As the debate continues over Water Bottles we have seen the discussion become more of a mainstream topic of conversation. We’ve aggregated enough opinions from the anti-water-bottle brigade, but what’s the reaction from the people who make bottled water? We asked Adam Gayner of water brand Fred was kind enough to shed some light on the industry from his perspective.
Do you feel there are benefits to consuming bottled water?
From my standpoint with Fred, onset child diabetes and obesity and many other health risks are reduced greatly by drinking bottled water [most people are dehydrated even with the growth of bottled water consumption] and Fred makes drinking water a more interesting experience.
What is your impressions of the water industry and the debate going on about plastic water bottles?”
I think that if a consumer believes water is water and has no preference, they should think about using cups, containers and filling with tap water wherever they happen to be. If a consumer prefers one type of water over the other or bottled water over tap, they should choose what they like. But if they choose bottled water, they should recycle. I think the big issue is recycling rates in the US are abysmal.
How do you feel about alternatives to plastics?, I just saw an orange juice container made up of corn. Do you feel that this is just a gimmick or is the industry looking for alternative materials other then plastics?
In terms of other materials, Fred was originally going to be made of PLA - which is corn plastic made from NatureWorks. There are issues with this plastic as it relates to ‘ability to contain water over time’ and ‘commercial viability related to the costs’. So, we are looking, but we feel the best solution is recycling at this point.
From your prospective when did you see this discussion moving into the mainstream, was it one particular event or has this been something you have heard people talking about for sometime?
In terms of when I heard about this in the mainstream - it was within the past few months. With Gavin in SF banning bottled water in governmental buildings, etc.
- Contributed by Amy Daroukakis
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Good points from Adam–as well as a great job of building a brand.
I’m in the business in the US, with a company (Mountain Valley) that bottles in both glass and PET plastic. One other very important point–unfortunately ignored in much of the public debate on bottled water–is the impact on individual health.
Many of our customers for spring water in glass bottles have chemical sensitivities, auto-immune disorders, or other health issues; these people simply can’t drink tap water because of the impact that contaminants (and even the chlorine used to treat them) has on their health. In their zeal to get all Americans drinking only from the tap, some pundits are, I fear, ignoring the health aspect and shaming people from consuming something they need.
The fact is that tap water and bottled water are not apples-to-apples substitutes for everyone.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:40 am