Not only is the bottled water market thriving worldwide, but its volume has also surpassed carbonated beverages, and it will continue to grow due to changing consumer spending habits, healthier lifestyle trends, and declining access to clean and safe drinking water in densely populated cities.

The global bottled water industry was worth approximately US$230.4 billion in 2020. It is projected to grow annually with accumulated revenue to roughly US$405 billion by the end of 2027 (BlueWeave Consulting 2021).

The rising consumer awareness of the health benefits of bottled water will continue pushing the global demand and product sales, especially among younger consumers. Following this trend, several restaurants are expanding their bottled water offerings to meet this demand. Among the bottled water varieties ranging from spring, purified, mineral, and sparkling, it is the purified water segment that holds the largest share — 35 per cent — in 2020 (Grand View Research, 2021).

According to the United Nations, almost 16,000 desalination plants across 177 countries provide purified water. Increasing water needs due to population growth, increased per capita water consumption, urbanisation, economic development, and falling water supplies due to climate change and contamination exacerbate water scarcity in most regions of the world (UN, 2018).

The top purified bottled water companies include Nestlé, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, DANONE, Primo Water Corporation, FIJI Water Company LLC, Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co KG, VOSS WATER, Nongfu Spring, Rhodius Mineralquellen Und Getränke GmbH & Co KG.

In 2018 Mexico and Thailand had the highest per capita consumption of bottled water worldwide at 72.4 gallons of bottled water per person. Over the last 10 years, the United States’ annual bottled water consumption grew by almost 40 per cent. The United States imported around US$762 million worth of water in 2020 (336 million litres from Italy and 248 million litres from Fiji).

The retail bottled water market in Jamaica is forecast to reach US$168.02 by 2025 (marketresearch.com).

Getting into export

Why isn’t Jamaica exporting a national bottled water brand globally?

Fiji water started in 1996 and now ships bottled water to all continents and commands US$150 million in annual sales from the United States alone. Fiji’s population stands at 894,444, slightly more than a quarter of Jamaica’s population.

If Jamaica were to position itself to carve out half a per cent of the global bottled water market share we would have a national export industry worth anywhere between US$1 billion to US$2 billion. This is an achievable goal.

Excluding bauxite and alumina, our current national exports for 2020 were:

* rum — US$56 million

* yam — US$30 million

* coffee — US$11.9 million

* baked products — US$22.2 million

* ackee — US$20.2 million

* sauces — US$24 million

* scrap metal — US$11.6, and

* chemicals — US$31.6 million (Source: Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, 2020)

Significantly, Jamaica has won the award from the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association for the best quality drinking water in the region three times in a row in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Our country is blessed with good clean water, which gives us a serious advantage. We have natural water springs that can be bottled at the source and sold worldwide.

The business of water has a value chain that favours retail. The production of one bottle of water carries a relative cost of production between US$0.12 to US$0.15, and the consumer purchases it at US$0.50 to US$1.00. The packaging, branding, and marketing of the water have higher cost inputs than the product itself.

Jamaica has a global competitive advantage as a brand already based on the representation of the international excellence Jamaica wields in track and field, music, and entertainment. Additionally, we are ranked in the top three of the world’s “coolest countries” ( CNN Travel, 2017). Although most bottled water brands are consumed recreationally, consumers are influenced by the personalities and brand ambassadors associated with the beverage and the obvious perceived health benefits of water. Therefore, Brand Jamaica gives us a solid opportunity to build a bottled water product with our iconic unmatched personalities and our flora and fauna. Just the name Jamaica packaged right on a bottle and positioned in Asia, Europe, or North America would be powerful.

Getting our logistics and story right

We love to boast that Jamaica has one of the largest natural shipping harbours in the world. Yet, the flow of trade using this port is primarily one way. Hundreds of thousands of containers bring goods to Jamaica annually and return empty to their original ports. Jamaica received approximately 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit/containers) at the Kingston Container Terminal in 2020. Apart from the trans-shipment cargo, less than 10 per cent left our shores with exported cargo.

The big hurdle to this business is logistics, delivering the product to market, getting shelf space in retail outlets, online marketing, and brand recognition. None of these are easy, but they’re not insurmountable. The logistics challenges can be solved in the same way our scrap metal is exported by asking shipping companies to reposition their empty containers back to exporting countries, with a nominal cost for the export; for example, at US$500 per container, which allows this to be feasible.

However, we must be mindful of our own local water needs and shortages in entering this industry. As such, we should position ourselves to thrive within the premium water market and not present ourselves as merely another commodity drinking water fighting for international shelf space. That’s why the story we tell is critical to any success we will derive.

Our Jamaican allure gives us the potential to tell a compelling brand-building story for the backdrop to develop this product. In other words, we must pull at the heartstrings of international consumers with “why Jamaica is selling water to the world” and “how the sales will help build rural communities, send children to school, and provide jobs for our women to help reduce domestic violence” on the island.

Additionally, these export earnings could also help to fund the necessary infrastructure to take potable water to Jamaicans living in remote rural areas.

The Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association should see this opportunity as a touchstone for economic growth and social development and, therefore, aid in the collaboration of its members to create and commercialise a viable export of international premium water under one brand bearing the Jamaican flag. They could start by calling the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) to certify our water for export in large quantities.

When the Arawaks saw Christopher Columbus “discovering” Jamaica, little did they know at the time it would disrupt their lives. As a country, we have allowed too many external forces to discover, own, and patent the things that are naturally ours. Let’s not allow another foreigner to discover that our Jamaican water is a US billion-dollar export industry. Let’s do this one on our own.

Lisa Hanna is Member of Parliament for St Ann South Eastern, People’s National Party spokesperson on foreign affairs and foreign trade, and a former Cabinet member.