Water for customers and employees

Germans are known for their love of beer – at least outside the country. But this is not entirely true: according to industry data, mineral water is Germany’s most popular cold beverage. In 2012, Germans consumed 137 litres of mineral water per capita. Ten years earlier, they drank 115 litres, and 20 years ago just 82. By contrast, beer consumption has declined slowly for years and stood at just less than 108 litres per capita last year.

These figures relate primarily to water bottles sold by retailers, which can easily be taken anywhere. Despite the competition, water dispensers are slowly catching on with commercial clients – the installed base was about 210,000 units in 2011. Of these, 60% were bottled water coolers (BWCs); the remainder represents point-of-use dispensers (POUs). With 0.99 POUs per 1,000 inhabitants, Germany trails the rest of Europe, where the average is 2.67 per 1,000. The situation is similar in the BWC segment. This indicates some potential for catching up, although sparkling water sold in small containers, an important competitor to in-house dispensers, remains popular. As overall water consumption continues to rise, the high quality of Germany’s tap water argues for a significant increase in the number of POUs.

Aqua Vital was established in 1999, and it has a 25% share of installed coolers in its flagship segment, BWCs. This means the company is Germany’s second-largest player – despite competing against extremely well-known rivals such as Nestlé, which follow a different market approach. Aqua Vital focuses on small and medium-sized customers over a broad range of industries, generating sales of €18 million in 2012 (2011: €17 million).

In the POU segment – currently far smaller but offering considerably higher growth potential – the company’s aQto brand is one of the leaders and rapid revenue growth is increasing its footprint in the sector.

Companies and public service institutions like schools are turning to Aqua Vital because the firm offers more than water – it provides an end-to-end solution. Rather than having employees collect and return empty containers, purchase new supplies and monitor consumption, customers outsource the hassle to a third party: Aqua Vital has more than 200 employees and external partners who, after a trial run, handle delivery, installation, just-in-time supply, customer service and invoicing. There is a client base of more than 30,000 customers across Germany and most lease their dispensers – usually over a term of several years.

Business model, quality products and excellent service aside, success also rests on the company’s agile sales organisation which uses a high-powered, internally developed customer relationship management system and is increasingly turning to the Web to address customers and generate sales: every year, thousands of prospective customers take advantage of the opportunity to test the water dispensers on their premises, with many of them signing on as customers. Managing directors Jürgen Linde and Sandra Kurz, both of whom are shareholders and have been with the company since 2001, are now preparing the next steps for expansion: backed by Halder, their agenda foresees the development of new BWC products to bolster market position, more penetration of the POU segment and tapping the potential of selected neighbouring countries.