Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 - (Page 28)

political support for infrastructure spending. The last thing this nation needs is dual water sources – one for the rich and another for the rest. The payoff for corporations Tried and true corporate marketing efforts have paid off handsomely for the industry since 1977 when the French spring water, Perrier, debuted in America with $20 million in ﬁ rst year sales, tripling to $60 million the next; industry revenues took off from there. Today, over 300 major brands and a multitude of low volume producers and distributors sold $15 billion worth of product last year and will gross $16 billion this year. Who tops off the bottle? The big four in market share for this group are PepsiCo’s Aquaﬁ na with 13 percent, Coca-Cola’s Dasani with 11 percent; both of these utilize a municipal water source of simply puriﬁed water. Nestle of Switzerland is by far the big boy, with a 26 percent market share that includes a stable of still or sparkling spring waters: Deer Park, Poland Spring, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Perrier, Zephyrhills and Calistoga. Evian water owned by Danone, a French food company, comes in fourth and is the largest of the rest. Kansas companies in the mix There are a multitude of private label water bottlers in Kansas selling product to retailers and organizations alike. Two rural newcomers to the industry in Kansas are Caldwell Bottling Company and Longford Water Company. Caldwell Bottling, located south of Wichita, was expanded by a recent purchase. Company CEO Max McDermott of Alva, Okla. explained, “Our investors purchased the company mainly to be able to bottle a great-tasting artesian water from our Oklahoma well, located just off Hwy. 11, adjacent to the Great Salt Plains. The Caldwell facility used to buy raw water from the city of Caldwell but now we primarily bottle the artesian water. We ﬁ lter, use UV and ozonation treatments on the water.” Caldwell bottling provides private label bottling for local fundraising or resale by a retailer. The addition of new distiller equipment at the Caldwell plant marks the entry into the distilled water market as well. Another rural bottler and recent addition to the private label market in Kansas is the Longford Bottling Company located in southwestern Clay County. It is managed by Kim and Wava Kramer. The unique Longford water, called Kiowata, comes from a source in the area’s Kiowa rock formation. It produces natural, sweet tasting water that is very low in pH. For years, a sign on K-15 Hwy. outside of Longford has boasted of the quality of Longford water. Kiowata passes through an activated carbon ﬁ lter to remove chlorine and then is ozonated for disinfection before bottling. KRWA has purchased a label and has ordered the good tasting Kiowata for attendees at KRWA’s annual Wichita conference and exhibition. Bottled water is popular and quite a draw even for some KRWA members for other reasons. In 2003, Public Wholesale Water Supply District 4 in Cherryvale, Kansas, won the National Rural Water Association’s “Best Tasting Water >>30 28 • Fourth Quarter 2008 http://www.aymcdonald.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008

Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 Contents From the President Rural Water: Where are We Headed? The Future of Water in America Bank Collateral Controls in Nervous Times Bottle of Water or Billion Dollar Bully? Aqua Chocolate No Mas Why Even Small Water Systems Should Have Personnel Policy Manuals Safe Drinking Water Regulatory Update 2008 NRWA Industry Event Throwing My Loop Advertisers.com Index to Advertisers From the CEO

Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008

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