Water bottle for Rs 400; Finnish brand Veen unlocks premium market in India

Water can be like wine. It can also be priced like one. Take Veen, for instance. A Finnish bottled water brand named after a goddess of water, one who brings good fortune to sailors and fishermen. It is majority-owned by an Indian, Aman Gupta.  

The company has a B2B model in India - it does not retail its still and sparkling water and only sells to restaurants, bars, and hotels. Gupta wouldn't recommend a very high price, but there are restaurants that mark-up its price to even Rs 700-800 a bottle. That's the price brand for a bottle of decent Indian wine. There are restaurants that sell Veen for Rs 300 as well - that's as much as a bottle of wine made with table grapes.  

The point is Indians are buying and drinking Veen. The country is its biggest market, accounting for half its sales of two million bottles in 2017. There are 300 outlets in India that serve Veen. The brand is over a decade old but first sold in India in 2014.

Besides India, the Middle-east and Russia are fastest growing markets for the country. India and these countries have a culture of bottled water considering that tap water isn't good enough to drink, unlike in Europe.  

Gupta said he would explore the retail model with new products - non-alcoholic mixers such as tonic water and ginger ale as well as 'Ayuerveda water'.

"It is like Vitamin water, or one that is infused with vitamins. Instead, we would infuse plant extracts," Gupta said.

The company, therefore, is transitioning from just being a water company to a beverage firm.

Veen's differentiation is its glass packaging. That makes the product premium and peppers the brand with a 'sustainable' image. It operates two plants, both in remote areas with sparse population. Gupta cites that as an USP too - untouched by humans and pollution.

"The Finnish plant bottles water from a spring located in a region where there are more reindeers than men. The water is low in mineral content. The second plant is in Bhutan, where the water is rich in minerals such as calcium and magnesium. This is good for regular hydration," Gupta says.

This makes water similar to wine. Every region infuses a different character. Gupta's tip: To taste water, drink it at room temperature. Ice it, and you kill it.