PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2016

BOTTLING / FILLING 35 PET planet Insider Vol. 17 No. 10/16 www.petpla.net Netherlands. The proprietary brands include both “Watsons Water” and “Cool Water”. The Hong Kong plant manufactures 14 sizes of bottles on five production lines, from 280ml to 18.9l. In Guangzhou, 13 produc- tion lines manufacture 15 sizes, from 250ml to 18l (juices, cold-aseptic), and in Beijing, three lines manufacture 400ml, 600ml and 18.9l containers. “These days, the water is filtered first and distilled afterwards,” explains Kim Siu. “As was originally the case, the idea is to return the water to its original, pure H 2 O state, as it exists naturally.” The raw material source is the same for all three plants: the city’s water supply. “It isn’t so much the water that we sell, but the many different services with which we refine and treat it to make it pure and safe,” Siu continues. “At the same time, we aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible.” In line with this objec- tive, the company not only informs the general public of the correct recycling procedures in specific information pro- grams; it has also created the neces- sary infrastructure for the collection of PET and other plastic bottles at over 220 of the Watson’s retail outlets in Hong Kong. “In 2015 we introduced the use of 100% rPET for Watsons Water bot- tles,” he informs us. Watsons Water is the first bottler in Asia to have launched such a concept. The mate- rial collected is used for the 280ml, 430ml and 800ml bottles. Recycled material for the purchased preforms (30 to 45mm neck finish) comes from Taiwan, Siu told us. They are currently testing the possibilities for chang- ing the labelling into PET as well. For now, Watsons Water has added a seam to the labels to enable its straightforward, separate recycling. The bottling company offers the water itself in two PET product lines, each with different coloured sealing caps: green for purified water, and blue for water with added minerals. The distinctive bottle design was launched in 2002, has gained inter- national acclaim and won several dif- ferent prizes. In addition to the bottle shape, the packaging has a double cap, which includes the standard HDPE closure with a PP screw cap over it. This serves both the visual appearance and the hygienic safety, as the whole of the neck area of the bottle and the actual internal screw cap are protected from external influ- ences until the initial opening of the exterior cap. For many years, Watsons Water operated solely as a manufacturer for own brands and private labels. It has subsequently completed a strategic realignment and has begun work- ing more strongly with co-packers, in order to be able to focus more intently on product development. It manufac- tures and distributes two well-known brands in Hong Kong and China - Mr. Juicy and Sunkist - which cover vari- ous beverage categories. Distribution of imported labels is also gaining in importance. The company currently manages local sales for Italy’s famous “San Benedetto” water and “if” coco- nut water from Thailand. When it comes to water, Watsons Water’s main competition is Bon- aqua. “In terms of our brand aware- ness, preferences and consumptions, our analysis shows we are ahead of Bonaqua but, in terms of retail off-take scan sales data, we are in second place,” Siu says. The Hong Kong location is home to two main units: one for regular bottles and one for the carboy water market – a segment in which Watson’s figures show it to be the market leader by a long way. “Our share in carboy water market is very high; we believe that it is between 60 and 70% in Hong Kong. In mainland China, our busi- ness in that segment isn’t especially high but we do have a strong soda water business there – something that is pretty much non-existent in Hong Kong. In China, it is hard to compete with the local suppliers of still water.” Regarding current consumer behav- iour, Siu observes that: “On the whole, sales of water are increasing all the time, as people are moving away from CSDs, fruit juice and tea to water, both in Hong Kong and in China.” www.aswatson.com