subject: The Bottled Water Business [print this page] Water vending was invented in the early 1970's. Big blue boxes were popping up in chain grocery stores nation wide. These boxes were simply connected to a water spick-et with a copper line and then into a new fangled osmosis filter and then into the big blue box. Each machine had a stand setting beside it that had 1-gallon plastic jugs for customers.
Vending machine companies as usual were slow to get on board; these vending machines were not built for office use, they were for home water purchasing, the water vending machine for single bottles was not far behind.
The vending world and the public they served was starting to receive the message; your local water company isnt doing such a good job, purified water is better for you and your family, so you should pay us for a better quality of water. The days of the grey office water cooler with the pedal and or spring-loaded handle was coming to an end. And the OWS (office water service) business was emerging; bottled water was headed to every office in America. A five-gallon plastic water bottle that set on cooler stand with a cup dispenser that held tiny paper cups attached to it side had created a whole new segment of office vending.
The big blue water machine had a vend price of $0.25 per gallon, the gallon jug was reusable with a ten cent deposit. A real concern was churned up by promoters that were lining their own pockets, very similar to how Al Gore has spun global warming into a new billion dollar fortune for himself and his cronies.
It wasnt long before business opportunity telephone rooms took advantage of the publics newfound fear and interest in water purifiers, by creating pyramid marketing scheme. It doesnt matter if it is Bernie Madeof or a shyster selling water purifiers, the concept is always the same; you purchase a package of the product being hocked and then you go out and ask all of your friends, neighbors and relatives to buy what you are selling or in Bernies scheme you were buying Bernies Wall Street voodoo magic. Of course the very first people in usually make a lot of money, but most buyers that buy in after that lose their hard earned money and end up with what is referred to in the industry of business opportunity promoters as garage stuffers; a corner in your garage or a spare bedroom full of the buyers hopes and dreams, still in their pretty well designed boxes.
A decade or so later grocers, bottlers and vending machine companies were delighted at the new plastic water bottle. And shortly thereafter land fills were bulging with plastic biodegradable bottles.
It didn't take vending machine manufacturers long to figure out there was a real market, soon they were on board; Pepsi and Coke both bought small water distributors and added them to their endless monopoly and of diverse beverages. Water companies started springing up all over the world, all desperate to ship their product to the biggest consumer on the planet, America. Pierre was one of the first European bottlers to penetrate our shores; my nightclub and my restaurant at the time had little green French water bottles setting on every table and in front of every barstool. America was officially addicted to bottle water.
The OWS business had grown by leaps and bounds and OCS (office coffee service) and OWS companies were combining their services to broaden their market share. It was commonplace to see huge long 6-wheel trucks delivering those five-gallon plastic jugs to offices and homes.
The curious question of just how pure the water really was and still is gives the critics of plastic landfills plenty to write about. Is the water spring water? Is the water of a better quality than your local water? Do a great deal of these companies simply use tap water to fill their cool little bottles?
A decade ago small company Pure-1, located right outside of Boston capitalized on the water industrys short falls by inventing a very high-tech osmosis water filter. This little magic gizmo connects to the water line that connects to a 2.5-gallon plastic jug that sets on a very sleek and compact water cooler stand; these coolers have a lifetime warranty, a filter that needs to be cleaned every six months or so. The jug continuously refills itself with 100% pure water; therefore the jug never needs to be switch off with another jug. Thats right, this nifty little plastic jug never goes empty, it continuously delivers true crystal clear purified water at almost NO cost to the user.
Oh, and there are no five-gallon jugs to store by the seller or the user; therefore there are no expensive delivery costs!
Copyright (c) 2009 Jimmy Ingram
by: Jimmy Ingram
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