NongFu
Spring
Water .
The Chinese bottled water market
Growth prospects for China’s bottled water market show positive signs
and scenarios for the economy of the great Asian country.
According to a recent study conducted by experts at Canadean, there
has been a slowdown in the increase of bottled water consumption in the
WATER & CSD SECTORS
NongFu Spring Water Co.
YST Group
Zhejiang, Hubei e
Western world.
Owing to the relative maturity of the market, some economies have been
severely affected by the combined effect of the international economic
crisis and consumption stagnation.
Guangdong, China
>> 6
casepackers
SMIFLEXI LWP 25
On
the
contrary,
the
Chinese
bottled
water
sector
presents
a
very
different picture, as in recent years it has been growing at breakneck pace
reaching substantial volumes.
However, Canadean’s forecast on the global consumption of soft drinks is
relatively positive: demand is estimated to report a 2.6% increase on the
long term; still drinks, juices and nectars and bottled water are expected
to be the most dynamic categories; the increase in countries experiencing
strong growth such as China, India and Indonesia is likely to offset the
slowdown in consumption rates in Western markets.
12
installation.
NongFu Water
and the glory of the “Lake of a thousand islands”
sites
the area were then opened
owned by NongFu, the plant
to the general public, such
devoted
as the Fuxi Stone Forest,
Of
the
production
to
bottled
water
on the “Lake of a thousand
the
islands”
from the Meifeng peak, the
is
particularly
Wenxin
important.
The
panoramic
“Lake
of
a
thousand
the
and
viewpoint
Qianbi
islands
islands,
populated
monkeys
magnificent natural gem and
island with the “mythological
one of China’s most popular
dragon”,
tourist destinations.
minks, valuable dog breeds,
The
its
lake
is
clear,
famous
drinkable
distributed
for
NongFu
the
The
deers,
islands
area
also
the
with
offers
water,
many recreational activities:
the
seaplanes, water skydiving,
under
well-known
etc.
and
by
islands” or Qindao Lake is a
Spring
hot-hair
balloons,
racing,
an idyllic quality of life.
shooting, fishing and a fishing
It has been said that here
festival.
“people live in homes with
picturesque
scenic
drink
contemplate all year round:
natural spring water, they
in spring flowers colour the
eat
mountains
views,
fish
they
freshly
caught
wooden
ostrich
Water brand. It also enjoys
The
area
and islands,
pure oxygen”.
the
The lake covers an area of
w
560
much
a t t r a c t
as 1,079 islands, which give
swimmers
it its name.
in
The large forest preserve
red
around the lake completes
a n n o u n c e
the
the arrival of
sq/km
with
area’s
as
wonderful
clear
v e
s
summer,
leaves
natural scenery.
autumn
The lake formed following the
in winter the
construction of an artificial
mountains
dam
are
for
Xin’anjiang’s
hydroelectric plant in 1959
and
covered
in snow.
and in 1982 it was included
in the list of the country’s
most
important
tourist
destinations.
Beautiful
sites
located
in
13
fish
offers
landscapes
from the river and breathe
a
huts,
to
NONGFU SPRING WATER
The YST group
and the bottled water market
(including
pharmaceutical
and
food-processing
companies
research
and
medical
institutes),
along
with NongFu Spring Co. and
the Beijing Pharmaceutical
Company.
Over
the
NongFu
growing
from
last
Water
at
1996
company
constant
a
decade,
has
been
fast
pace:
to
now
has
the
made
investments
to
meet increasingly pressing
demand, both in terms of
quality and quantity. NongFu
Spring
recently
contacted
SMI – the two companies
began to work together in
2001 – for the installation
Yang Shen Tang Company
(YST)
is
one
known
China
the
best-
companies
in
in
water
The
of
the
bottled
production
group
has
extraordinary
field.
undergone
development
and is experiencing constant
progress still now.
Initially
the
up
by
Zhong
in
1993
the
water was still limited and
of six Smiflexi wrap-around
not
case packers (part of the
the
with
least
comparable
current
consumption
levels.
set
up
consumption
changing
1996
water
habits
fast
and
were
in
little
time three production sites
company
Shen
operated
set
were
set
Shen
(near
Shanghai)
only
pharmaceutical
cosmetics
sectors,
right
from
the
it
pursued
in
and
but
beginning
growth
opportunities in the bottled
up
in
Zhejiang
to
meet
growing market demand.
Today
NongFu
Spring
Co.,
which includes 12 production
sites, is one of China’s 10
leading
companies
in
the
beverages industry.
mineral water market.
The firm’s parent company,
At the beginning of the ‘90s
the
demand
for
bottled
LWP
25
series)
pack 4L water bottles.
When NongFu Spring Water
was
new
Yang Sheng Tang Co. (YST),
includes various subsidiaries
14
to
installation.
The success
of NongFu Spring Water
The
evolution
of
extraordinary
To
this
according
company
on
seems to be relentless.
In
2003
was
“NongFu
“the
brand
in
market”;
Spring”
most
the
in
famous
domestic
2004
it
was
awarded with the national
certificate for food quality
and
safe
access
to
the
market (QS), while in 2008
it received Reader’s Digest
“Platinum
trusted
award
award
brand”,
for
as
the
the
most
only
Chinese
beverages industry.
International
research
consider
an
to
example,
the
consumption
compiled
by
report
in
AC
China
Nielsen,
the world’s leading market
research company, NongFu
Spring
six
is
one
of
best-known
brands
in
the
the
top
domestic
consumer
goods industry.
The
motivated
working
key
at
asset
staff
NongFu
to
the
are
leading
company,
each
every
and
a
chinese
as
member
contribute to achieving the
market
heavyweights
“NongFu
give
Spring”
goal
of
and
services
providing
products
targeted
improve peoples health.
one of China’s most popular
products.
15
to
NONGFU SPRING WATER
Nature and health
at the origins of a strong evolution
make
NongFu
Ltd.
a
the
Chinese
Spring
unique
Co.
business
water
in
and
beverages industry.
From 1997
Spring’s
brand
(when
bottled
was
NongFu
water
launched
on
the market) up to now the
production capacity of the
Chinese company reported
constant growth.
From
2003
further
presence
the
firm
consolidated
with
launch
its
of
new products such as fruitbased drinks, energy drinks,
juices and mixed beverages
containing juice.
The
company
established
itself as reference point for
the Chinese bottled water
Established in 1996, today
NongFu
Spring
Co.
Ltd.
the brand itself and are at
is
the heart of the company’s
one of the top ten Chinese
mission to “build plants and
companies operating in the
fill [bottles] directly at the
beverages
water source”.
industry
and
is
one of the key businesses
From
amongst
domestic
Chinese company built four
leaders of the agricultural
large-scale plants to bottle
industrialisation.
water
the
the
Moreover,
“NongFu
trademark
is
one
best-known
firmly
“nature”
of
the
fruit-based
of
thousand
the
islands”,
been
Jingyu’s
mineral water spring, Hubei
Danjiandgkou’s
has
committed
concepts
and
now
drinks: near the “Lake of a
commercial
company
to
Spring”
brands in China.
The
1996
spring
and
Guangdong Wanlu Lake.
to
the
High quality water springs
“health”
and
combined
the
of
right
from
some
with
of
start and these have been
leading-edge
distinguishing
and
features
of
the
the
use
world’s
machinery
production
16
plants
sector.
installation.
Its
ability
competitive
the
use
to
of
quality
stay
of
the
products
by
throughout production and
cutting-edge
by the use of high quality
is
ensured
materials.
machinery, by a computerbased management system,
by accurate checks on the
Market prospects
In 2009 bottled water consumption in China increased
by over 11% compared to a year earlier, with an average
per-head consumption of 15.5 litres.
Sector
ahead:
forecasts
in
2010
expect
per-head
growth
also
consumption
for
is
the
years
expected
to
reach 18 litres, which equals a market volume of 24bn
litres.
Increased emphasis on personal health and on quality
food and drinks is leading a growing number of Chinese
consumers
to
turn
to
bottled
water
and,
according
to recent market research, the sector is expected to
report an annual growth rate of 7% for the next five
years. This leaves no doubts on the big growth potential
for businesses operating in this market and the bottled
water market itself.
17
NONGFU SPRING WATER
THE CUSTOMER’S OPINION
Interview with Cao Xuebing, Production
Manager at NongFu Spring Water Co.
shrinkwrappers
along
with
installed,
the
6
new
Smiflexi LWP series wraparound case packers which
are
due
shortly.
to
be
What
company’s
from
delivered
are
your
expectations
this
new
supply
of
machines?
“With SMI’s new supply of
products,
Sopra:
Il
Dott.
Gino
Di
Iorio,
NongFu
Spring
Water Co. aims to maintain
Presidente della Di Iorio S.p.A. con
the high levels of efficiency
Paolo Nava, Presidente e Direttore
of
Generale della SMI S.p.A.
its
plants
and,
at
the
same time, increase their
production
growing
capacity
market
to
demand.
Moreover, we plan to offer
our consumers a wide rage
of
secondary
packaging
solutions to strengthen our
product’s image.”
Above: from the left Cao Xuebing, Production Manager
at NongFu Spring Water Co., with Joseph Chen,
Sales Manager at SMI China
NongFu
plants
of
Spring
employ
a
packaging
Co.’s
SMI’s
machines
machines
format change and resume
full
are the main benefits for
and
your company?
growing
production
quickly.
formats,
of
an
view,
are
our
to
quality
products.
carry
changes
out
fairly
it
for
would
be
for
new
an
packaging
to add other formats at no
production
high
flexible
demand
easily
cater
additional benefit to be able
machines installed as part
of
To
point
operating
SMI’s
us
to carry out maintenance,
manufactured by SMI. What
“From
allow
number
further cost.”
lines
and
very
SMI
We
need
supplier of the YST group
is
a
production
and
NongFu
often
Co.,
with
and
a
long-standing
Spring
total
18
Water
of
40
installation.
What are the reasons that
related
the
led NongFu to invest in the
of
technical
purchase of 6 new Smiflexi
service.
LWP 25 wrap-around case
I realise that the number of
packers?
machines
their
organisation
support
installed
by
SMI
in such a large country is
“Personally, I feel that two
constantly growing and that
elements played a key role
staff in its offices in Nanjing
during the decision process:
and
the excellent quality of the
their best to help everyone.
machines
Nonetheless
supplied
by
SMI
Guanghzou
and their unmatched price/
SMI
quality ratio.”
some
still
important
direct
with
offices
presence
its
in
is
SMI’s
that
in
China
service
representative
Guanghzou
of
its
technical
will
and
followed our company very
we
all
needed
that
make
in
the
to
solve any issues on a daily
basis.
However, to be fair I should
say that in some cases we
have noticed a few problems
19
so
support
reach
higher standards.”
“SMI’s local staff has always
providing
to
organisation,
Water Co.?
information
believe
needs
Nanjing for NongFu Spring
closely,
doing
improvements
terms
How
I
are
even