Bottled Water Industry uses Plastic heavily. In a bottle of water it’s 100% Plastic, besides water. Last year, since the 15th August 2019, the industries concerned with the single use plastic (PET bottle is also a single-usage plastic), came into danger of existence.
Govt has created certain Policies
As there is no practical replacement still, for the PET bottle, it doesn’t mean that bottled water people can freely continue making PET bottles. There are certain rules formed by the Govt of India, they are called as PWM Rules : Plastic Waste Management Rules-2016, every term they are revised & redesigned if needed. By the virtue of it, every Polluter (the Bottled water producer or plastic prodicer) has to observe an EPR. Extended Producer’s Responsibility. You may read the following post already created for explaining the whole subject.
An update …
NGT, National Green Tribunal has ordered all the major “Polluters” to implement the EPR firmly. It includes all biggies such as Bisleri, Coca Cola, Himalayan, Patanjali etc. NGT has ordered the CPCB : Central Pollution Control Board to reinforce the EPR Audits with these companies.
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Winston S. Churchill
PET Bottles facing threat in India
On 15th August, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, declared his ambitious plan of phasing out the usage of Single Time Used Plastic by 2022. It is the plastic which can be used just once before can be thrown away or recycling. From 2nd October, the plan would start getting implemented, which is delayed due to “No Alternative Solution” still, mainly in view of What would happen to the 5 million (50 Lakh) workers working in this industry, and viewing the current overall industry slow-down.
It might be a temporary relief
Everyone knows that this can be just a temporary relief, as Mr. Modi has an image of the kind of person who implements things. Through decisions like Demonitization, the RERA, and implementation of GST, everyone knows for sure that he is not going to revert back.
It is a welcome decision
Am I sounding strange ? No way. I am aware, what you must be facing if you are one of those 6000 + Packaged Drinking Water Plant owners in India. You are seeing this news as a pure threat. And yes, it is a threat. Threat to your business and to the environment, existence as well
Know how this plastic may be harmful …
It was observed that the plastic chokes the drains & water bodies, during the floods
It releases toxins, and thereby makes land infertile, then it is consumed by cattle, humans.
Same effects are also seen in groundwater which gets highly contaminated.
When openly burnt, it releases carcinogenic & harmone disrupting chemicals like dioxin.
It disturbs the food and aquatic chain through agriculture soils. All/Any Plastic waste management process results in release of toxic metals such as lead & mercury, organic substances, acid gases and other toxic substances to the water, air and soils.
The contaminated air, poses huge problems to the workers who work in this industry, and other citizens as well.
Feel Good, India has taken a lead role !
To beat any challenge , one can only come up with alternatives with a positive, assertive, optimistic approach. It calls for a “Feel Good” factor. A bigger picture. Feel good, feel proud that you, how small or large though one of those 6000 + business owners, are still contributing to the mother earth. And be thankful, that you are in a country which is taking a lead role in the Earth’s issues !
Why this can be a great opportunity …
Having made a concrete decision to come out with environment freindly options to Plastic Water Bottles, now let’s talk about alternatives. Here, we shall talk about alternate, and innovative Bottled Water Business Models, which might come out of this challenge. Because your business is Water, not the plastic bottle, in principle.
You can become a trend setter-pioneer !
When BISLERI arrived into the Indian market, Bottled water was a great, luxury,premium thing. But now ? It’s such a prominent brand that even pure water is called as “bisleri water“. The situation is similar today, rather, little better. People need not be convinced about the Pure Water importance. And still you can come out with something new to set a trend.
Local Entrepreneurs .. great time for you !
Currently, this business is a Distributor dominated business. The producer sells bottles to the distributor (Rs.6-8 per bottle), distributor to his sub-sub distributors & ultimately you and me pay Rs. 20/- per bottle. So, there is a huge cost we pay for distribution. It’s more than Double.
Again, it’s interesting to know how much is the cost of water inside the bottle. The producer (with his profit) sells the bottle at Rs. 7 (average). The average per bottle cost is Rs. 3.7 to 4.10. In this, water cost is not even 25 paise per litre.
Effectively the consumer ends up Rs.20 per litre, which costs Rs.0.25 (25 paise)
Once plastic bottles are banned, this business is set to open to creative entrepreneurs, who come out with solutions by which they can offer GOOD WATER, to people. This is the time to get out of the clutches of the established pattern of business, and demands Business Model Innovation.
It’s not as difficult as it seems like
How many years have passed since the Bottled Water has become a trend in India ? Hardly 10-20 years. Agreed, bottled water, started with PET only; still there can be many ways. Some of them are like below :-
Using Glass Bottles in place of PET. You can listen to some ideas at this Podcast
Establishment of a Water Vending Machine Business (Water ATM)
Establishing a Brand, getting bottles packed from the local Water Plants.
Establishing a Domestic RO Business (as people will carry their own bottles)
Establishing a Pure Water Kiosk where all water specific products can be sold like Water ATMs, Domestic RO’s, Filters, Steel Bottles, Glass Bottles, Copper Bottles, Ceramic Bottles etc.
Introducing Herbal Water, Vitamin Water Business, like Repacked Water.
Understand that your business is WATER,not just BOTTLED Water. Hence the market is still present. You just need to take a turn & think little differently.
Attend Training to get ideas ..
Attend our Live Training where we shall be sharing & talking about this in details. You may get some excellent clues on how you can encash this newly arrived opportunity.
While moving in Chennai, at Murugan Idli near Egmore, I asked for “Bisleri” water; which has become a slang for Pure Water in India. Asking for Bisleri is telling the guy like “Please give me pure, good,safe hygienic bottled water“. Obviously, whichever brand he serves is acceptable. However, a little better informed person like me goes further & checks something minimum like the ISI mark on the same (Its compulsory). If I don’t observe that, then at least the fssai mark.
So, the guy served me a bottle, which very much looked like a regular packaged drinking water bottle, costed Rs.20 as all the others, and was marked “TATA WATER PLUS”. The brand “Tata” made me very curious as it has a proud feeling in almost all Indians. And this was not Packaged Drinking Water, it was called as “Nutrient Water“
A 1 Ltr Bottle of Tata Water Plus
I studied the labels in detail and found out, that it is “Nutrient” Water; which is a JV by the Tatas & Nourishco Beverages, which has several plants where it is manufactured. We did search one of the license numbers, and found the following results :-
You may check “Yuthish Industries” , status as “Operative“
The Licenses from the manufacturer are also active. Both : the BIS as well as the fssai, plus the brand/business owner : Nourishco. Hence all is well.
The why this water is not “Packaged Drinking Water ?”
The manufacturer’s premises is used, which is under the BIS, however, the brand which is packed “Tata Water Plus” is not BIS compliant, hence it is not Packaged Drinking Water. Rather, it’s a choice of the brand owners to be different & to offer Nutrient water, which is a proprietary food.
We very generally call it “Mineral Water”. Even for this site, for general understanding, we too say it Mineral Water. But it is “Packaged Drinking Water”, when we call it from an authority called “B.I.S.”.
Already , I have provided my answer on site Quora :-
Maintaining the Quality and compliance as per the B.I.S. rules
Microbiological & Chemical Lab Setup as per the B.I.S. Requirement
4
Utilities
Running the Plant & Machinery
Electricity, Generators, Compressors etc.
Let’s discuss these Sections one by one :-
Water Treatment Section :
Water Treatment Section is meant for Conversion of your Raw Water (Source Water) into the desired level of purity you want. Typically, an entrepreneur has some kind of imagination in his mind, as to what will be his water be like. Will it be those average cost waters like Bisleri /Kinley /Aquafina , or higher value Mineral Waters like like Himalaya/Qua/Veen ?any purity of his choice. One thing he or she should not forget, that there should be some purity measure & taste as well. For example, if he/she wants a 75 TDS water, the water treatment section will house all the machinery needed to produce it from the raw water available. Unless you are looking for a Packaged Natural Mineral Water Plant, the machinery will be same as explained below. For reading regarding the water source, I suggest you to kindly read an other article on this . Typically, the machinery are :-
Pre Treatment Section Sand,Carbon, Micro Filters :- To filter out physical impurities
RO Membrane Filter :- To filter water to the finest level by removing the TDS (Dissolved Solids) in case of Packaged Drinking Water. This will be replaced by the UF (Ultrafiltration Membrane) in case of Packaged Natural Mineral Water)
Post Filtration :- To make the water blend as you require, will consist of Added Minerals Section, UV and Ozonation. However, in case of Packaged Natural Mineral Water, it doesn’t have the “Added Minerals” section.
Filling & Packing Machines
Typically, this Section consists of the following machinery :-
Bottle Blowing Machinery Setup :- To Make your Bottle Yourself #
Boxing or Shrink Wrapping Machine :- Final Packaging Machinery
(Why a mineral water producer needs to make his own bottle ,when similar pharma producers are procuring from outside ? :- We cover this specially in our training)
Laboratories
There is a governing body in India for monitoring strict quality control of the produced water. It is called the B.I.S. which issues the ISI License to the Bottled Water Plants in India , which are called the “Packaged Drinking Water Plants” and “Packaged Natural Mineral Water Plants“. BIS Standards for the both of them are IS-14543 & IS-13428 respectively. During our Live Training, we do a brainstorming session on What is Mineral Water, and What is Packaged Drinking Water & explain that conceptually. You may listen to this Audio recorded during a training session we conducted very recently :-
As per their rules and regulations, every packaging must go under certain processes & there is a test norm set for every produce.
Some of the tests are to be carried out daily, while some are weekly & monthly. As a Plant owner, you are required to keep a record of every test, and submit the same to the B.I.S as per their stipulated schedule. To major kind of tests needed : Chemical & Microbial. For both of these, 2 separate labs need to be setup within the premises with 2 separate chemists appointed permanently.
As a business owner, you need to hire right consultants for this project, who will take care to educate you and your staff members about this aspect. During our training, we conduct a small session which highlights on how to use the BIS site & also give you the major documents pertaining to the same.
As a Consultant, we also take care to train your chemists for proper operation, query handling during the BIS visit & various such aspects. For labs, 2 major Labs need to be setup :-
Chemical Lab
Microbiological Lab
Utilities
Utilities are the equipments which are required not directly, but indirectly for the production. They typically include :-
Compressors
Electrical Installation
Air Conditioners
Generators
(You can refer to my old (2014) upload on Slideshare to get more details of the machinery, however, recommend you to attend our training session to stay current)
Where do you get the machinery from ?
There are huge number suppliers for machinery. If you just Google on this or visit Indiamart, Trade India or Alibaba.com, you will find them. The internet has advanced so much that, you can even get completely filtered information as to what price one is selling at and you can also prioritize them, shortlist them. Still, the problem remains. Whom to go to !
The problem with the Industrial Directories on Internet
One gets more & more confused with more & more information available to them. Because there are huge number of listings, some on the upper portion, some on lower. And it’s not a secret that these companies (the listing directories) push those who pay them more. This is not a qualititive process at all. The directory companies do a lot of promotion, paid ads on Google, do smart SEO & become visible. But this does not assure you are going to a right supplier.
Google also can’t be an assured source
Agreed, Google doesn’t push those who just pay them more; there is a qualititive process even when you advertise with google on paid basis; still it qualifies only to get proper information. In other words, if you learn the smart techniques of Google Ads, or hire a smart person, you can also be on top. Google is concerned with the information which YOU provide them. And then they compare with others who also might be doing those exact things you are doing to win the top spot. And then Google does the Bidding system. This is good. For Google. This need not be the best thing for an entrepreneur willing to start his Mineral Water Plant, and looking for a Machinery supplier.
Machinery Supplier referred by a friend
This looks like a better choice compared to the above ones. Still, I suggest you should look at the market for better options. Who knows, you will spot someone better , suiting to your requirements, may be little more economical, and having a better rapport with you ! Worse comes to worst, you can always negotiate better with the referred supplier if you are ready with your market study of other suppliers.
Do Your Own Study First & Then Find Suppliers
The very 1st step in this is Knowing exactly what you need. Here you need to to know what will be the Market Demand, How much is the competition, your proposed Business Plan etc. Once this is done, you need to make a tentative Production Plan , and make a complete list of machinery required. Then you can ask for the machinery suiting to your requirement. From various suppliers and make your comparisons, and take a conscious decision about the suppliers for your Mineral water Project.
During our Live Training Sessions, we conduct special sessions on
How to decide your Product Mix by doing a Market Survey
How to design your Mineral Water Plant
How to specify Machinery to suppliers
How to do smart marketing to outcast the competition
Once you are through with your own study, you are clear with what you want. This is the starting point of everything to go right. You can assume you are on your path to appoint RIGHT suppliers for your plant.Even we also help you in this. We also consult the entrepreneurs to find out the best suppliers.
