The photo taken yesterday in the capital's Karwan Bazar area shows a consumer drinking bottled water. Increased mobility of people and mass awareness against water-borne diseases have contributed to a speedy growth of the market.Photo: STAR

Sales of bottled water in the country is rising by up to 20 percent a year mainly due to consumers' lack of confidence in public water service facilities.
An increased mobility of people across the country has also contributed hugely in the ever-growing popularity of such products in the local market, producers said.
“Mass awareness against water-born diseases, coupled with lack of confidence in the government provided water supply facilities, are the main reasons behind such a rise in the demand. Product availability has also encouraged rise in consumption,” according to Md Saiful Islam Helaly, general manager, Marketing, of Meghna Group of Industries, a leader in manufacturing bottled water under the brand Fresh.
Industry people said the demand for pure drinking water has been enjoying an annual growth of 10-20 percent over the last couple of years with many new players entered the market to garb a slice of the Tk 70- 100 crore market.
According to producers, Super Fresh and Mum control over 60 percent of the market followed by Jibon, Acme, Pran and Spa.
“Many office goers these days prefer bottled water with their lunch," said Md Aktaruzzaman, marketing manager of Partex Beverage, the second biggest player in the market under the popular brand Mum.
Increased mobility of people has helped the market grow with consumers taking bottled water during their travel, he said.
However, intense competition coupled with increased production costs have squeezed many players already.
“Profit margins in this segment are thin. A major part of our profit is going to the pockets of retailers. The whole industry is now hostage to the hands of retailers,” Helaly of Meghna Group said while talking to The Daily Star.
A 500-600 ml (milliliter) bottle that sells at Tk 10 in retail, costs between Tk 6.25 and Tk 7.90 in wholesale.
Badhsha Faisal, owner of a food court at Karwan Bazar, who usually carries Mum branded bottled water of Partex, said a single pet of 500 ml MUM costs him Tk 6.75.
"It's (water) a slow item and therefore the profit margin must be higher than other products," said Faisal.
But Nasir, owner of a grocery store in Lalbag of the capital, prefers to carry Fresh instead.
“I usually carry Fresh more because it offers me increased margin,” he added.
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