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P.T. Jyothi Datta

NEW DELHI, Feb. 23

WILL the recent turbulence in the table-water segment throw up a silver lining for sparkling and carbonated water brands like Nestle's Perrier and San Pellegrino and Groupe Danone's Farrarelle? It's been more than a year since the import of these brands into India had stopped, following the Health Ministry's directive on mandatory ISI certification that equated sparkling and carbonated water on par with regular packaged/mineral water.

Against the backdrop of the Government looking at international norms for packaged drinking water, industry officials told Business Line that the Health Ministry should revisit the carbonated water issue too. "In European markets, for instance, there are different norms for table-water and source water or water sourced from springs in the mountains. So if we are going for international norms and methods of testing, then we should take it in toto," the representative observed.

The carbonated water brands from Nestle and Danone had run into rough weather in 2001, when they were required to adhere to parameters that the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) rules had laid out for packaged drinking water and mineral water. "The last imports for these products were around August 2001 and by that September all stocks had been exhausted."

Perrier known as the "champagne of waters" is a naturally carbonated mineral water, San Pellegrino is a "sparkling natural mineral water" and Danone's Farrarelle is also a carbonated water brand - between the three of them, they corner 50 per cent of the global market. Priced at an estimated Rs 90 for 750 ml in India, the three premium brands largely target the institutional segment.

Interestingly, Evian - a premium packaged water product from Danone - was the only product that was completely cleared by the Centre for Science and Environment report on bottled water, even as it indicted all other water brands of containing pesticide residue. Evian is priced at about Rs 30 for 330 ml.

While both companies had made representations in the past, to have different norms for carbonated water, as is the practice in other global markets - more recently, their efforts have been endorsed by the French and Italian embassies too, industry officials said. Their representations essentially stated that global standards for "still water" were different from that for "sparkling water."

"When last imported, this segment had an import tariff of about 35-40 per cent and the Centre could continue to maintain such tariffs if they wanted to keep these products in the premium category. Tourists and local consumers who are willing to pay should be given a choice," the industry representative said. Further, they add: "Hotels and embassies across the country are still placing orders for these products as tourists are keen on having products that they are comfortable with. However the companies are unable to meet these demands."

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