PANAJI
A first-time women entrepreneur in Goa has dared not only to enter the market but to launch a bigger size of the brand that she launched earlier this year. Betty Rodrigues, a home-maker until last year, today boasts of being the first women entrepreneur in the drinking water business in Goa with her product ‘Goan Sip’ that entered the market in February 2020 amid coronavirus crises. The brand that initially came in three sizes, 250 ml, 500 ml and 1000 ml, is now launched in 20-litre containers and is available at factory price if purchased directly from the processing unit Johan’s Water Resources in Colva.
“Stepping into the shoes of a business woman was not easy, especially, for a homemaker like me,” agrees Betty who has support of her better-half Saturnino Rodrigues, an NRI who worked abroad for 39 years and is now in Goa for the past five-and-a-half months due to global lockdown.
“The water we offer is of premium quality and has a unique taste of Goa. Coming straight from a well, it undergoes stringent cleansing process in our 316-grade stainless steel plant, and after being tested in two operational labs, it is filled with added minerals in the bottles, which again, are manufactured at our unit,” explains Betty.
The manufacturing unit is laced with all relevant licenses from FDA and other authorities and has even the ISO 22000:2018 and BIS certificate. The supply chain and distribution network has gradually expanded and ‘Goan Sip’ with its six-month shelf-life, is now available even in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Mumbai and Delhi.
Sharing an ambitious plan of expansion to Karnataka and Konkan, Betty will be enhancing the current production capacity of 1,000 cases.
Endorsing Betty’s skills and business acumen Saturnino adds, “Our brand ambassador, Goa’s nightingale Lorna, has managed to penetrate the hearts of Niz Goenkars with her melodious voice. ‘Goan Sip is a truly Goan product with Goan taste, offered by a Goan entrepreneur to Goa and to India.”
