain A regional market remains in place bothin Fiji itself and in neighbouring island states(such as Tonga and the Cook Islands) wherethere is no local competition and more realisticconcerns over water quality (although marketsize is small) New European Japanese andother markets may prove successful In simpleeconomic terms market success is no moreuncertain than for any other Fijian export goods

For any product that depends so heavily on itsimage future market success is unusually com-plicated As the water is depicted as having comefrom an idyllic place were such a perception ofFiji to change perhaps following political unrestthe market might respond negatively Here tooremoteness may be an advantage Health per-ception may also change in some quarters thereis cynicism over the marketing of a productdesigned (some would say) to taste of nothing Asthe managing director of one company hasrecently argued lsquoWater is one place people psy-chologically go for its perceived health benefits [Marketers] are trying to make the categorymore excitingrsquo Consequently it is argued thatthe water market is shifting to fruit-flavouredwaters (MacArthur 2005) Intensified competi-tion and relentless capitalist innovation andtransformation are certain Yet ultimately theelite and exotic status of FIJI Water may primarilywane with familiarity and market success interms of food consumption cultural capital isnotoriously fickle and transient

Note

1 In response to FIJI Waterrsquos constant claims that its wateris exceptionally pure through coming from a remoteaquifer and being 450 years old one of its competitorsTrinity Springs advertises that it is sourced from theIdaho Batholith lsquoa chunk of granite the size of NewHampshirersquo and that the water has been carbon datedat 16 000 years old and lsquowas rain and snow at the endof the last ice agersquo (Turcsik 2004 56)

References

Anonymous (2000) Island water floats on luxury and pres-tige

Beverage Industry

91(9) 70ndash73Baselala E (2003) From the kitchen to stardom

Fiji Times

17 December p 32

Bourdieu P (1984)

Distinction

London RoutledgeCioletti J (2004) Go with the flow

Beverage Aisle

13(5)24ndash25

Connell J (2003) Island dreaming The contemplation ofPolynesian paradise

Journal of Historical Geography

29(4) 554ndash581Fiji Current (2000)

Fiji Current

SummerFiji Current (2001)

Fiji Current

SpringMacArthur K (2005) Drink your fruits veggies Waterrsquos the

new fitness fad

Advertising Age

76(1) 4ndash5May J (1996) lsquoA little taste of something more exoticrsquo The

imaginative geographies of everyday life

Geography81(1) 57ndash64

Murray W (2000) Neoliberal globalisation lsquoexoticrsquo agro-exports and local change in the Pacific Islands A studyof the Fijian kava sector Singapore Journal of TropicalGeography 21(3) 355ndash373

Natural Water of Viti (nd) The Story of FIJI Water videoNowlan S (2004) The thirst for bottled water Habitat

Australia 32(5) 30Paradise Times (2002) Paradise Times FallParadise Times (2003a) Paradise Times SummerParadise Times (2003b) Paradise Times WinterParadise Times (2003c) Paradise Times DecemberParadise Times (2004) Paradise Times SeptemberParadise Times UK Supplement (2004) Paradise Times UK

Supplement SeptemberRagogo M (2003) FIJI Water making waves Pacific Maga-

zine July p 29Renting H T Marsden and J Banks (2003) Understanding

alternative food networks Exploring the role of shortfood supply chains in rural development Environmentand Planning A 35(2) 393ndash411

Smith M (1996) The empire filters back Consumptionproduction and the politics of Starbucks coffee UrbanGeography 17(6) 502ndash524

Sydney Morning Herald (2004) Gone to water SydneyMorning Herald 30 November

The Palm Beach Post (2002) The Palm Beach Post 15 JulyThrift N (1994) Consumption in R Johnston D Gregory

and D Smith (eds) The dictionary of human geogra-phy 3rd edn pp 88ndash89 Oxford Blackwell

Turcsik R (2004) H2Oh Progressive Grocer 83(5) 53ndash56Waitrose Food Illustrated (2004) Waitrose Food Illustrated

August

350

copy 2006 Victoria University of Wellington

J Connell

than its competitors In Fiji there has also beenlocal competition Bula Water entered the mar-ket in 2003 (selling more cheaply than FIJIWater) and two other companies Aqua Fiji andDiamond Aqua followed In 2004 FIJI Waterfought and lost a lawsuit against Aqua Fiji onthe grounds that Aqua had copied FIJI Waterrsquoslabelling Despite following some of FIJI Waterrsquosdesign concepts none have made a significantlocal (or international) impact although a newcompany in nearby Tavua exporting IslandChill water became successful at the end of2005

FIJI Water faces challenges to safeguard theexclusivity of the product as markets becomeprone to imitations and possible downwardpressure on prices The bottled water industry ischaracterised by fierce competition low mar-gins a capital-intensive nature and constantchange so future market success can never becertain A regional market remains in place bothin Fiji itself and in neighbouring island states(such as Tonga and the Cook Islands) wherethere is no local competition and more realisticconcerns over water quality (although marketsize is small) New European Japanese andother markets may prove successful In simpleeconomic terms market success is no moreuncertain than for any other Fijian export goods

For any product that depends so heavily on itsimage future market success is unusually com-plicated As the water is depicted as having comefrom an idyllic place were such a perception ofFiji to change perhaps following political unrestthe market might respond negatively Here tooremoteness may be an advantage Health per-ception may also change in some quarters thereis cynicism over the marketing of a productdesigned (some would say) to taste of nothing Asthe managing director of one company hasrecently argued lsquoWater is one place people psy-chologically go for its perceived health benefits [Marketers] are trying to make the categorymore excitingrsquo Consequently it is argued thatthe water market is shifting to fruit-flavouredwaters (MacArthur 2005) Intensified competi-tion and relentless capitalist innovation andtransformation are certain Yet ultimately theelite and exotic status of FIJI Water may primarilywane with familiarity and market success interms of food consumption cultural capital isnotoriously fickle and transient

Note

1 In response to FIJI Waterrsquos constant claims that its wateris exceptionally pure through coming from a remoteaquifer and being 450 years old one of its competitorsTrinity Springs advertises that it is sourced from theIdaho Batholith lsquoa chunk of granite the size of NewHampshirersquo and that the water has been carbon datedat 16 000 years old and lsquowas rain and snow at the endof the last ice agersquo (Turcsik 2004 56)

References

Anonymous (2000) Island water floats on luxury and pres-tige

Beverage Industry

91(9) 70ndash73Baselala E (2003) From the kitchen to stardom

Fiji Times

17 December p 32

Bourdieu P (1984)

Distinction

London RoutledgeCioletti J (2004) Go with the flow

Beverage Aisle

13(5)24ndash25

Connell J (2003) Island dreaming The contemplation ofPolynesian paradise

Journal of Historical Geography

29(4) 554ndash581Fiji Current (2000)

Fiji Current

SummerFiji Current (2001)

Fiji Current

SpringMacArthur K (2005) Drink your fruits veggies Waterrsquos the

new fitness fad

Advertising Age

76(1) 4ndash5May J (1996) lsquoA little taste of something more exoticrsquo The

imaginative geographies of everyday life

Geography81(1) 57ndash64

Murray W (2000) Neoliberal globalisation lsquoexoticrsquo agro-exports and local change in the Pacific Islands A studyof the Fijian kava sector Singapore Journal of TropicalGeography 21(3) 355ndash373

Natural Water of Viti (nd) The Story of FIJI Water videoNowlan S (2004) The thirst for bottled water Habitat

Australia 32(5) 30Paradise Times (2002) Paradise Times FallParadise Times (2003a) Paradise Times SummerParadise Times (2003b) Paradise Times WinterParadise Times (2003c) Paradise Times DecemberParadise Times (2004) Paradise Times SeptemberParadise Times UK Supplement (2004) Paradise Times UK

Supplement SeptemberRagogo M (2003) FIJI Water making waves Pacific Maga-

zine July p 29Renting H T Marsden and J Banks (2003) Understanding

alternative food networks Exploring the role of shortfood supply chains in rural development Environmentand Planning A 35(2) 393ndash411

Smith M (1996) The empire filters back Consumptionproduction and the politics of Starbucks coffee UrbanGeography 17(6) 502ndash524

Sydney Morning Herald (2004) Gone to water SydneyMorning Herald 30 November

The Palm Beach Post (2002) The Palm Beach Post 15 JulyThrift N (1994) Consumption in R Johnston D Gregory

and D Smith (eds) The dictionary of human geogra-phy 3rd edn pp 88ndash89 Oxford Blackwell

Turcsik R (2004) H2Oh Progressive Grocer 83(5) 53ndash56Waitrose Food Illustrated (2004) Waitrose Food Illustrated

August