AQUA: The Super Brand in The Bottled Water Industry

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.