BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 05/22 www.petpla.net 40 From hotels and restaurants to retail penetration A water brand makes it big by Kay Barton Interview with Mr Nayan Shah, Chief Managing Director at Energy Beverages Pvt. Ltd. India’s water market is huge. Okay, admittedly you can take this for granted in the world’s largest democracy with a population of 1.3 billion people. It is only when you hear that there are well over 5,700 licensed bottlers, as reported in an article in “The Hindu Business Line” from mid-2018, that the sheer size of the market really becomes apparent. And this does not include the countless unauthorised bottlers which the report also mentions. Such an enormous diversification finds thirsty consumers both regionally and locally. In the 2021 fiscal year, the value of the bottled water market is said to have been over US$ 2.4 billion, with future growth estimated at over 13%. PETplanet has been familiar with the Indian water and beverage market almost from the company’s inception and encountering genuine players in the water market has always been an easy task. The ubiquitous presence of Aquafina (Pepsico), Bailley (Parle-Agro), Bisleri or Kinley (Coca-Cola) – we have interviewed all the country’s major brands over the years – is testament to wellestablished brand imaging. Ordering “Bisleri” in a restaurant, for example, is usually generally synonymous with a bottle of water. However, we are not talking here about the previously mentioned brands but of one whose market strategy up until 2020 was based exclusively on the hotel and catering business. With more than a decade experience in the beverage industry Clear fills an estimated half a billion bottles each year, namely Energy Beverages Pvt. Ltd., with its “Clear Premium Water” brand from the state of Gujarat with a presence in over 18 states with more to follow. We have come across this water time and again on the Indian market, mostly as PET ultra-lightweight bottles on domestic flights or in hotels. It was time to take a closer look at this up-and-coming business. From energy drinks to water The under-supplied sub-continent of the 2000s in terms of energy drinks could do with a new product, thought Nayan Shah, the current Chief Managing Director of Energy Beverages who has a degree in Strategy and Business Management from the University of Technology in Sydney. In 2005, he decided to establish the company with the aim of creating “refreshing, revitalising and rejuvenating” drinks, as he himself puts it. The result was the “Current” energy drink which saw the business rise and fall in equal measure in the years that followed until 2009. While business with the rather high-priced lifestyle product was healthy in the beginning, demand stagnated after 2007 which ultimately forced a rethink of the company’s strategy. Drawing on his previous years’ experience, an idea took shape with Mr Shah deciding on a way into the growing bottled water market. So, in 2010, the Clear Premium Water brand was born. Many things different while some are new As was mentioned at the beginning, we had already come across these bottles on a number of occasions on planes and in hotels, most notably the company’s best-selling standard, single-serve 200ml version, weighing 6.5g and 500ml version weighing 9.5g which is lowest in the country, according to the company. What is immediately noticeable here is the bottle design which has a square shape instead of the usual round format. Just for its appearance and haptic value alone, the product stands out and stays in the memory, “Our first major customer following the launch of Clear was the Grand Bhagwati nationwide hotel chain with its main office in Ahmedabad”, said Mr Shah. Other chains, including internationally-known ones such as Marriott, Holiday Inn, Ritz-Carlton, Crowne Plaza and Hilton were added over time, together with airlines including Air India, Jet Airways and Spice Jet. The brand recognition and its association have become part of Energy Beverages’ marketing and strategy, at least since the water became available in ordinary shops and supermarkets in 2020. “We were the first bottlers to have both a square bottle design and a vertical logo on the container. We also have a customised labelling machine for vertical printing which can also be used to add co-branding on the label. This can be the Chief Managing Director Nayan Shah in his office
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