Consumers confused about bottled water
Not only small bottled water retailers have problems, but the "big guys" also have "scandals" that make consumers confused about this market.
Bottled water chaos
In recent years, the Vietnamese bottled water market has
According to statistics, there are currently thousands of production facilities and hundreds of thousands of bottled water businesses nationwide, but they are mainly small and medium-sized production facilities, with distribution through agents and retail at home. It is difficult to remember all the brands on this market such as Apolo, Ale, Acewa, Bonaqua, Nutina, V-water, Bavie... A gas shop, a water shop, a CD store, a grocery store... can all become a pure drinking water dealer.
Horrifying scene at a purified water production facility
The market is large but the quality of bottled water is an alarming issue. In many small establishments, purified water is just well water that has been treated through a very rudimentary system. Recently, authorities have continuously discovered a series of violations by establishments producing this product. At the end of June alone, the inspection team of the Hanoi City Food Safety and Hygiene Department discovered up to 5 samples of bottled water contaminated with coliform bacteria that cause intestinal diseases and diarrhea from the brands Aquavenus, Bonwater, WaterHaru, Aqua Myanh, Sakura.
Currently, the price of each 19l - 20l water bottle ranges from 20,000 VND to 30,000 VND. There are even many types with shockingly cheap prices, only from 10,000 VND - 15,000 VND/bottle. However, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Thi Suu, Director of the Food Safety Technical Center - Vietnam Association of Science and Technology, the process of producing bottled water to ensure quality must have 6 steps and if these processes are followed correctly, the price of bottled water to consumers cannot be above or below 10,000 VND/19l - 20l bottle.
Even the "big guys" got into trouble
While the bottled water market is in chaos with hundreds of brands from small retailers having quality problems, "big guys" like La Vie or Aquafina are constantly getting into "scandals", causing consumers to increasingly lose confidence in the bottled water market.
Pepsi's Aquafina is a major brand, leading the Vietnamese bottled water market with 40% market share, but in July 2011, consumers continuously discovered that the company's purified water bottles had black sediment and were cloudy.
The first case of black residue being detected was 3 1.5L bottles of Aquafina purchased at a supermarket in Hanoi on July 10. A few days later, many people continuously reported buying Aquafina bottles that were still within their expiry date and were still “intact” but had black residue forming a layer at the bottom of the bottle, proving that this incident was not a rare case of a few bottles but could happen in a large batch.
Responding to the above phenomenon, Pepsico affirmed that the water bottles with sediment are of guaranteed quality and the black fine particles in the products are likely to be carbon soot particles in the filtration system. However, after this "event", many people had to "boycott" Aquafina.
Occupying the second largest market share after Aquafina is the “big guy” La Vie (30%). But just typing the keyword “La Vie” on Google, besides articles introducing this brand, there are many results that just by reading the title, consumers are shocked such as “strange object in La Vie water bottle”, “La Vie water bottle full of moss” or “Customers accuse La Vie of selling dirty water”…
In August 2010, Phu Toan Thang Company (Hanoi) reported that green moss had grown in a 19-liter Lavie water bottle. Specifically, this unit purchased 4 Lavie water bottles, and while using the third bottle, it suddenly discovered that yellow-green moss had covered the entire Lavie water bottle. Not only the water bottle in use, but also the unused water bottle, still sealed, had moss growing at the bottom of the bottle, and even strange creatures resembling mosquito corpses were seen floating inside the La Vie water bottle.
Just 1 week later, another customer "accused" that there was a strange substance in an unopened bottle of La Vie water.
In April 2012, Ms. Phan Tuyet Lan, in Hoang Mai, Hanoi, discovered that a 19-liter La Vie water bottle had a cloudy green color, and patches of scum and foam formed into clumps floating on the surface of the water.
Most recently, in August 2013, Mr. Nguyen Duc Cuong's family (Thanh Cong, Hanoi) received two 19-liter boxes of La Vie water with a strong smell and undrinkable fishy taste.
It is worth mentioning that in most incidents, Lavie said that the fault was due to the customer. In Ms. Lan's case, La Vie said that the fault was due to the customer's improper use, because the 19-liter water bottle had been left in the hot and cold water dispenser for many years without cleaning the inside of the machine and had been left in a place with strong light, creating ideal conditions for moss and dust to grow... Ms. Phan Tuyet Lan was very upset because the answer was not satisfactory. According to Ms. Lan, the lack of hygiene in the hot and cold water dispenser can only affect the quality of the water discharged through the machine for use, but cannot be the cause of moss and residue in La Vie's 19-liter water bottle.
In the case of Mr. Cuong's family, La Vie also blamed the user's storage method, saying that the cause was due to the transportation and storage process or the water bottle being placed in places with strong odor sources such as in the kitchen, next to the family's household trash can, so the smell of spices and cooking odors could seep in. In addition, according to La Vie, when the bottle is plugged into the water dispenser, there is still a certain amount of old water in the water dispenser and during use, the water goes down to balance the pressure with the upward air flow (including water in the dispenser and air) and that is also the reason why it can contaminate the water bottle.
The continuous quality incidents and the unconvincing behavior and explanations of big companies like Aquafina and La Vie are causing consumers to increasingly panic and lose confidence in the bottled water market.
According to Kienthuc.net.vn - HV
