International Business, Research Fiji Water in China

Only available on StudyMode
  • Download(s) : 106
  • Published : August 19, 2008
Open Document
Text Preview
Background Information: Fiji Water

On an adventure of thousands of miles, equatorial winds purify the rain as clouds form over the Pacific Ocean, eliminating all pollutants and acid rain before arriving in the virgin ecosystem of the islands of Fiji. Fifteen-hundred miles from the closest continent, on a magnificently lush tropical island in the crystal waters of the South Pacific, rainfall has been collecting for over 450-years in a natural aquifer made of mineral-rich volcanic rocks. This artesian water has never been touched by pollutants or by man.

Canadian David Gilmore discovered this virgin source of artesian water and built a manufacturing plant directly on top of the volcanic aquifer. The water is bottled straight from the source in a completely sealed environment, remaining untouched by man or outside air until a consumer opens the bottle to take that first refreshing sip. Fiji Water is the only bottled water in the world where this declaration is true, making it a swiftly growing phenomenon around the word.

Due to its remote manufacturing location and the high quality of the water, Fiji Water is more expensive than most bottled water we see in the United States. Aquafina and Dasani, two of the world’s most popular brands, can be purchased for less than $6 for a case of 24 bottles. Comparatively, a six-pack of Fiji Water costs a consumer almost $7. Fiji Water is premium water is marketed to wealthy locals and tourists that can afford a more expensive water and to middleclass locals and tourists that want to be stylish and part of the “in” crowd.

Fiji Water is currently sold in the following countries: the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Honduras, and the United Kingdom. Our research will result in a recommendation of two countries in which Fiji Water should expand their presence. Starting with criteria based on water quality, per capita income, tourism, and bottle water consumption, a decision matrix was created (appendix: Figure 1). Thirty-six countries were chosen to be reviewed in this matrix based on an initial review of the criteria.


The Top Ten

After carefully reviewing the data in this matrix, the top ten countries were narrowed down by further evaluating the criteria. Several countries were chosen that have high bottled water consumption and growth, which are more mature markets for bottled water, and several countries were selected that have poor water quality, which are new or young markets for bottled water. Tourism and PCI were tied very closely into the water quality and bottled water consumption data to ensure the correct countries were chosen. In order to learn which regions of the world are the best for Fiji Water imports, at least one country per region was selected to be in the top ten. The top ten countries chosen are: India, China, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.

In order to effectively research the top ten countries, the following assumptions were made regarding how the international process would be set up for Fiji Water. Since Fiji Water can only be bottled in Fiji in order to keep its untouched status, the product will be labeled in-house for each country and exported. Utilizing a contract delivery agent in each country or region, Fiji Water will not need to invest in any capital in the host country. We will employ our own sales force, whom will be locals residing in the host country. Based on these assumptions and utilizing micro- and macro-economic data, research on the top ten countries was conducted using the following criteria (not all data could be found for all ten countries):

Market: market size and growth, customer presence, local competition Government: tax rates, investment incentives and barriers (for imports into county only), political instability, industrial policies (FDA-type, bottled water policies, etc.), government efficiency and corruption, and attitudes...
tracking img