Making the most of bottled water
23 October 2008
Food & Drink Business talked with Black Mount Director Tim Carey.
Can you give us a history of the business?
Tim Carey: Black Mount Spring Water is a family owned business based at Millbrook, near Ballarat, Victoria. We've been supplying spring water into Melbourne for almost 20 years and our business has developed and grown alongside the local bottled water industry. We source our spring water from naturally protected springs on our properties surrounding Melbourne. It is very important from a cost and efficiency point of view that we are located close to our customers and within 100km of Melbourne, particularly with the rising cost of fuel.
"Black Hill" in the Central Highlands of Victoria is our original spring, located high above the surrounding farmland on the top of a long extinct volcano. This natural protection of the water source and catchment area is the key to maintfaining the high and consistent quality spring water demanded by our customers.
We have a spring high in the Yarra Ranges, which has been a source of outstanding spring water for many years. This is a boutique spring that we have set up for a very select number of customers who require spring water with an exceptionally low TDS.
We also have a number of other springs in the Central Highlands and Daylesford areas, which provide our customers with a wide range of spring waters, all with subtle differences in minerals and tastes.
Over the years, we have invested heavily in our infrastructure. From day one we sought the best advice, employing leading hydrologists and filtration experts from Australia and overseas. We have made one rule in our business - to take no short cuts. Our storage and tankers are all stainless steel with full CIP.
Our installations are fully secured and under lock and key, 24 hours a day. All loads are batch recorded and security sealed. Our transport tankers are our trademark and our drivers do a fantastic job to maintain them in top condition. I'm a great believer that the quality of our infrastructure and tankers reflects the quality of our spring water.
The last few years have seen some major changes in the bottled water industry and our business has had to move quickly to maintain the standards required by our customers. We have taken a major step by being the first spring water supplier in Australia to be HACCP certified. We are also starting to become more involved in the Australian Bottled Water Institute (ABWI) and industry issues.
FDB: Have you ever considered going into retail single serve?
TC: No, we leave that to our customers. Our job is to make sure they have plenty of water and we're more than happy to keep it that way.
FDB: The water market is very crowded. What's your point of difference?
TC: The industry's growth in the past decade has seen many new faces in the bottled water industry. We made a conscious decision not to expand outside of our core business of bulk supply, and to concentrate on what we're good at. There are plenty of other suppliers out there, but we've aimed to differentiate from our competitors through the quality of our product and service.
We have also recognised that we could no longer be reliant on one source and one type of water, and we have invested heavily into new sources in new regions. This allows us to provide our customers with certainty of supply and specific water types to meet their needs.
FDB: What environmental measures do you take to keep your business sustainable from that perspective?
TC: Environmental and sustainability issues are a major focus for the bottled water industry, now more than ever. From the day we started in the industry, we've been very conscious of the need to protect and sustain our sources. To provide us with a greater understanding of our sources, we now have regular hydrological assessments of all our springs and we closely monitor water levels. We have also implemented a drought management plan that is put in place to protect the sources in times of lower than average rainfall.
We recognise that for our business to survive our water supply must be sustainable and we work hard to make sure that we never overtax a spring. It is also important to keep the catchment areas surrounding the spring as natural as possible to ensure the quality of supply.
FDB: How has the business been traveling lately? Has the economic downturn had any effect?
TC: Business is good. We are very confident in the future of the bottled water industry and we have invested a lot of time and money into ensuring that we are well placed to make the most of any opportunities that come up. We are yet to see a major shift in demand with the tightening economic conditions.
FDB: At Ausdrinks bottled water was touted as having huge potential. Do you agree? In what ways are you preparing for growth?
TC: I think that there will always be a place for bottled water in Australia. People are becoming increasingly conscious of their health and I think that the shift to healthy beverages will continue. But to reach that potential, we have to be mindful of the ever-increasing scrutiny of our industry by outsiders. We need to promote the fact the ABWI and its members are leading the way in ensuring that its industry is sustainable, through recycling programs, source management planning and other initiatives.
If we can satisfy their concerns, we can have much more confidence in the future.