Kathmandu

Since 1993, Bailey, processed bottled water has been praised by many for its refreshing taste and potent health benefits. Amidst the local and few international brands, Bailey, processed bottled water, a quality product from Parle Agro India, stands out for its restorative quality. The company claims that the brand has been the symbol of purity for years now in India.

The brand was launched in Nepal by Sunrise Nepal Food and Beverage (SNFB) , a franchise of Parle Agro in 2012. Nabin Poudel, Country Manager, SNFB, says, “Bailey is manufactured under standard of Processed Drinking Water as defined by the government, Department of Food and Technology and Quality Control to assure cent per cent purity and hygiene of water.” He further adds that as Bailey is a franchise of Parle Agro India, the water is purified by the standards of state of art purification process with reverse osmosis technology recommended by the mother company itself. According to him, they launched the brand in the country because the need for safe and healthy processed drinking water in the market was yet to be met.

According to Poudel, to ensure the hygiene and purity of water, it is tested through 60 plus parameters to meet the quality standard set by the government of Nepal. He claims that Bailey is that only international processed drinking water brand that is manufactured in Nepal, at Birgunj.

“As the brands tagline is ‘Celebrating Purity’, the unique selling proposition of the brand is its quality and the standard of hygiene maintained. Also, the attractive packaging and reasonable price makes it all the more appealing,” he shares. He further informs that the bottle under-goes automatic washing, cleaning and rinsing, disinfecting and sterlising processes through latest bottling technology.

Bailey is available in 500 ml, one litre and 20 litre jars in the market and are priced Rs 18, Rs 30 and Rs 125 respectively. “Around 50,000 cartons of water of one litre bottles are sold on a daily basis. Our consumers are mostly ‘A’ listed hotels, restaurants and expats and health conscious people,” Poudel claims.

According to him, for the promotional activities of brand for its visibility, they are adverstising through print media, hoarding boards and are involved in PR activities with along with CSR activities. “We spend around Rs two million rupees on branding annually,” he shares.

As per him, the market demand of the product is growing each year with 25 to 30 per cent and to meet the growing demand they are planning to establish a manufacturing unit in Kathmandu by 2016. “Bailey is distributed through our strong and effective distribution network that has 70 distributors all over Nepal,” he informs. According to him, the brand has a competition with brands like Aqua 100 and Aquafina in the processed water segments. “The major challenge for the brand is with other local processed bottled drinking water, which lacks quality and purity of water. These numerous local manufacturers supply water bottles in a minimum rate to the retailers in comparison to the branded one due to high profit margin,” he claims. He adds that there should be strong monitoring body from the government to stop these malpractices as it directly hampers the health of consumers.

“Initially, it was hard to convince consumers and they assumed it to be expensive but with time and word of mouth promotion, the brand has slowly garnered popularity in the market and ever since we have seen a rise in demand,” shares Poudel.

There is a good demand and market for the processed water especially in Kathmandu. He says, “Seeing the scope, we are planning for more specialised marketing and branding focusing on proper penetration of the market by establishing premium outlets for the brand.”