In the 18th century, water supply was not safe so consumption of bottled natural mineral water was a privilege of the highest in society, captains of industry, politicians, royalty and so on since it was so expensive. By the mid nineteenth century, as businesses transformed considerably and consumption increased, global production climbed to several hundred million bottles.
The first plastic bottle was launched in 1968 by Vittel. This bottled water was aimed at more general public consumption. Bottled water was introduced for the first time in Mumbai, India in the early 60’s by Signor Felice Bisleri.
In 1969 Parle bought over Bisleri (India) Ltd. and started bottling Mineral water in glass bottles under the brand name 'Bisleri'.
In the mid 1980’s, another revolution in the bottled water industry moved the market forward with PET (Polyethylene terephtalate), a new recyclable plastic material that became the packaging benchmark worldwide. This new lighter, stronger material improved packaging practicality to meet the evolving consumer needs. In due course Parle Bisleri also advanced to PET returnable and non returnable containers.
Bisleri for India
Safe drinking water shortage around the world particularly the third world countries contributes to the fact that the bottled water industry in India is growing at the rate of 40 % every year. Even though it accounts for only 5 percent of the total beverage market in India, branded bottled water is the fastest growing industry in the beverage sector. This also insinuates that there is increasing health awareness towards the importance of safe drinking water in the minds of the average Indian.
Bisleri, since its inception has become a name synonymous with safe drinking water and meets the requirement of the average Indian through its model distribution system in the far reaches of the country.
Bisleri has been awarded the Reader’s Digest ‘Most Trusted Brand’ twice. Because of this reliability, it would be fair to say that the price that we would pay for a bottle of Bisleri is the price paid for assurance of health since 90% of diseases in India are water borne.
Importantly, Bisleri bottled water, though priced same as other bottled water brands in India, contains added minerals which are lost from our bodies when we sweat and need to be replenished regularly, thereby increasing its health benefits tremendously.
All our / Bisleri plants follow a stringent process for purification of the raw ground water wherein 157 tests are carried out to assure the end consumer of the safety of bottled water.
Out of every 1000 litres of source water taken from the ground to be processed at the Bisleri plants, 956 litres is given back as safe drinking water to the population of the nation. The remaining quantity is mainly lost to evaporation. Several industries like paper, steel and sugar have a more damaging global footprint and waste huge quantities of ground water during their processes to make the final products.
In India, Bisleri has given birth to PET recycling industry of sorts by creating value for recycled plastic bottles. Unlike plastic bags and sachets, the litter that could have been caused by used bottles has been curbed because rag pickers find it worthwhile to collect these bottles. All bottles after crushing and re-processing have good economic value and are used as raw material in various industries other than food (pillow & mattress filling, etc). Reliance buys huge quantities of PET every year and plastic is no longer as extensively exported to the US as was before.
A study carried out by Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) for the Health Ministry of India says that Polyethylene Terephtalate or PET is inert and does not undergo any leaching of colour or chemical into the contents of the bottle ( till six months of multiple use) or migration as is a common concern of several anti- plastic environmentalists.
The Bisleri trust called the Jayanti Lal Chauhan Trust (JCERT) works extensively in the areas of ground water augmentation and rain water harvesting in several states of India and has till date completed 35 projects of check dam construction, mostly in the state of Gujarat, and has succeeded in conserving 10 thousand million litres of rain water through these check dams and talavs. This water would have been lost to the sea but for these dams and talavs every year.
The Trust also aids several non – government organizations of high credibility which work in the areas of water conservation, especially in rural India.
Like the erstwhile brands of Parle which took the country by storm – Thumsup, Limca, Maaza & Goldspot, Parle Bisleri also continues to stand for supreme quality and highest reliability and keeps its promise of nothing but the best to every Indian. |
