AQUA: The Super Brand in The Bottled Water Industry

Back in the 1970s, no one would have realized that selling bottled water would become a lucrative business 30 years later. "Selling bottled water was considered ridiculous at the time," said Willy Sidharta, the president director of PT Aqua Golden Mississippi, which produces AQUA bottled water.

AQUA bottled water was initially produced to meet consumers' demand for clean drinking water, especially foreigners staying at hotels in Indonesia. "From then on, AQUA received a good response from consumers and several other companies followed in the same steps," he said.

Now AQUA is among the hundreds of brands produced by about 200 companies. Although competition among bottled water companies is getting fiercer with the entry of new brands, AQUA remains the market leader in the industry.

In 2001, AQUA group sold 2.3 billion liters and this year, the sales volume is expected to reach between 2.9 billion liters and 3 billion liters. "This is incredibly high. This is the highest in the world in terms of sales volume of bottled water under one single brand," Willy said.

The public's increasing demand for AQUA is not without reason, though. Maintaining the best possible quality of the product and service as well as ensuring the availability of its products are two pivotal aspects that the company has strongly emphasized.

Efforts continue to be made to provide the best quality bottled water product and service starting from the choice of water source, production process, plants and packaging to its distribution.

AQUA is the only national wide bottled water company that uses natural spring water from a mountain source that flows naturally to the surface of the Earth. The water is not pumped to the surface nor does it come from a branch of that water source.

Even before the production process, Aqua water is of high quality. Deep down under the Earth's surface, nature has conducted its own filtering process. The endless flow of water to the surface has passed several layers of sand and stones, which results in an excellent quality of water that can be consumed even before it is processed. An on-the-spot laboratory test is conducted regularly to ensure that water quality is maintained.

The quality of AQUA water has passed a number of strict tests, the Indonesian National Standard (SNI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), which refers to the US-FDA standard.

Aqua applies the In-Line Process Technology, the only one in Indonesia to ensure hygienic products. This technology enables water filtration and bottle production to be conducted at the same time.

After the water pass the filtration, the packaging will also be ready to be filed in a microbiological controlled environment. As a result, the AQUA that consumer drinks will be of high quality, hygienic and safe and it will benefit the well-being of consumers.

Since the company aims to give its customers products of the highest quality and, in the end, the highest customer satisfaction, all AQUA plants are ISO-9000 certified. In the bottled water industry, AQUA was the first in Asia to receive the ISO 9002. In addition to that, all the plants have succeeded in achieving the hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certificate after a scrutinizing audit by different certification bodies. This certification provides assurance for the safety of Aqua products.

AQUA's management has well anticipated the public's growing demand for AQUA products in line with their growing trust in the product. In addition to the expansion of the existing 12 plants at 10 sites, the company will construct a new plant in Klaten, Central Java. The plant, which will have a production capacity of million liters per year, is expected to ensure the availability of AQUA water in the area.

The company's strong commitment to its production process, in compliance with international standards, has led to numerous international awards and acknowledgements.

Tightly controlled production has led AQUA to attain the "Good Manufacturing Practices(GMP)" certificate from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) of the United States of America for all factories. Factories in Bogor and Sukabumi have even received the "Excellence in Manufacturing Award" from the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) by successfully scoring 97 percent and 98 percent out of a possible 100 percent.

AQUA, the first bottled water in the world to produce 240 milliliter cup and received the 1986 Asia Star Award for their innovation of the ceramic jug-shaped dispenser, which now becomes a trend in Indonesia. For several consecutive years, the readers of Reader's

Digest in Singapore have chosen AQUA as the 1999, 2000 and 2001's Super Brand in the water category. The quality of AQUA is considered to be well-trusted and high in value. No other Indonesian brand has managed to capture the Super Brand award.

Thus, with consumers' growing trust as well as international acknowledgement AQUA Group continues to leap forward in full confidence.