Fiji Water Research Paper

According to the International Water Management Institute environmental research organisation global water stress is increasing, and a third of all people face some sort of water scarcity. Where demand exceeds supply and no effective management operates, there will be conflicts between the various players involved.

This report assesses the potential internalisation of Vitel Water’s prill beads into either the Vanuatu or Kiribati markets. Clean drinking water is scarce in both nations but they offer different advantages and risks. The purpose of this report is to assess the best market fit for the product.

Water is essential to life, scientific fact, not debatable (Tracy). More than half of all Americans drink bottled water; about a third of the public consumes it regularly (Olsen). Many drink or buy bottled water simply because they believe it is of better quality, cleaner, and better tasting. On the contrary, several individuals do not know the cons of drinking bottled water. Today, there are many misconceptions and myths about bottled water. Many people are uneducated about what goes into our bottles and how it not only affects us but also our environment. In the article “The New Oil” by Jeneen Interlandi and Ryan Tracy they discuss the issues that have to do with water and the privatization of it. They believe there is a crisis and something has to be done. Due to the cost, pollution, shortage, and health issues, bottled water should be outlawed. Water should not be controlled by water bottle companies and should not be allowed to be sold in plastic bottles.

Author Michael I. Niman is a professor of journalism at Buffalo State College. In his article “Bottled Insanity," Niman claims that the rage for imported bottled water is unnecessary. Niman argues that people in America are “mad” for Fiji Water because they are “being sold a fantasy. A moment in Fiji. A taste of Fiji”. The author describes how this craze for “designer water” is negatively effecting our environment. According to the Niman, to transport a bottle of water from Fiji to Western New York State requires packing the water into cardboard boxes made from rain forest trees, loading the bottles onto trucks that require gasoline that are driven to a cargo ships powered by fossil fuels, which are then shipped to The United States, and again loaded onto trains and trucks and transported all across the country, then from the warehouses the bottles are delivered everywhere you buy Fiji Water. The author supports his claim that this infatuation of “designer water” is “bottled insanity” by informing the reader that this process “threatens the very existence of the tropical paradise” because of how it is negatively effecting Fiji including the island’s “chronic water shortage”. In continuation, Niman brings up the fact that where he lives, in Western New York State he is fairly close to both the great lakes and Adirondack mountain aquifers. In addition, the author reveals that his region already has “some of the best water on the planet”. Overall, according to Niman the

There is a water crisis which faces many parts of the world and it is a threat to survival of human beings since humans are primarily dependent on water. Shortage in drinking water is beginning to show its effects in first world countries, but is a current major problem facing lesser developed countries which have not taken drastic steps to harvest water and purify it to make it safe for human consumption. In developed countries the population growth has strained available water resources and stretched the ability of governments and private firms to provide safe drinking water to the vast majority of the population. Seventy one percent of

argued that bottled water is “morally unacceptable” – the discomforting fact while having perfectly good tap water, the UK spends almost $2 billion pounds on bottled water, “its treated as a luxury bauble while others die from its absence”. The Fiji Water Company, LLC provides some water to surrounding villages after cyclones and flash flooding, it also provides some funding towards clean water projects across the islands, but the company is not responsible for the islander’s water supply (Heap, 2008). Fiji Water’s good works are more hope than reality. Two years after a riot at the water plant, the Vatukaloko Trust Fund was created, a charity targeting several villages surrounding the plant, agreed to donate .15 percent of its Fijian operation’s revenues, a company official testified that the total was about $100,000 in 2007 (for perspective, the trade journal Brandweek put Fiji Water’s marketing budget at $10 million in 2008) (Lenzer, 2009). The aforementioned presents an ethical issue with Fiji Water profiting from freshwater pumped from the aquifer, then exported and marketed as a luxury product, meanwhile the people of Fiji are getting sicker in certain cases dying from the lack of it. This can be viewed as controversial and moral contextual issue; under Applied Ethics the normative principles that can be argued are Social Benefit, Principle of Benevolence, and the Principle of Paternalism. Next, an additional concern arises, the

In this clever, perspective broadening work of narrative journalism Elizabeth Royte she poses a whirlwind of thought provoking questions. Who really has the right to any of the water? What happens when a corporate bottling company preys on an unfavorable source? Should we have to pay for water when it is a natural resource that is worldwide? Is the stuff coming from the tap completely safe? How many chemicals are dumped in to make it “clean”

Tom Standage’s essay “Bad to the Last Drop first appeared in the New York Times” (pages 662-664) on the first of August, 2005. In his essay, Standage argues that we, as a society, should do away with bottled water. He justifies his stance with several points including the shear monetary cost to the consumer, the lack of any nutritional benefit in bottled water, and even his results in a “water tasting”, a parody of a wine tasting which he partook in with the help of a few of his friends. By far, one of Tom’s strongest points, though, is the plight of impoverished nations around the world and their lack of clean water. One can almost feel his contempt for the seeming hypocrisy of first-world countries and their rejection of their perfectly adequate tap water, especially in the face of such global need. He demonizes the “illogical enthusiasm” with which wealthy nations turn up their noses at tap water. But in the midst of his tirade, he makes sure to pardon developing countries as bottled water is often times the cleanest water available to them. As his final point, Standage concludes that the most reasonable thing for the populace of developed nations to do, in light of the deficiency of water in other countries, is to cease consumption of bottled water and send that money to water charities instead.

When customers purchase Fiji water, they are buying more than just bottled water. They are enhancing their status. Fiji has become synonymous with success. The company’s marketing strategy is geared toward upscale customers, hotels and restaurants alike. Some people want to be a part of this new trend. Drinking

Also, it was available online within the U.S. In Fiji, the product was available only through Coca-Cola Amatil. The focus of the product was on the U.S., so they made it easier to consumers to find it. Moreover, marketing was one of the important elements as well. To build an image, to show the uniqueness and class of the product. It started with just some advertisements on magazines; but the product achieved growth, through word-to-mouth advertisements, target sampling and free product placements. It got famous among celebrities that also showed the luxury of the product. In 2007, the company launched a new marketing campaign, with the objective to show consumers the benefits of the FIJI Water. They used integrated marketing communication approach, which is a strategy designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation. Therefore, that's how FIJI Water was successful, with all these points stated above; with marketing having an important role in it. (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2012)

The country I chose to do my report on is Fiji. I don’t know much about the country, but I like to drink Fiji water and I know it comes from there. I also think the name Fiji sounds pretty cool. I learned that Fiji was originally named “Viti” but when the islanders were pronouncing it, it sounded like ”Fiji”, so that is how it got recorded.

Life springs up around water sources. It is no coincidence that some of the greatest civilizations have been build need fertile bodies of water. Known life relies on water to sustain that life. So it is no surprise when a debate arose in 2013 around comments made by Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck regarding privatization of water and the fundamental human right to survive from dehydration and illness from non-portal water consumption. Although the context of Brabeck’s comment was taken out of context, issues surrounding the access companies like Nestlé have been given to bottle their water when people do not have access to clean water and droughts are threatening crop production. Adding a price tag is not the answer. The market, both these companies and their consumers have a major role to play in the management of water; a role that requires a change in mindset of privilege many citizen of the United States, and other countries that do not see the direct effects that serious clean water issue have on people that do not have it.

As the worlds population grows, it is forced by circumstances that it has created to face the limitations of the worlds resources. Most people in the US have always been fortunate enough to have enough of whatever they wanted. When something they like breaks or wears out, they throw it away or buy a new one, and they often don’t even make an attempt to repair an item. They neglect basic maintenance until they damage their belongings beyond repair, and expect that they’ll always have enough. But some things are beyond their control, beyond there power or financial ability to replace or repair. The world’s drinking water supply is one of these without concern, without attention, without preventative maintenance and reclamation and

There are basically three ways that water is privatized; bottled water, municipal services and bulk water sales. As a consumer of bottled water I wanted to research further and find out the truth about it. What I discovered was that we as consumers have been fooled by these water corporations. To begin with the cost of bottled water is two thousand times more than tap water. I found it absolutely ludicrous that we are willing to pay such a high price for bottled water considering it costs close to nothing to drink water from the tap. In reality, as I found out, most bottled water which we believe comes from some exotic spring is actually filtered tap water from a U.S. city. According to Food & Water Watch one third of all bottled water comes from a public water source. #4

Few resources are essential to human survival. Access to clean water is the most critical of all. Water is a vital resource responsible for sustaining all life on earth. However, clean water is in short supply, but in high demand in all parts of the world. It is thought that most Americans have access to safe, affordable, clean water right from their taps. However, the media is uncovering the true nature of America’s deteriorating water situation. Americans have reason to be seriously concerned about the state of their drinking water. So what really is on tap in America?