The global water shortage of affordable and safe drinking water is manifested in Pakistan with an

estimated 44 percent of the population without access to safe drinking water. In rural areas, up to 90
percent of the population may lack such access. As one indication of the magnitude of the problem, it is
estimated that 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases alone (UN Systems
in Pakistan, 2003). Drinking bottled water reflects not just a certain way of life in the rich North but a
necessity and the only option for safe water in the South. Beside official s, there should be no doubt that
the majority of the Pakistan's population is exposed to the hazard of drinking unsafe and polluted water.
In an effort to improve this situation, many consumers in Pakistan have to turn to bottled water as a first
alternative to drinking unfiltered tap water or contaminated water of other sources where no public
drinking water service exists (GOP, Pakistan Environment Protection Agency, 2003).

However, bottled water is a very expensive alternative and not always healthy because of infrequent
testing for contaminants and sporadic inspection of processing plants. Bottled water should not be
considered as a substitute to a sufficient service with drinkable tap water, but it is due to lack of access to
water services or to bad quality of available resources (WHO, 2000). Bottled water consumption has been
steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is considered as one of the most dynamic sectors of
all the food and beverage industry, where consumption in the world increases by an average 12% each
year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water (UNESCO, 2003).

Bottled water industry

Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is the most
dynamic sector of all the food and beverage industry: bottled water consumption in the world increases by
an average 7% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water and although
industrialized countries consumers have, in principle, access to cheap good quality tap water.
The bottled water market in Pakistan is witnessing annual growth rates nearing 40 percent during its
growth stage. Bottled water in Pakistan is not considered a ‘beverage'. Beverage processing includes
carbonated soft drinks - where Pakistan has the lowest per capita consumption in the world, fruit juices,
syrups and juice flavored drinks. Drinking water - and also bottled water - is not considered an important
commodity either. The Government of Pakistan described the market for bottled water, with 33 million
liters of consumption per annum in 1999, as small but growing. It furthermore estimated the consumption
for 2003, as 70 million liters or 0.5 liters per capita. The bottled water market in Pakistan has witnessed
annual growth rates of 40 percent, and after the introduction of Nestlé's ‘Pure Life', it had the fastest
worldwide growth in bottled water in 2000, at 140%. Recent s estimate a yearly consumption of about 2
liters per person bottled water.[1]
The potential markets for bottled / mineral water consist of foreign tourists and foreigners working
in Pakistan, hotel industry, patients (bottle water is also used to avoid the possible consumption of
contaminated water) and travelers. Moreover, the bottled / mineral water has been emerging as a daily
preference of the elite class. A leading mineral water producer told that five years back the market was
hardly 25 per cent (27.5 million per liters) of the current level of 1.1 billion liters a year. The mineral water
industry of Pakistan grew 15 percent in the last year. The demand upsurge for the bottled water has been
powered by urban middle class that aspires to switch to bottled water to avoid water-borne diseases.
Besides, use of bottled water has also been treated as status symbol in middle income families that tends
to follow the lifestyle of elite in Pakistan.

In our country, there are approximately twenty to thirty companies engaged in this business through out
the year. Official figures show an estimated number of 26 corporations, while in summer time, this number
increases up to 70. Now there are 73 companies engaged in this business. But from the perspective of
quality control, Pakistan Council of Renewal Water Resources is witnessing a fluctuation in the market of
50 percent, e.g. half of the brands disappear and are replaced by new brands every year. Recently, it is
told to the Lahore High Court that out of a total of 64 bottled and mineral water manufacturing companies
in Punjab, only 10 are working under valid licences.
This is the main reason we are witnessing a mushroom growth of mineral water companies across the
country. Though these companies have no facility at their premises to give guarantee of quality mineral
water but still people are using water provided by them as these companies supply their products with low
rates especially in low income areas. Just few years ago, it was hard to think that drinking water would be
sold in open market but diseases like Hepatitis A, B, C and other deadly diseases have surged the prices
of mineral water and now a 1.5-litre mineral water bottle is being sold in open market around Rs40 as
compared to Rs36 few months back while its price was Rs26 in last April. Many companies do not print
the price on small and bigger bottles which allows retailers to charge unilaterally higher prices in areas
where demand overtakes supplies whereas in areas of low demand they sometimes offer discounts.
According to the industry sources, the number of bottlers scales up well above 70 during summer season
due to increased demand for drinking water. Pakistan’s bottled water market comprises of two main
segments i.e. retail market and bulk market. The retail market consists of 0.5 liter, 1.5 liter, 3.1 liter and
5.0 liter capacity PET bottles. The bulk market consists of home and office delivers in 3 and 5 gallon
cans.
Recent figures estimate a yearly consumption of about 2 liters per person bottled water. Compared
with Thailand’s 43 liters and Philippine’s 15 liters per capita consumption, this seems relatively low. But
taking Pakistan’s population into account, one has to estimate an annual consumption of 318 million
liters. While again, sufficient figures are not available to prove this 964 percent consumption increase in
five years, one is able to conclude that Pakistan is a highly dynamic and lucrative market. Market
expectations are as high in the retail market of bottled water as in the household and operations sector for
bulk water.

Market share of companies

Companies Market Share %

Nestle 46
AQUAFINA 29
Kinly 15
Others 8
Springly 2
 PAKISTAN BOTTLED WATER
People using bottled water 7 to 8 %
Annually consumption 1.27 billion liter water
Estimated sales RS 20 billion
Average Consumption growth 6-8% per year

Bottled water consumption during years

Years Annual Consumption ( per liter)
2009 842,000,000
2010 943,000,000
2011 1,100,000,000
2012 1,276,000,000

From the table we see that in 2010 the bottled water consumption increases by 12%, in 2011 it increases
by 14.5 % and in 2012 it increases by 16%.
Estimated Revenue

Companies Estimated Revenue

(Millions)
Nestle 9.2
Aquafina 5.8
Kinly 3
Others 1.6
Springly 0.4

PAKISTAN BOTTLED WATER

People using bottled water 7 to 8 %
Annually consumption 1.27 billion liter water
Estimated sales RS 20 billion
Average Consumption growth 6-8% per year

Bottled water consumption during years

Years Annual Consumption ( per liter)
2009 842,000,000
2010 943,000,000
2011 1,100,000,000
2012 1,276,000,000

From the table we see that in 2010 the bottled water consumption increases by 12%, in 2011 it increases
by 14.5 % and in 2012 it increases by 16%.
Estimated Revenue

Companies Estimated Revenue

(Millions)
Nestle 9.2
Aquafina 5.8
Kinly 3
Others 1.6
Springly 0.4

Pakistan’s biggest consumer markets include:

City Population
Karachi 15 million
Lahore 9 million
Rawalpindi 3.0 million
Faisalabad 2.6 million
Multan 1.6 million
Gujranwala 1.3 million
Hyderabad 1.2 million
Islamabad 1.1 million
Peshawar 1.3 million

Conclusion:

Drinking bottled water has become a trivial habit in many people's everyday lives. Bad tap water taste or
quality, fitness objectives or safety purposes, numerous reasons lead consumers to buy bottled water.
In Pakistan, the core proposition of bottled drinking water lies in hygiene because the quality of tap water
is bad and is rapidly deteriorating due to the aging of the water and sewerage pipes. Bottled water may
even be necessary, for instance in case of temporary tap water contamination. The trend toward
consuming more and more bottled water will keep increasing in the coming years. This flourishing market
is profitable for a high number of companies, and employs thousands of people world-wide.
Bottled water quality is generally good, although it can suffer from the same contamination hazards as tap
water. In Europe, natural mineral waters quality is frequently tested, both by independent labs and by
companies' internal services. These latter controls may not be fully reliable. Yet, it is not in the interest of
the companies, who base their marketing strategies on the purity of their products, to hide away
occasional and traceable contamination. We need to identify the key service quality dimensions that are
specific to the water sector. Some of these are evident from the literature (aesthetic qualities, customer
relations responsiveness etc.) but there will be others and these need to be identified.
Increasing urbanization can also explain increased trend for bottled water consumption. In Increasing
standards of living and greater use of cars enabled people to buy water in supermarkets and to bring
home higher number of bottled water, without difficulty. The use of plastic makes bottles lighter and easier
to carry than when they were made of glass. The expansion of shopping centers, outside city-centers,
provides consumers with a greater choice in bottled water brands. The explosion of bottled water
consumption also reflects deep changes in working habits in industrialized countries, with the decline of
the agriculture and industry sectors. Most people have office works and the bottle of water is now a
common element on a desk, next to the computer and the telephone. Drinking expensive bottled water
(compared to tap water) is a sign of a rise in the social scale. In addition, bottled water is the result of a
huge marketing success. The bottled water culture's recent explosion in the last decade is due to many
corporations' advertising efforts to promote the need to drink "healthy" bottled water rather than tap water.
Multinational companies across the globe are racking in billions of dollars with very little effort. Marketing
and advertising are of primary importance to make the difference between brands selling such a similar
product, a product that is colorless, (nearly) tasteless and odorless.
Drinking bottled water is essentially a part of our culture today. We can look at any local, national or
international sporting event and see the prevalence of bottled water. Apparently regular tap water in a
bottle or cup has slowly begun to be looked down upon. Although many individuals will carry a reusable
water bottle such as a Nestle, most bottled water containers are thrown away after just one use. This may
be due to the convenience of bottled water, as it is almost more readily available than tap water.
Currently there are multiple studies showing numerous bottled water brands containing harmful
substances. Many researches show that bottled water has no nutritional advantage over tap water, a
large majority of bottled water consumers drink bottled water because they believe it has better health
benefits, and many consume such large quantities due to its taste. The research analysis also showed
that people mostly rely on brand names and feel comfortable using top brand bottled water. Nestle Pure
Life was the consumers foremost choice of bottled water and they consider Nestle as the best option
available. Slowly and gradually other brands are also creating awareness in consumers mind such as
Pepsi's Aquafina and Coke's Kinley. These brands are already established top brands in the world, but
Nestle is the key operator in this market and consumers consider Nestle as their first and favorite choice.
It was seen that consumers were unaware of the fact that there is a huge difference between bottled
mineral water and bottled pure water, and they consider both of them as same.