A PROJECT REPORT ON

“A detailed study of Indian Mineral Water Industry - Special reference to

BISLERI”

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

LALA LAJPAT RAI COLLEGE, MAHALAXMI, MUMBAI

SUBMITTED BY

Mr. RISHAB PRAVIN WAHI

TYBMS

SEMESTER VI

ROLL NO: 192001072

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Prof. Mona Thakkar Pandya

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 ACADEMIC YEAR 2021-2022

MAHALAXMI ,MUMBAI - 36

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 DECLARATION

I the undersigned Mr. Rishab Pravin Wahi here by declare that the work

embodied in this project work titled “A detailed study of Indian Mineral Water

Industry - Special reference to BISLERI”,

Forms my own contribution to the research work carried out under the guidance

of Prof Mona Thakkar Pandya is a research of my own project work and has not been

previously submitted to any other University for any other Degree to this or any other

University.

Wherever reference has been made to previous works of others, it has been

clearly indicated as such and included in the bibliography

I, here by further declare that all the information of this document has been obtained

and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct.

Name and signature of learner

Certified by: Mona Thakkar Pandya

Name and signature of Guiding Teacher

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr Rishab Wahi, Student of LALA LAJPAT RAI COLLEGE OF
COMMERCE & ECONOMICS Studying in T.Y B.M.S (MARKETING) (Semester VI) has
successfully completed his project on “A detailed study of Indian Mineral Water Industry
- Special reference to BISLERI” in the academic year 2021-2022
The information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge

Name and signature of Project Guide

Name and signature of Principal

Name and signature of Internal Examiner

Name and signature of External Examiner

Date of submission

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth is so
enormous.
I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh dimensions
is the completion of this project.
I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me chance to do this
project.
I would like to thank my principal, Dr Neelam Y. Arora for providing the necessary
facilities required for the completion for this project.
I take this opportunity to thank our coordinator Dr Arun S. Poojary, for his moral support and
guidance.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide Mona Thakkar
Pandya whose guidance and care made the project successful

I would like to thank my College Library, for having provided various reference books and
magazines related to my project

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly, helped me in
the completion of the project especially my parents and peers who supported me throughout
my project

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 Executive Summary

Package drinking water:

The fountain of all life. Even a toddler will tell you it is a prime need of the body. Sixty per
cent of our body weight is made up of it. Water can also be the cause of much misery.
Especially in India, where contaminated water continues to bring down millions with diseases
such as diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice and gastro-enteritis.

Getting pure drinking water from municipal taps in cities and towns is now a luxury. At home
most people are forced to either boil water or install purifiers. While traveling or eating out in
restaurants, buying bottled water has become a necessity. This need has seen an explosion of
companies marketing ―safe drinking water‖ in bottles across the country.

Now around 100 companies sell an estimated 424 million liters of bottled water valued
at around Rs. 200crore in the country annually.

The tradition of bottled water and mineral water is not very old. Even in western countries the
practice of bottled drinking water started in 1950s. The trend of having mineral water gained
grounds in the market.

Since ancient time people have used water from mineral springs, especially hot springs, for
bathing due to its supposed therapeutic value for rheumatism, arthritis, skin diseases, and
various other ailments. Depending on the temperature of the water, the location, the altitude,
and the climate at the spring, it can be used to cure different ailments. This started the trend
of using mineral water for drinking purpose to exploit the therapeutic value of the water.
This trend started gaining momentum in mid 1970s and since then large quantities of bottled
water from mineral springs in France and other European The concept of bottled has been
quite prevalent in western countries due to greater health consciousness and higher
awareness about health and hygiene countries are exported every year.

In INDIA with exposure of media and exposure to international life styles, deteriorating
levels of potable water, increase in a number of water borne cases, increase in awareness
about health and hygiene and other related factors led to acceptability of concept of mineral
water. The market has not looked back ever since then and has grown leaps and bounds to
such an extent that a number of genuine as well as fly-by -night operators have entered it to
milk it.

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 Table of Content

Chapter Particular Pg no
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1 1
1.1 Objective
1.2 Research Methodology

1.3 Scope Of Study

1.4 Limitations

1.5 Sample

2 PACKAGE DRINKING WATER 2-5

2.1 How is Bottle water different from Tap Water

2.2 Competition

2.3 Types Of Bottle Water

2.4 Growth In Bottle water Industry

BISLERI
3 6-10
3.1 Introduction

3.2 Expansion

3.3 Bisleri Today

MANUFACTURING PROCESS
4 10-17
4.1 Storing Of Water

4.2 6 Stages Of Water Treatment Plant

4.3 Blowing Process

4.4 Blowing Plant

4.5 Filling Part

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 5 MARKETING MIX 17-35

5.1 Product

5.2 Price

5.3 Place

5.4 Promotion

5.5 Segmentation

5.6 Marketing Practices

5.7 Swot Analysis

5.8 Trade Promotion Tools

6 CASE 36-40
6.1 How Bisleri Reinvented Itself & Stayed at the top
even when companies came into the market
6.2 Colour Of Money

6.3 Market Buzz

7 FUTURE 40-41

7.1 Future Plans

7.2 Bisleri’s plans Of Expansion

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 OBJECTIVE

Through this project my objective has been to understand the following:

 To know about the current scenario of bottle water market.

 The reasons for a stunted growth in the package drinking water brand

 To know how the brand BISLERI still rules the bottle water market

 To know the marketing strategies applied by BISLERI, its manufacturing process its 4
Ps etc and what is its impact on the consumers

 To understand and realize the needs and wants of consumers and how to fulfill them

 Finally I carried out a survey to find out which is the most preferred brand by
the people & the survey was carried on in Mumbai specially in areas like Sion
and Mulund.

PACKAGE DRINKING 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
Taste
Blind taste tests consistently find that most people cannot differentiate between tap
water and bottled water.

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For example, a 2010 studyTrusted Source in the Journal of Sensory Studies found that
the majority of the participants could not tell the difference between six different
bottled mineral waters and six municipal tap waters when the tap water was chlorine-
free.

Most people preferred types of water with medium mineralization, regardless of the
source. Just 36% of the participants were able to distinguish between bottled water and
tap water.

Even if some tap waters may not taste as pleasant as bottled waters, it does not mean
that the tap water is of poor quality. It may simply be due to chlorination or a higher
mineral content.

One option to improve the taste of tap water is to use a filter. Another option is to add
ice and a slice of lemon to each glass.

Cost and convenience

Drinking tap water is convenient and inexpensive. Simply turn on a faucet to get safe
and cool drinking water.

Tap water is also readily available at restaurants and from public drinking fountains for
free.

Environmental impact
To prevent contamination, water companies treat public drinking water with chemicals
using a range of processes. They then pump the water into holding tanks.

Also, once a person drinks a glass of water, they are likely to wash the glass by hand or
in a dishwasher.

These steps will all involve the use of chemicals and energy, which has an impact on
the environment.

Even so, the environmental impact of drinking tap water is far lower than that of bottled
water, according to a report on the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s website.

Perhaps most importantly, there is no disposable packaging involved that would

eventually end up in either a landfill or recycling center.

Safety

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source set the standards for bottled
water. They require manufacturers to process and transport bottled water under sanitary
conditions and to use processes that ensure the safety of the water.

This means that, in general, bottled water is safe to drink. In very rare cases, however,
bottled water recalls occur due to contamination.

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One cause for concern is the presence of plastic in bottled water. Research indicates that
most bottled water contains microplastics, which may pose health risks.

One 2018 studyTrusted Source, for example, tested 11 globally sourced brands of
bottled water from nine different countries. The researchers found that 93% of the
bottles showed some signs of microplastic contamination, and that they contained
double the amount present in tap water.

These findings suggest that the contamination is at least partially due to the packaging
process itself. Researchers are now starting to investigate the impact of these
microplastics on human health.

Microplastics appear to fall within the same category of endocrine-disrupting chemicals

as obesogensTrusted Source, affecting human, animal, and marine metabolism,
reproduction, oxidative stress, and several other factors.

Also, people with weakened immune systems should take special precautions with their
drinking water, choosing bottled water that manufacturers have treated to protect
against the parasite Cryptosporidium.

Though FDA inspection of bottled water plants is rare, the FDA have recalled two
bottled water brands due to contamination. These were Safeway Select in 2001 and
Sam’s Choice in 2005.

Consumer access to bottled water information and contaminant levels is limited

compared with the tap water disclosure requirements required by the EPA.

Environmental impact

Research indicates that the bottling, refrigeration, and transportation processes

associated with water, as well as the disposal of plastic bottles after use, cause a wide
range of adverse environmental effects far greater than those of tap water.

For example, in 2016, the bottling of water in the U.S. used 4 billion pounds of plastic.
This process required an estimated energy input equal to approximately 64 million
barrels of oil.

According to nonprofit organization Container Recycling Institute, every day in the

U.S., people throw away over 60 million plastic water bottles. The majority of these
bottles make their way into landfills and waterways, or they litter the streets.

These plastic bottles also release toxins as they degrade.

Some people try to reuse plastic water bottles in a bid to offset some of the
environmental impacts. This may pose risks in the long-term, however, including the
risk of bacterial growth and the risk of toxins leaching from the bottle.

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12
 Competition

The bottled water industry includes establishments involved in purifying and bottling water.
Companies in the bottled water industry are mainly involved in purifying water, and
packaging, marketing and distributing it in the form of bottled or canned water. The bottled
water products are further sold to either the distributors or end user outlets. Distributors in the
bottled water industry charge commissions on the products depending on several factors such
as availability, pricing and relationship with the bottled water companies. The end users of
bottled water products include institutions and retail customers. Institutional customers
include establishments such as restaurants, offices and hotels.

According to the bottled water market analysis, the global bottled water market is highly
fragmented with a large number of local players present in most countries. The leading
players in the global bottled water market that have a multi-country presence include
DANONE, Nestle Waters, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Co. Nestle Waters was the largest competitor
in the bottled water market in 2017, followed by Danone, Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co.,
Ltd., Coca-Cola, Nongfu Spring Limited, Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp and Pepsi-
Co.

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.

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14
 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.

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 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

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 Year Growth Rate
1996-97 3-4%
1997-00 10%
2000-02 50%
2002-04 60%
2004-09 75%
2009-15 90%

Series 1
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0% Series 1
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
1996-97 1997-00 2000-04 2004-09 2009-15

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 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. Recognising 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 a
bottled water, which is colorless, tasteless and odorless. 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 1,000-1,200crore (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

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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.500crore 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.

Man behind Bisleri in India

Dr. Rossi used to have a very close friend, who was also a lawyer by profession and a
legal advisor for the Bisleri company. Rossi’s friend son Khushroo Suntook was also a
lawyer like his father and he played an important role in establishing a Bisleri in India.
India had just become independent and the demand for new types of business was
increasing in the country. In the meantime, Rossi’s business mind had discovered a
business idea. He thought that the water business could be very successful in the coming
days. However, it’s hard to believe because water availability during that time was very
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easy but many still struggled for clean and mineral water and hence Dr Rossi started
working on his business plan at the root level and also took support from Khushroo
Suntook.

Bisleri first water plant set up in Thane, Mumbai

Rossi’s idea took off in 1965. This was the year when Khushroo Suntook established the
first ‘Bisleri Water Plant’ in Thane, Mumbai. Although, Rossi and Suntook were declared
mad because during that time selling water in India was nothing less than madness, but
Rossi and Santook continued to start working on their plans and start producing the
bottled water.

During that time quality of drinking water in India’s financial capital was very bad. The
poor and middle class used to digest this water somehow, but it became very difficult for
the rich family and foreign tourists who stayed in big hotels. In such a situation, this water
was not less than any nectar for the affluent. This was the reason why Bisleri’s owner Dr
Rossi was completely sure about the success of the Bisleri water business.

Journey of Bisleri: From five-star hotels to the common people home

Bisleri entered the Indian market with Bisleri mineral water and Bisleri soda. In the early
days of Bisleri in India, both products of Bisleri were limited only to the reach of the rich
people and were available only in five-star hotels and expensive restaurants. And Rossi
and Santook also knew that it would not be able to achieve success by keeping its
products in a limited range, so the company gradually started taking its products to the
common people.

The news of Khushroo Suntook selling the Bisleri company spread like wildfire in the
Indian business world and reached the ‘Chauhan Brothers’, the masterminds of ‘Parle
Company’. Just 4 years after the start of the Bisleri water plant in 1969, Ramesh Chauhan
bought Bisleri for just Rs 4 lakh.

Parle gave life to Bisleri

Bisleri’s thirst expansion happened after 1969, where Parle and Bisleri concurrently
produced various products to the markets such as beverages, soft drinks and soda. The
brand became renowned across India and proposed to expand its brand overseas. The
company came up with a different concept of selling soda in two categories – Carbonated
and non-carbonated mineral water, this spiked up the production of mineral water in India.

Bisleri became the life of public places

Over the years Bisleri has introduced a lot of products that have shaped the popularity of
the brand and has multiplied its customer base. The company had also changed from blue
colour bottle labels to its signature colour green in 2006 to stand out from its competitors.

Despite the increasing competition in the packaged drinking water industry, Bisleri holds
the largest market share of 60 per cent. Even though Bisleri has diversified its products, it
is widely known for its packaged drinking water. The company uses the 4P’s of marketing
to keep its consumers satisfied and also increase its customer base. The research team of
20
Parle was constantly in search of how to make Bisleri accessible to the common people.
Now most of us found the Bisleri’s quality of drinking water in different public places
across the country like railway stations, bus stations and roadside dhabas.
Bisleri’s products are affordable and offer more quantity with less cost. Bisleri uses a
location-based pricing strategy. Bisleri’s products sold in restaurants, theatres, etc are
costlier compared to retail shops.

Bisleri’s consumer-friendly marketing strategy

Bisleri has adopted several forms of promotional activities from advertising on television,
print forms to personal selling and usage of billboards, posters and hoardings. The brand
also has a complete website detailing its various products. The famous one-liner ‘Biasleri
is veri veri extraordinari’ in Bisleri’s first advertisement has captured the attention of a
substantial number of consumers. The different campaigns Bisleri has initiated have given
the brand a great deal of exposure. Notable campaigns include the ‘one nation, one water’
where labelling was done in different languages to connect with people from different
regions; ‘Har Pani ki bottle Bisleri Nahi’ where they promote the idea that not all water is
pure and hygienic like Bisleri.

Bisleri has conquered the Indian market with a huge product collection in terms of
packaged drinking water for over two decades. Today, it not only dominates the Indian
market but has also reached out overseas, with its 103 plants across India and
neighbouring countries. The green-capped bottle is found in almost every store in India.

With the idea that was once called madness, Bisleri has gained a 60 per cent stake in India’s
sealed water bottle industry. The market value of Bisleri in India in 2019 was $24 billion, it is
believed that by 2023, the market value of Bisleri will be $60 billion.

Bisleri’s growth from 1969 to 2021 is magnificent. The growing number of its customer base
and the brand’s ability to maintain its lead in the industry speaks for itself in terms of the
success of the brand.

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 The journey till now

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

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-liter container to bring prices down from Rs 10 a liter to Rs 2 a liter.

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 marketshare at 35.1 per cent compared to Bisleri's 34.4 per cent.

22
 EXPANSION

Chauhan may be short, stocky and nearing 70, but his enthusiasm and vibrancyover 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.2000crore 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
260crore. Of this, Rs 60crore will be utilized to expand the existing manufacturing facilities
wherein the bottling capacity would be doubled to 200 million cases per day. Around Rs
200crore 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. 5crore 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'.

Bottled water brand leader is opening 35 new plants in smaller towns and entering the
high-margin segments

Bottled water brand leader, Bisleri’s new plants at Pune and Nagpur are ready to meet
the summer demand. And over the next six months, the company will start operating
more plants at Thane, Ratnagiri, Nasik, North Bengal and Bhubaneswar.

23
This is part of the company’s plans to open as many as 35 new plants across the
country to tap the fast-growing market for packaged water (at Rs 2,400 crore now) in
India’s hinterlands. Each of these plants is expected to service a radius of 100-150
kms. The growth will come, Parle Bisleri says, as there is an increasing consciousness
even in villages to the fact that over 1,600 Indians are dying every day because of
waterborne diseases and almost four million people in India are affected by water-
borne diseases every year

How does the company select a location? “We know there’s a need for drinking water
everywhere, and we just want to make sure we are there to meet those needs,” says
Bisleri International Director (business development) Anjana Ghosh.

Rohit Chadha, Associate Director, Consumer Products of consulting firm Technopak,

says it’s a significant move from Bisleri. “Branded bottled water has been limited to
urban areas so far. But the extension of modern trade to lower-tier towns as well as
the increased awareness and aspiration amongst the youth in Tier II and III cities
mean you have to be closer to your consumers,” Chadha says. Branded players now
account for just 30 per cent of the bottled water market.

There’s another reason for Bisleri’s ambitious plans. It will help the company shave
costs. Typically, in this business, transporting water to a distance of 200 km costs the
company Rs 30 per case freight. But with distances cut, the company will now spend
only Rs 4-5 per case freight. But Bisleri invariably starts selling the product in a given
location before the plant comes up.

Osh’s rationale for deploying her sales force and spending that extra buck on
distribution is simple, “We are ready to do the initial struggle because the long-term
benefits are far more. In any case, it’s a win-win strategy for us. While new bottling
units means assured supply to consumers at any given point of time, they also help
control cost in the long-term,” she says.

The move is similar to what Coca Cola and Pepsi did earlier with Kinley and
Aquafina in 2001. At the time, both companies spent massive amounts on bottling
plants and distribution and within a year, Coca Cola sought to double its plants to 16
while Pepsi had 12. But market leader Bisleri had only 15 bottling plants. The results
began to show:

While Aquafina and Kinley garnered a third of the market, Bisleri’s market share
dropped from over 60 per cent to just 47 per cent.

No doubt, that was tough to take for Bisleri. The first thing it did was to change the
look and feel of its brand. From the earlier conical shaped bottle, Bisleri took on a
streamlined, round shape, replacing the erstwhile blue logo with an aqua green one.

The move paid off. According to Technopak, Bisleri leads the pack with a market
share of 60 per cent, followed by Aquafina at 15 per cent and Tata’s Himalaya brand
at 8 per cent. As for bottling units, Bisleri has 52 while Aquafina has about 41. For its
part, the Pepsi brand is not perturbed. “We are the top two brands nationally in terms

24
of both size and distribution, and are clear leaders in several markets in South and
West,” says the company’s Executive Vice President Homi Battliwala.

Other problem was thin margins even though the market has been growing at as much
as 40 per cent. To find out what’s going wrong, Bisleri has undertaken a mammoth
research exercise across 60 districts in the country, speaking to as many as 30000
people. As part of this exercise, Bisleri is trying to understand why consumers are
compromising on their health, what are they consuming, and if they are brand
conscious. While the verdict is yet to be out, some initial results have begun to trickle
in. Early results suggest that many consumers are known to pick up duplicate brands
while spending about the same on it. “Any brand that has passed the test with the
Bureau of Indian Standards is allowed to sell their products. So far there are 2000
such brands against just five branded bottled players,” says Ghosh.

To tackle that problem, Bisleri is in the process of rolling out a communication to

raise brand awareness. “Our task is to increase consumer awareness as it is a low
involvement category and is an impulse buy. Our two biggest problems are that
people don’t realise that they are paying the same price for a Bisleri and buying an
unbranded bottled water.” Ghosh adds.

Bisleri is doing several other things as well to open up the higher margin market. For
one, it is in talks with beverage makers and bottlers in countries such as Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh, Oman and the United Arab Emirates to franchise its brand name. Exports
to Singapore have already started.

It also launched Vedica, its first mineral water, in January and is test marketing
flavoured water in Mumbai. The company is also setting up a new manufacturing
facility in Delhi for its enhanced water brands, which will be fortified with vitamins
and minerals. These are brands that will tap the top end of this market, which now
account for just 10 per cent of the packaged water market, and bring in substantial
profits. Vedica will take on Himalayan and foreign brands like Evian and Perrier in a
category that is willing to shell out that extra buck.

25
 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 !

Offline businesses remain impacted amid the pandemic, Bisleri plans to go big with its e-
commerce plans and enhance its online portfolio into more tier-2 cities.

The company had launched its e-commerce portal ‘Bisleri@Doorstep’ last year providing
access to the full range of its products.

Observing that e-commerce growth has possibly been one of the few positive stories in
times of the pandemic, Angelo George, CEO of Bisleri International Pvt Ltd said: “We have
tied up with leading online delivery partners to scale up our servicing ability across the top
40 cities. In some cities, we leverage logistics partners to ensure our e-commerce deliveries
happen in 3 hours, rather than the usual 24 hours.”

An interaction with IANS, the CEO said that the company is now expanding to tier-2 cities
like Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Ludhiana among
others.

He said that the portal is witnessing almost 2.5 times more traction since the beginning of
the new fiscal with its consumer engagement initiatives.

26
George also said that with the company’s strategy of being closer to the market for agility
and service, it is increasing its manufacturing capacities in key markets.

Also said that with the company’s strategy of being closer to the market for agility and
service, it is increasing its manufacturing capacities in key markets.

On the impact of the pandemic on businesses, he said that the overall general trade and
modern trade business have been reassuring even though the segments like ‘HORECA’,
referred to the food and hospitality services industry, and corporates are still muted.

“We are optimistic for the future as we believe that things will improve. We are hopeful that
most sectoral trends will stabilize in the next 4-6 quarters, and we will have a new baseline
for the industry,” he said.

Speaking on the product front, the Bisleri CEO noted that the company has recently
conducted a soft launch of its ‘Bisleri Hand Purifiers’ which come in three variants.

Will officially announce the launch of the Bisleri Hand Purifiers soon.”

Further, Bisleri has re-launched the ‘Fizzy Fruit Drinks’ as a healthier option. It has
launched three brands – Fonzo, Limonata and Spyci with different price points of Rs 10, 20
and 40.

Regarding the company’s efforts towards relief and safety of its employees amid Covid-19,
he said that the staff has been housed closer to the plants to reduce exposure in certain
locations.

“Processes are in place to ensure the safety of the delivery personnel’s trade and consumers
– like sanitizing vehicles after every trip and protective gear for delivery staff. Apart from
regular medical insurance, we have provided additional Covid insurance of Rs 3 lakh.

Provide employees further reassurance in the eventuality of an unfortunate case of death, we

provide them cover of three years’ salary.”

Bisleri recently set up a clean plastic segregation and collection facility in Mumbai.

He said that the Marol Clean Plastic Segregation Plant is its vision of the future, how plastic
segregation and bailing plants will look like if people dispose of the plastic in clean
condition.

“The Marol Plant is India’s first pure plastic collection and segregation plant made of
recycled plastic. The interiors of Marol Plant, the first of its kind have been created using 1,
50,000 MLP (Multi-layer plastic) recycled bags (biscuits, chips, and chocolate wrappers) as
partitions.”

27
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Mar 30 (ANI/ BusinessWire India): Bisleri, India’s most
trusted brand salutes the spirit and courage of the frontline fighters who are braving the
outbreak to keep the nation going amid the COVID-19 crisis. To acknowledge the efforts of
the real heroes who are rendering fearless services as doctors, nurses, policemen, paramedical
staff, sanitation workers, government officials and other essential services, Bisleri has
pledged to offer free packaged mineral water to them across India.
Free packs of bottles have already been distributed across hospitals, police stations and traffic
signals in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi, UP, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The company aims to cover more areas and distribute
free water to people in other essential services as well.
“In such difficult times, we believe every bit counts and we want to do everything in our
capacity to support our consumers and communities we operate in. All the people on the
frontline fighting are doing a commendable job guarding the nation. We want to ensure that
essential supplies like safe and clean drinking water is available to them so they stay hydrated
at the same time reduce their exposure to contaminated water surfaces,” said Angelo George,
CEO, Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd.
Bisleri is taking special precautions in shipping the required quantity packs to designated
areas so to avoid any further risk of infections. The distributors and loaders are given fresh T-
shirts, sanitisers, gloves and masks while delivering the packages. All distribution vehicles
are washed with soap solution externally and sprayed with IPA internally. Personal hygiene
policy is being strictly followed across all the Bisleri units.

28
 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 liters each, and water is first taken from the boring well and stored in
these tanks.

29
 6 STAGES OF WATER TREATMENT PLANT:

1. OZONATION

2. FILTERATION

3. CARBON FILTERATION

4. RESERVE OSMOSIS SYSTEM

5. MICRO FILTERATION

6. OZONE TREATMENT

1) 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.

2) FILTERATION:

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

3) CARBON FILTERATION:

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

4) REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM:

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

5) MICRO FILTERATION:

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

30
6) OZONE TREATMENT:

The ozone treatment increases the shelf life of water. To ensure mineral water is held safe
free from contamination, ultraviolet treatment and ozonisation 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 ozonised 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.

31
 Bisleri to have own distribution network

Sudha Menon

PUNE, April 4

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. 200crores 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. 350crores (up from Rs.
160crores last fiscal), also plans to grow the market with the five-liter 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 liter. The one-liter bottle is available at Rs. 12, while the half-liter 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-liter value pack have to pay a Re. 1 deposit to the retailer, which
can be redeemed once the bottle is returned. The five-liter packs, launched last December in
Goa, are currently available in six cities, including Delhi, Bomba y 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.

32
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 Relian ce 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. 3crores of last year to Rs.
6crores next year, according to Mr. Chauhan, who said it will also promote the five-liter 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.

33
 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:

1) The bottle is sterilized with air pressure

2) Then the bottle is filled with water

3) The bottle is sealed with a cap

4) Labeling of the bottle takes place

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

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

34
7) Lastly the bottle is packed.

Marketing Mix

35
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 ie 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, 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.

36
 Bisleri 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 liter,
1.5 liter, 2 liter and 5 liters.

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 liter 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.

37
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 liter 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 doesn‘t take any risks and does not compromise with their
quality.

Online Monitoring System

Design

38
 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 20liter
bottle, 2 fridge bottles, 1.5 liter 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 ie the price of the product; manufacturing date; expiry date
etc.

39
 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 ie.

- 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 latter 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 )

BISLERI
20L 70
5L 50
1.5L 22
1L 18
500ML 10
330ML 8

40
 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 has come up with a new scheme called the ―REDUMTION‖
scheme designed specially for the customers. In the Redumtion 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 stockists, 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.

41
42
In the area of west MUMBAI there would be 3 stockists 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 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 stockists would be needed. The stockistwould be in

GHATKOPAR, KALYAN, AMBERNATH, and TITWALA. Thestockist 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 stockist 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 stockists. 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 stockist 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 & 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

43
 Advertisements

Advertisements are paid and 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-liter jar, 10
liters jar and 20 liter 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 liter
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 liter jar the
ticket will be available at RS.5. But today frankly bisleri 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

44
 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 liter 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 liters. These are mainly for institutional sales
(Wedding parties, Hotels, Corporate, etc.)

45
 CONSUMER HABITS AND MARKETING 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.

In recent years, the world population, urbanization process and need for natural water
resources have increased. Therefore, providing the safe and clean drinking water has become
an important topic of our day. This research was carried out to determine the bottled water
consumption habits and purchasing behaviours of consumers. Primary data were obtained
from 384 consumers living in urban areas of Adana province. The demographic
characteristics and consumption habits of consumers were determined by calculating
frequencies, ratios and averages. Factor analysis was used to determine the factors that affect
the purchasing behaviours of the consumers and the cluster analysis were used to distinguish
consumers with different perception levels from those with similar characteristics. Results
indicated that 40.4% of participants consumed bottled water and 85.2% of these consumers
took into account the brand of bottled water. Factor analysis revealed that 3 factors, product
characteristics, packaging and price, and recognition affected purchasing behaviours in this
sample. As a result of the K-means clustering analysis consumers in this study were divided
into 3 groups. The most important factors for consumers in these observed clusters were
shelf life, product freshness and product hygiene.

46
Humans can only survive a day or two without the basic product of life named water.
Drinking water comes from tap water (public supply system and also from wells) and bottled
water. Sources of bottled water are; underground water and public water systems.

What water is better to drink? Opinions are divided. Some are in favor and some are against
one or the other. Tap water is said to be not safe, it has no taste, it is dangerous for health and
so on. As a support to this claim, tap water runs through plumbing pipes (plumbing systems
of water distribution to households) and is exposed to metal corrosion and may contain
copper, lead, and other metals (Patricia L.et al.). Many developed countries are adding
chlorine to tap water for water disinfestation. Containing organic elements, the water may
produce other byproducts like trihalomethanes and halo acetic acids, which are dangerous
and increase the risk of cancer (Final report – health risk, 2009). The World Health
Organization (WHO) recommends the chlorine concentration between 0.0005-0.0002 g/L, a
level content of residual chlorine at or around 0.0002 g/L doesn’t a present health risk. Many
low-income families avoid tap water fearing it may cause sickness. High–income families
avoid drinking tap water as well.

Defenders of tap water, say that tap water is healthier, more environmentally sustainable and
ecologically sound, and cheaper than bottled water. For example, tap water in some area may
contain added fluoride, which helps prevent tooth decay and cavities (Lalumandier & Ayers,
2000). Because of this, some bottled water producers provide bottled water with fluoride,
making their water bottled product fluoridated. Critics of bottled water say that bottled water
actually taps water, but if bottled water comes from public water systems, (municipal
suppliers) it must be clearly labeled as “distilled” or “purified” (Cruising Chemistry: Tap vs.
bottled water, 2014).

Bottled water is classified as drinking water packaged in glass and plastic bottles. Bottled
water as a product, includes aerated water, natural or distilled water or other forms of water,
bottled in bottles, small or large packing, ready for household consumption or for use in the
kitchen (USA Department of Health, 2014).

Bottled water comes in three basic forms:

• natural mineral water (containing some mineral concentrations),

• spring water, water derived from an underground formation from which water flows
naturally to the surface of the earth
• purified /distilled water is water that has been produced by distillation, deionization, or
other suitable processes (see more at www.bottledwater.org)
The IBWA considers other four additional categories of bottled water:

1. artesian water/artesian well water, (is 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),
2. drinking water, (is water that is sold for human consumption in sanitary containers and
contains no added sweeteners or chemical additives),
47
3. sparking water, (“is water that, after treatment and possible replacement with carbon
dioxide, contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had as it emerged from the
source. Sparkling bottled waters may be labeled as “sparkling drinking water,” “sparkling
mineral water,” “sparkling spring water,” etc.)
4. well water, (“is water from a hole bored, drilled or otherwise constructed in the ground
which taps the water of an aquifer”).
Who are consumers of bottled water and why consume bottled water? Households, travelers,
workers, sportiest, emergency aids /victims are bottled water consumers.

Europe is said to be the place that started the commercialization of bottled water (in 1700, as
mineral water for healing various diseases). The United States began to produce in 1900.

The real incentive of bottled water market had begun in 1968 when the French company
“Vittel” launched the first plastic bottle, aimed to expand at the general public consumption.
With higher sales in France and Germany, Europe was a market formed and leader in the
bottled water market.

48
 STRENGTH

1. QUALITY STANDARD:-

Every bottle of BISLERI is put through a rigorous Multi stage purification processes which
includes micron filtration and ozonisation.

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 liter or 500 ml pack is useful for individual buyers, 12 liters or 20 liters 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 Thumps 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.

49
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 ten 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 liter 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.

50
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.”

RAMESH CHAUHAN

(M.D. OF BISLERI INTERNATIONAL PVT LTD)

51
 WEAKNESS

1.METHOD ADOPTED FOR DISTRIBUTION:-

THE ‗ROUTESELLING‘ policy adopted by BISLERI or 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.

52
 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. 1000crore is expected to be Rs.
5000crore 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 liter. This will give a tough
competition to the EVIAN, the biggest player in the premium water range which sells its 1
liter water at a hefty of Rs.85 per liter.

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.

53
 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 are1000‘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.

54
For example: - A chemist who is selling the 1 liter pack may not sell the 20 liter pack. This
could disturb the network.

6. NEW GOVERNMENT POLICY:-

For preparing 1 liter of mineral water 3 liter 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 can not 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 is also effect the quality of the bottled water.

MARKETING PRACTICES

Presently most of the players in the Indian market are selling their product claiming it to be
mineral water. All the players are vying to grab a few points of market share and they are
trying to get their brands endorsed by some or other authority. Recently Coca-Cola has got its
brand, Kinley, endorsed by the Federation of Family Physicians Associations of India
(FFPAI) to create an image of being recommended by doctors and thus of the product being
safe and healthy. Similarly other companies to claim to have purified their water ―n‖
number of times to show the superiority of their product. Many players are pitching their
product against water purifier industry by claiming their product to be superior to that
purified by these water purifiers. Many players are marketing on the price factor as well as
the size factor. While others are focusing on particular target segment.

Overall different players are playing different tunes in order to establish their brands in
the market

55
 Bisleri Feels The Heat Continued

In 1998, the branded mineral water market had grown to a 424 million liter 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 liters), 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."4

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).

56
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.

TRADE PROMOTION TOOLS

Price –off (off- invoice)

A straight discount off the list price on each case purchased during a stated time period. For
instance, if a new bottled jar is introduced than this promotional tool will encourage them to
buy the mew product.

Sales contests

It aims at inducing the sales force or dealers to increases their sales results over stated
period with prizes going to those who succeed.

Specialty advertising

This type of advertising consist of useful, low-cost items bearing the company‘s name or
brand name with their contact number this items are ball- pens , calendars, memo pads, which
are used by dealers and sales people very often. BISLERI reinventing itself and staying at the
top even when many new companies came in the packaged drinking water market This is a
simple case which talks about the various marketing strategies adopted by Parle BISLERI
Ltd. to arrest the sliding market share of its branded water brand—BISLERI. BISLERI tried
to regain its share by repositioning its brand. The case discusses in detail the ad campaigns
and other marketing strategies used by BISLERI to reposition the brand.

"Old cola rivals Coke and Pepsi are discovering there is more money in water than colored
water. Things are warming up in the Rs 10 billion bottled- drinking water market and
competitors, including Parle's Ramesh Chauhan, face the threat of a white wash."

In the early 1990s, Parle BISLERI Ltd's (Parle BISLERI) 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.

57
How Bisleri Reinvented Itself And Stayed at the top even when companies
came into the market

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 billion in 2000 to Rs 10 billion
by 2003.

In the early 1990s, the branded mineral water industry was worth Rs 3 billion, producing
around 95 million liters in 1992. Parle‘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...

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, 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 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..

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 1,000-1,200crore (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 220crore (Rs 2.2 billion) in its new variant,
manufacturing planets and distribution: it will invest Rs 100crore (Rs 1 billion) -- funded
58
59
through internal accruals -- in the natural mountain water business, including Rs 40crore (Rs
40 million) for two plants in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh, and Rs60 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 60crore (Rs 600
million) on aggressive marketing. It also plans to launch branded ice and flavored 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-liter bottles, hexagonal half-
liter ones and rectangular two-liter 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.

60
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 of2007.

Market buzz

By and large, most brand analysts approve of BISLERI‘S attempt to reinvent itself.

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 GKrishnamurthy, 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,"
Emphasises 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.

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62
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

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.

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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 liter 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.

Offline businesses remain impacted amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Bisleri plans to go big
with its e-commerce plans and enhance its online portfolio into more tier-2 cities.

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The company had launched its e-commerce portal ‘Bisleri@Doorstep’ last year providing
access to the full range of its products.

Observing that e-commerce growth has possibly been one of the few positive stories in times
of the pandemic, Angelo George, CEO of Bisleri International Pvt Ltd said: “We have tied
up with leading online delivery partners to scale up our servicing ability across the top 40
cities. In some cities, we leverage logistics partners to ensure our e-commerce deliveries
happen in 3 hours, rather than the usual 24 hours.”

In an interaction with IANS, the CEO said that the company is now expanding to tier-2 cities
like Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Ludhiana among
others.

He said that the portal is witnessing almost 2.5 times more traction since the beginning of the
new fiscal with its consumer engagement initiatives.

Bisleri, which launched its direct-to-consumer website last year during the first lockdown has
been seeing a steady increase in the number of people ordering mineral water, and even other
products from its portfolio from its website, which is a huge behavior shift for the mineral
water segment which has usually been a product people normally pick up from shops.
Identifying the potential that D2C can have in the future, Bisleri has been strengthening its
offering. Its website has also become a great way of consumers discovering other products
from its portfolio that includes drinks like Fonzo, Spyci and Limonata and its hand sanitizer
sprays.

“Since last year, there has been a shift towards people buying even essentials online. As a
result, we had launched Bisleri@Doorstep last year during the lockdown. In the last one year,
and also during these last few weeks when Covid numbers have been going up, we have seen
an increase in demand on our website. Our portal provides consumers an access to the whole
range of Bisleri products which we deliver to their doorsteps. We currently operate in 20
cities, a number we are aiming to increase to 40 within the next few months,” shared Angelo
George, CEO, Bisle

s also been partnering with a lot of delivery partners to increase accessibility. “Since the
Covid numbers have been going up in April, we saw almost a doubling of demand on our
website,” he added.

65
 DATA ANALYSIS

Packaged drinking water BISLERI

One significant observation made from the study was that the number of players in
the market are increasing at a very fast pace, especially the entry of multinationals.

Thus it is believed that a research to find out the awareness level and recall level of the
brand ―BISLERI‖ vis-à-vis other major brands will give an idea about where does the brand
exists in the mind of the consumers. This might help the brand to identify the reason for the
decreasing market share.

Survey objective

The Primary objective of the survey is to find out how does BISLERI fair in the
Awareness and recall level as compared to the major competitor.‖

The Secondary objective is to find out the advertising medium by which the Bottled water
consumers are most influenced with.

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 Scope of Survey

The survey intended to target consumers in South Mumbai region specially Sion, Vikhroli
and Mulund and the survey was done only in south Mumbai specially in areas like
Mulund and Sion.

Survey was done in three parts

1. Survey of college going students and people, the brand of package drinking water
preferred by most of the students and the people

2. Survey of shopkeepers ---- asking them which is the most selling package water brand at
their shop.

3. Survey of different hotels as different hotels sells different water brands

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 Questionnaire.

1. How often you buy mineral

water Daily
Twice a week
Thrice a week
Once in a month
Never

2. Which Brands of Mineral water are you aware of?

________________
________________
________________
________________
________________

3. Which Brand/s do you prefer?

. Aquafina
. Bisleri
. Qua
. Evian

4. Why do you prefer this particular Brand?

________________________________________________________

5. What influences your decision to buy a particular Brand?

6. From which media did you come to know about the various brands?

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 7. Are you aware of the brand BISLERI?

8. Have seen any advertisements of ―BISLERI‖?

9. If yes, where?

10. Does the price of Mineral water affects your buying behavior
.Yes
.No

11. If yes what should be an average rate of 1L bisleri water.

____________________________________________________

12. Which pack of bisleri you buy?

.5L Bottle
.2L Bottle
.1L Bottle
.500ml Bottle

13. How do you rate the following brands:

G for Good ----------------- A for Average ---------------- P for Poor

Brands Price Availability Convenience Quality Purity

Bisleri

14. Which brand has a good market stake

. Aquafina

. Bisleri

. Qua

. Evian

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 Interpretation and Analysis

How often People Buy Mineral Water

70
 Brand Preference

71
 Influence for buying a particular brand

72
 Influence for Brands

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The Survey was done in areas of south Mumbai like Mulund, Vikhroli and Sion. Many
college going students were asked about their brand preferences and also many people
specially office going people who carry mineral water. Also survey of different shops were
done as different shops sell different brands of water, also survey of different movie theaters
were done as which brand do they sell and also hotels, as different hotels sell different brands.

The survey was done in many parts:

1 - Mineral water is famous among youngsters because they buy a lot of packaged water as
its hygienic and as they say it looks cool. Today specially youngsters as brand freak and want
a trendy and a stylish type of bottle and also cool and attractive advertisements influence
them a lot.

2 - Further even survey was done of various theaters as different theaters sell different brands
for Eg if a theater has a contract with coca cola then it can also sell the mineral water brand
KINLEY as it‘s a coca cola brand so the theater which has a contract with coca cola it cannot
sell any other brand than KINLEY as it belongs to coca cola.

Different theaters sell different brands of package water like:

PVR—BISLERI
Carnival-- AQUAFINA
Metro--- KINLEY

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3 - Survey of different hotels was also done as different hotels also sell different mineral
water brand which also depends on their contract as for Eg if a hotel has a contract with Pepsi
then they will sell the water brand AQUAFINA and so on. A few of the hotels are: Bombay
Blues—AQUAFINA
Peninsula--- AQUAFINA
Ming palace--- KINLEY
Manish Lunch Home—BISLERI
Food Inn—BISLERI
5 Spice--- KINLEY

When we talk about package drinking water brands there is a very minor difference between
all the brands but BISLERI still rules the package drinking water market and can be called as
the king. But brands like AQUAFINA, KINLEY are also catching up specially KINLEY
which as developed itself in a very short span of time and there is a very minor difference
between all the brands.

BISLERI though as an advantage above all the as it is recognized people really prefer this
brand and BISLERI is so famous that it does not need much promotion.

A simple example can be given is that ―whenever we go to buy a bottle of mineral water we
do not say ―give me a bottle of water but we say GIVE ME A BISLERI‘‘ after this there is
nothing much to be said.

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76
 CONCLUSION

The important increase in India can be easily explained through the growth of the 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.

One cannot think about life without water. We are blessed with adequate natural resources of
water, but increasing population, the alarming rate of global warming and rapid
industrialization coupled with lack of adequate and improved management of the water
supply systems resulted in the increased rate of water consumption, wastage of water and
deteriorating condition of the water supply networks, resulted in the scarcity of water. The
Water shortage around the world and particularly in the developing countries has opened new
doors for bottled water Industry in the current decade.

Currently, bottled water is sold in a variety of packages right from 200 ml pouches and
glasses, 330 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, one-liter bottles and even 20- to 50-liter bulk water
packs. In terms of cost, the bottled water business in India can be divided broadly into three
segments, premium natural mineral water, natural mineral water and packaged drinking
water. It is obvious to find the bottled water manufacturer in metro cities, might be running
manufacturing in one room or shop, but it’s surprising to know that at present in many
medium and small villages and even in some of the prosperous rural areas, you will find
manufacturers of bottled water and local brands of bottled water laying with the well known
brands on the same shelf.

Parle was the pioneer Indian company to enter the bottled water market in the country by
introducing Bisleri in India 25 years ago and created “Bisleri” as the synonym of mineral
water. However, that image is getting deteriorated with the entry of major international giants
like Coca cola, Pepsi, Nestle and a noticeable presence of national players like Mount
Everest, Manikchand, Kingfisher. Their distribution network with a professional marketing
approach resulted in capturing the major chunk of the bottled water market, though they are
receiving good fight from the regional players as well. One thing has to be noted in this
business is that the required infrastructure and the distribution network requirements remain
same for all the types of players, whether they are operating at national or regional levels.

77
According to me, the where they can create the difference is the only marketing and branding
part.

Almost all the major international and national brand water bottles penetrated in the Indian
market and are available at right from the malls to railway stations to the bus stations to
multiplexes to grocery stores and even at panwala’s shop. It has penetrated so deeply into the
market and now it’s become very common to consume bottled water where as just before few
years, it was considered as the rich people’s choice and fashion to consume bottled water.
Thanks to low pricing and aggressive marketing strategies adopted by the multinationals.
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.

The Indian market is estimated at about Rs 1,000 Crore and is growing at a whopping rate of
40 per cent. By 2010, it will reach Rs 4,000 – 5,000 Crore with 33 per cent market for natural
mineral water. According to a national-level study, there are more than 200 bottled water
brands in India and among them nearly 80 percent are local brands. In fact, making bottled
water is today a cottage industry in the country. However, though having the large number of
small and local producers, this industry is dominated by the big players like – Parle Bisleri,
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Parle Agro, Nestle, Mount Everest, Kingfisher and Manikchand and so
on. These players can be called as the trend setters in the marketing of packaged drinking
water.

If we compare the growth and status of Indian Bottled Industry with that of Western or Asian
market, we are far behind in terms of quantum, infrastructure, professionalism & standard’s
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 the 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. Safe
water is rated with a different yardstick in different countries. In India, the aspect has been
overlooked since long. Indian consumers tend to believe that any bottled water is safe water
while this may not be true.

Though ignoring all these hurdles, and only looking at the mentioned growth rate, many
bottled water companies think about their future business plans. For e.g. PepsiCo announced
that it will double the investments in its Indian beverage business in 2009. The company’s
Indian beverage investments will be now total $220 million. Mount Everest Mineral Water, a
subsidiary company of Tata will also very soon launch a bottled water brand for the mass
market. Mount Everest presently sells only premium drinking water under the Himalayan
brand.

The western part of India, whichh accounts for around 40 percent of the market and in
particular Gujarat state more than 300 local and private companies are there packaging water
pouches and bottles in the state.

78
If we look at the future of water in India, is very gloomy unless the water management
practices are changed and if not taken any drastic steps towards this direction, then we will
face a severe water crisis within the next two decades and by that time will not leave with
enough money supply to build new infrastructure and also will not be able to satisfy the
increasing demand of water due to the population explosion in India.

Also World Bank draft report, ‘India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future,’ says
by 2020, India’s demand for water will exceed all sources of supply unless the country’s
management practices are changed.India can still store only relatively small quantities of its
fickle rainfall. Whereas arid rich countries (such as the United States and Australia) have
built over 5,000 cubic meters of water storage per capita, and China can store about 1,000
cubic meters per capita, India’s dams can store only 200 cubic meters per person. Moreover,
India can store only about 30 days of rainfall, compared to 900 days in major river basins in
arid areas of developed countries.

In my view, thanks to all these factors the Indian bottled water industry will be booming in
coming years and do not be surprised if today’s bottles water industry becomes next Oil
industry by 2025. The present Indian entrepreneurs and those who are planning to take the
plunge in the bottled water business are thinking that the industry has reached to its peak
point, and having stiff competition, but need to change their perception. As with the ever
increasing demand of water, the elephant is already grown and looking at the future of water
in India, is continuously growing and gradually it will turn into mammoth.

The market is expected to reach INR ~403.06 Bn by the end of 2023, from its current value of
INR ~160 Bn, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~20.75% from 2018.
Based on volume, the market is likely to reach ~35.53 Bn liters by 2023, expanding at a
CAGR of ~18.25% from 2018 to 2023.

Increasing health concerns, and unavailability of clean drinking water have led to the growth
of the bottled water market in India. The major bottled water brands operating in India are
Bislery, Kinley, and Aquafina.

In India, bottled water is sold in four main types of SKUs – one-liter bottles, two-liter bottles,
500 milliliter bottles, 250 milliliter bottles, pouches, and barrels of 15-20 liters. Among the
different SKUs, one-liter bottles have acquired the largest market share of ~42% in 2018,
followed by 500 milliliter bottles and 250 milliliter bottles.

Market Trends

Flavored bottled drinking water has become popular in India. Different kinds of flavored
water containing fruit essence and artificial sweeteners like soda, cola, juice, and other
sweetened beverages often act as a substitute to plain bottled water. At times consumers
prefer flavored bottled water to normal bottled water. This shift is developing an opportunity
to expand the product line of bottled water manufacturers in India.
Apart from individual sales, market players in India have recently inclined towards
institutional sales through partnership with airlines, movie theatres, and hotels. Such

79
partnerships are eventually increasing the penetration of the product in the market, followed
by rise in the overall sales volume in India.
Market Drivers

India accounts for ~18% of the global population. In addition, the per-capita income of
Indians witnessed a growth of ~8.6% in 2017. Moreover, increased awareness among the
growing population about the importance of safe drinking water for maintaining good health,
along with a sharp rise in per capita income is creating a demand for bottled water in India.
Tourists prefer bottled water to normal tap water. The rate of foreign tourists in India is
expected to increase at a rate of ~6.7% during 2015-2025. This, in turn, is anticipated to boost
the sale of bottled water in India.
Market Challenges

In recent years, a number of companies selling fake branded bottled water have cropped up in
the market. These players do not maintain quality and hygiene standards, which in turn leads
to health issues among consumers. As a result, consumers lose faith in bottled water, thus
affecting the overall sales.
Nearly 67% of the population resides in rural areas. However, the rate of penetration of
bottled water is significantly low in these regions. This, as a result, hinders the growth of the
market in India.

Nestle, the United States’s largest bottler

In conclusion, the bottled water industry is wasteful in several different areas, with
environmental nuisances, like petroleum usage and poor recycling, health-related issues, such
as false claims by bottlers, and economic problems, in the form of extreme expense compared
to tap water. However, there are solutions to these problems, at international, national, and
local levels. Internationally, aid groups can distribute Lifesaver bottles, or a comparable
product, to disaster-stricken areas, eliminating many plastic bottles. At a national or state
level, implementing and improving beverage container deposit laws will increase recycling
rates and benefit the environment. Finally, promoting the cleanliness and safety of municipal
drinking water will boost public confidence in tap water, discouraging an unsustainable
dependence on plastic bottles.

“If you eliminate the scourge of bottled water, you’ll be eliminating one of the biggest
problems facing our environment.”

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81
 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 and Wadala
Truck terminal Sion, 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 Mulund and sion as different theaters, hotels and shops sell different brands of
water. Also a questioners 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 a few news papers like economic times etc

But most of the survey was done by me as I personally visited the BISLERI plant at
Wadala Truck Terminals Sion and met the marketing manager personally.

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83