PT AGM: Pioneer in bottled water

It's a typical Indonesian day. The scorching sun burns your head. The air is humid and stuffy and you are perspiring as if you'd been jogging for one hour. Every time you inhale, you feel the dust particles in the air entering your nose, making your throat drier than ever. What comes to mind? Without a doubt, you would be craving for cold, bottled drinking water to quench your thirst and sooth your throat.

Why bottled drinking water? you ask. Because, unlike in most advanced countries where people can find drinking fountains along the sidewalks and in most other public places, in Indonesia, we have to be very careful in choosing what we swallow. In fact, the quality of tap water in any Indonesian city is still far from meeting the international standard.

Before we can drink our water, we have to boil it completely to kill all the germs.

That's the problem that prompted a brilliant solution: Why not bottle drinking water in a wide range of container sizes and shapes and sell it to the public at truly-affordable prices?

The late Tirto Utomo came up with the solution to the big problem that people in Jakarta, as well as most people living in other parts of the country had been faced with: They all needed clean, hygienic drinking water in their homes, at their offices, at the markets, in parks, on buses and trains and in cars stuck in traffic jams, in fact, anywhere at all. Bottled drinking water, which Indonesians can buy at a price that does not take a big bite out of their wallets.

This is particularly true where people are more educated and worry about what they put into their bodies. And what could be a more appropriate name for this thirst-quenching product than the Latin word AQUA? Certainly none we could think of. Thus, the company, PT AQUA Golden Mississippi (PT AGM), was born, giving the people of Indonesia AQUA, bottled water they can drink straight from the container.

It was a pioneering enterprise. In a relatively short period -- 23 years -- AQUA has become so established in the minds of Indonesians that you may find it rather strange if the person you are talking with claims that he does not know what it is.

This kind of achievement, however, should not come as a surprise, as it stems from a high level of creativity and entrepreneurship. It is also the fruit of the knowledge of what people need and the hard work to make it available to them.

Today, the brand AQUA has become an all-encompassing noun, a generic name for bottled drinking water. It has become something much like the brand names Gillette, that is used to refer to all razor blades, or Kodak, that refers to all types of photographic film. No matter what brand the label on the bottle may carry, people will simply call it "AQUA".

There are reasons for such tremendous popularity and familiarity. Right from the beginning, PT AGM has meticulously chosen its mineral water raw material source. The company knows that it has a responsibility for the well-being of its customers.

This commitment to its customers -- instead of just a fear that it may be liable in case any of its customers ever become ill after drinking its product -- has always prompted the company to search for the highest quality raw material and the best production methods.

That was the reason behind the decision to obtain the raw material from self-flowing mountain springs, instead of artesian wells, as had been the practice previously.

Not only does this help preserve the environment but customers also get higher-quality drinking water, that has balanced mineral contents. This also represents a major factor that distinguishes AQUA products from other brands of bottled drinking water.

AQUA is now produced at 11 different locations throughout the more-populous areas of this archipelago. PT AGM's production facilities are located in West Java, namely in Bekasi, Citeureup and Sukabumi. In addition, PT Tirta Menara Nusa has a facility in Bandar Lampung, Lampung; PT Tirta Sibayakindo in Medan, North Sumatra; PT Tirta Babakan Pari in Sukabumi, West Java; PT Tirta Cisantana in Kuningan, West Java; PT Tirta Jayamas Unggul in Pandaan, East Java; PT Tirta Dewata Semesta In Mambal, Bali; PT Tirta Sulut Klabatindo in Manado, North Sulawesi, and PT Tirta Mangli in Wonosobo, East Java.

The ISO-9002 certified PT AGM makes sure that every one of these factories strictly adheres to uniform and consistent quality control procedures, production processes and packaging.

All these factories now have a combined production capacity of 1,125 million liters of water per year. Total output in 1995 was 800 million liters. PT AGM's philosophy is that production should take place as close as possible to the water sources. That is the reason the company has issued licenses and provided technical assistance to other AQUA production factories throughout the country.

Right from the beginning, consideration of the ecology has been given top priority. Therefore, no more than 15 percent of each spring's capacity is exploited. Furthermore, in social and economic terms, by being close to the water sources, these factories also give job opportunities to the local people.

In the global business world, there is a popular saying that a business should either continue to grow, or die. So, in spite of the tremendously-huge market that it has been enjoying at home, AQUA has been aggressively pursuing the regional as well as the international market share. Its bottled drinking water has been exported to neighboring ASEAN countries, as well as Indochina, Hong Kong, Australia, the Maldives and the United States.

In addition to exports, since 1991 PT AGM has been working closely with three overseas factories that also produce AQUA bottled drinking water. These are IBIC Sdn. Bhd. (SEHAT) of Brunei Darussalam, Filipinas Water Bottling Co., of the Philippines, and Eternal Spring Mineral Water Pte. Ltd. of Vietnam.

On March 1, 1990, PT AGM was listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Last year, it reported an after-tax profit of Rp 4.7 billion. With sound and shrewd business strategies and expansion programs, coupled with an unshakeable commitment to its customers and the environment, it seems that this figure will have nowhere to go but up.

Tirto Utomo, the founder of PT AGM, passed away in 1994, but he has left behind a legacy. He left behind the wisdom and philosophy of how to business, of contributing to society, and of working for a better environment. All these factors have become integrated into the company's values. (zia)