O-We Water Business Case

Social enterprises (SEs) are hybrid companies that use creative commercial strategies to address
social and environmental issues (Dees, 1998). They possess both the economic and social aspects
of typical companies and non-profit organizations (Doherty et al., 2014). Their operational
rationale is both motivated by their social objectives and commercial viability.
Access to safe drinking water is still a worldwide issue, especially for vunerable people in urban
area in Vietnam. The water quality in urban areas is poor due to various factors such as pollution,
aging infrastructure, and lack of proper treatment. Therefore, people in urban areas like Ho Chi
Minh city rely on bottled water for drinking purposes due to the poor quality of tap water.
However, the high cost of bottled water makes it unaffordable for many low-income households
which leads to the widely use of low-quality bottled water in vulnarable people. According to
survey by O-We Water market survey in 2018, 75% of vulnerable households in sub-urban areas
use low-quality low-price jugs as their main drinking water source with price of about $ 0.5 for
20L. 90% of low-priced water jugs are noncompliant with the VN law legislation with a
contamination of at least 1 bacterium. As a result, it is imperative to provide safe and affordable
drinking water to vulnerable populations in urban areas.
O-We Water is a social business that was founded in 2005 with a demonstrated model, a strong
leadership team, and a large network of supporters. It is powered by 1001fontaines, which is a
pioneer of access to safe drinking water with a 15-year track record. O-We Water is the pioneer of
the water kiosk model, which involves decentralized production and distribution of 20L water jugs
relying on a local entrepreneurship model supported by a franchise. The company has created over
1000 jobs and impacted over 1 million beneficiaries across four countries of Combodia, Vietnam,
Myanmar and India. Its objective for 2030 is to become the global reference on sustainable access
to safe drinking water impacting 8M+ beneficiaries.
United Nations Sustainable development goals (UNSDGs)
Adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development presents a roadmap for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in
the future. At its core are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an urgent call to action
for all developed and developing nations in a global partnership. They know that eradicating
poverty and other deprivations must go hand in hand with initiatives that promote health and
education, decrease inequality, and stimulate economic development, all while addressing climate
change and preserving our seas and forests (United Nations, n.d.).
Today, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Division for
Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) provides substantive support and capacity-building for
the SDGs and their related thematic issues, including water, energy, climate, oceans, urbanization,
transport, science and technology, the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR),
partnerships, and Small Island Developing States. DSDG plays a crucial role in assessing the 2030
Agenda’s implementation throughout the UN system and in advocacy and outreach initiatives
related to the SDGs. To make the 2030 Agenda a reality, widespread ownership of the SDGs must
translate into a strong commitment to execute the global objectives from all stakeholders. The
DSDG intends to facilitate this interaction. More information about the 17 SDGs is available here.
O-We Water - #1 drinking water option for vulnerables households in Vietnam and South
East Asia
The principal operation of O-We Water is to provide safe and affordable drinking water to
vulnerable populations in urban areas. The company uses a decentralized production and
distribution model, which involves setting up water kiosks that produce and distribute 20L water
jugs. These kiosks are run by local entrepreneurs who are supported by a franchise. O-We Water's
sustainable economic model has been proven in Cambodia with 300 kiosks and OpEx break-even.
The company's growth strategy involves market conquest, category building, and converting tap
water drinkers to jugs and to O-We Water. The social business model of O-We Water in Vietnam
is an examplary for efforts to persue UNSDG 12 for sustainable consumption and production
patterns.
O-We Water has provided 7,000,000 liters of safe water to 27,000 beneficiaries in Vietnam. On
average, the beneficiaries receive 1.5 liters of water per day per person, and 60% of them are
considered vulnerable households. This means that O-We Water has reached only 0.3% of its
target population in Vietnam. However, the company has also provided safer water to 4,000 factory
workers at their workplace in Vietnam's Western suburbs. The company's growth strategy for
Vietnam is outlined, which includes capturing part of the market growth by switching vulnerable
populations from low-quality water jugs brands to O-We Water and converting tap water drinkers
to jugs and to O-We Water through behavior change and awareness campaigns targeting
challenging zones such as dorms and factories.
O-We Water operating principles and positioning
- O-We Water offers a double benefit to the most vulnerable people in Vietnam by providing
complete purity, which makes it zero risk for the whole family's health, and the most
affordable international-quality drinkable water.
- O-We's dedicated mission makes it a water brand like no other on the market such as the
packaging of O-We Water is considered impressive and reasonable in price by its
customers.
- O-We is currently positioning as unique product on Vietnamese market following the three
pillars of:
o Quality: Zero-Risk water. A highly purified water through US technology and 6
steps process (filtration, RO, UV, etc…). International Quality standards of World
Health Organisation. No nasties (no bacteria, no heavy metals, no micro-plastics)
o Affordability: For all budgets because we are a social company, we accept to
maintain very affordable prices for all families. It is our main mission. Currently
the price range is around 20K VND and maximum should not overcome 3% of
income.
 o Proximity: Caring for the Community. We continuously support the local
community - the poorest of the poor on a daily basis (COVID hospitals & Health
centers, poor list People Committee, Waste pickers, etc…)
More about the O-We Water project can be found here
Links to some additional material:
- 1001fontaines - Youtube
- O-We Water with migrant workers - Youtube
- O-We Water- Website

Challenges
O-We Water’s ambitious is to be the preferred drinking water for vulnerable households of HCMC
and its suburbs, who are stuck between expensive products and local unsafe & cheap brands. O-
We Water would like to touch ½ vulnerable families in 2030. In order to achieve these objectives,
multiple challenges need to be overcome. Currently, O-We Water has limited brand awareness and
very small market share and needs to compete with multiple strong competitors coming from 500
+ low-quality brands (60% of market share) and some portion of mid-quality brand like Lavie and
Bidrico, which aggregately account for more than 80% of total market share of packaged water in
HCM City. In addition to the challenges to provide zero-risk water with affordable price (around
20K VND), O-We Water is also encountering two on-going key challenges to maximizing their
social impacts which are:
- Ensure Social impact through an efficient targeting of vulnerable populations.
- Reduce retailers’ dependency with a pragmatic & simple approach (low budget,
feasibility to be assessed)
Like most SEs, O-We Water confronts extra obstacles when attempting to persuade stakeholders
of their existence and the validity of their business models due to their hybrid missions. Multiple
SEs in these circumstances struggle to convince stakeholders, such as consumers and suppliers, to
support their social goals by purchasing or supplying their goods and services (Davies et al., 2019).
Therefore, it is imperative to define the most relevant strategy (Sales, Marketing, Route to Market,
etc…) to ensure O-We can make impactful growth and reach 70% of vulnerable in each district in
HCM City.

References
United Nations (n.d.) Do you know all 17 SDGs?, accessed October 13, 2022.
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Davies, I.A., Haugh, H. and Chambers, L., 2019. Barriers to social enterprise growth. Journal of
Small Business Management, 57(4), pp.1616-1636. doi:10.1111/jsbm.12429
Dees, G., 1998. Enterprising Non-profitsHarvard Business Review. January/February, p55.
Doherty, B., Haugh, H. and Lyon, F., 2014. Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review
and research agenda. International journal of management reviews, 16(4), pp.417-436.
O-We Water (n.d.) Homepage, accessed April 13, 2023. https://www.o-we.vn/