JUST Water launch steps up pressure on Coca-Cola Amatil

Sue Mitchell
Mar 14, 2019
AFR
The world’s fastest growing water brand, JUST Water, has teamed up with a 159-year old family-owned business in Victoria to shake up the $800 million bottled water market and take on market leader Coca-Cola Amatil.
JUST Water, which was founded by actors Will and Jaden Smith and is known for its sustainable sourcing and environmentally-friendly packaging, has established a partnership with Melbourne-based Slades Beverages to bottle and distribute JUST Water around Australia and export to south-east Asia.
JUST Water differentiates itself from other bottled water brands by using Tetra Pak cartons, which are fully recyclable and made from 82 per cent renewable resources including paper and sugar cane.
The company has established a Tetra Pak carton packaging line at Slades’ bottling facility in Melbourne and is sourcing water from the Cottonwood Springs, near Ballarat, which has a higher silica content than brands like Coca-Cola Amatil’s Mount Franklin and Danone’s Evian water.
The bottled water market is intensely competitive and sales and margins for big brands such as Mount Franklin, Cool Ridge and Frantelle have come under pressure from retailers’ private label brands and the launch of container deposit schemes in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
JUST Water, which is backed by celebrity investors including the Smiths, Lionel Ritchie and DJ Calvin Harris, hopes to take market share by promoting its environmentally friendly packaging.
“Our aim is to become the most prominent and recognised sustainable water in Australia by offering people an alternative to the default plastic packaging for water,” said chief executive Ira Laufer.
“We’re not just another bottled water that’s launching in the market,” Mr Laufer told The Australian Financial Review.
“It brings something incremental, innovative and unique [to the category] and is addressing plastic pollution concerns,” he said.
JUST Water launches this weekend in Woolworths and 7-Eleven stores and hotels such as Novotel in Melbourne, backed by a social media campaign and in-store appearances by 20-year old Jaden Smith, who starred in The Pursuit of Happyness, a remake of The Karate Kid and Netflix series The Get Down.
Mr Smith is said to have been inspired to create an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic water bottles after coming across mounds of plastic while surfing in Hawaii.
JUST Water is also using the Slades Beverages bottling facility as a base from which to launch into south-east Asia, starting with Singapore and Hong Kong.
The launch may increase pressure on CCA and rival Asahi to switch to more sustainable packaging. CCA announced earlier this month that all single-serve bottles of still water would be made from 100 per cent recycled plastic.
Woolworths category manager Justin Heffernan said customers were seeking more sustainable packaging options and JUST Water was sure to be a hit.
Mr Laufer said there was nothing to stop other bottled water brands from switching to plant-based packaging to appeal to environment-conscious consumers.
The Made Group, for example, uses Tetra Pak cartons for Cocobella coconut water. CCA and its 30 per cent shareholder, The Coca-Cola Co, acquired a 45 per cent stake in Made Group last October.
“Competition is good. I think every company should launch sustainable products,” he said.
“I’ve seen another brand in Woolworths made out of paper [packaging] – I’m glad to see the sector is growing and I’d love to see every brand out there launching sustainable packaging.”
“Our goal is more at a global level to create more education and awareness and grow the category.”
JUST Water sales doubled in the US last year – boosted by partnerships with airlines, schools, hotels, colleges and cruise ships – and the company is aiming to grow sales threefold this year after launching in the UK last August.