The Goan: You havestudied design and art. How did you incorporate this in the Bisleri brand?
JayantiChauhan: Design and fashion interested me as a kid. During my studiesI studied merchandising and product development. You can see this in the waythe Bisleri and Vedica bottles are designed. Their labels are much moreattractive than before.
TG: How big isthe packaged bottled water industry in India? At what rate is it growing?
JC: Thepackaged bottled water market in India is estimated to be between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 crore. And it is growing at 20 percent per annum.
TG: Howdifferent is the industry in India from the rest of the world
JC: Well tobegin with the industry is getting more creative in its design. The unusualangles used for these bottles are improving. Many more players have entered themarket including foreign brands. We are not what we used to be like in the 80’sand 90’s. The bottling industry in India has come a long way.
TG: Withinternational products like Avian entering India, how is this going to changethe market for Bisleri and other brands?
JC: First ofall Avian coming into India is nothing that Bisleri or other brands shouldworry about. Avian’s market is a very niche market. Even more niche thanVedica, Qua and Himalaya. Avian’s shipping is all the way from France to India.The transportation costs itself increase the cost of the Avian three timeshigher. Especially if the water is bottled at source, Indian companies need notworry about foreign players entering the market.
TG: Bisleri isnow entering into the luxury water market with Vedica. Why this move? Is itbecause sales have dropped?
JC: No, saleshave not dropped. We found a spring in Uttrakhand and got lucky. At Bisleri weare constantly innovating and trying new things, without looking atcompetition. We found the PH level in the water was PH 7.9 which is excellentfor drinking water and good for health. So why not enter the luxury drinkingwater market with the brand Vedica.
TG: What isBisleri’s market share?
JC: Bisleri isthe leader with a 60 per cent market share
TG: Bislerihas become a generic term all across the world. Is this a problem for thebrand?
JC: Bislerihas become a generic term for bottled water, which is great. But the downsideof this is that when you walk into a store and ask for a Bisleri, stores offerany water that is bottled. How to get people to ask for the green Bisleribottle is a challenge.
TG: Do youhave any plans of entering other markets?
JC: We alreadyare shipping Vedica to Singapore, Turkey and a few other places. But yes theultimate goal is to take Bisleri overseas, into European markets. But presentlywe want to capture 100 per cent of the market share in India.
