How important is the choice of water to the overall dining experience?
Clegg & Bickerton: This very much depends on the customer. If they’re a discerning drinker, it’s incredibly important that they have the right taste to combine with their food and don’t overpower it with strong mineral overtones or a salty flavour. If the customer has water as an addition to wine or another alcoholic beverage, then the taste is lost with the stronger flavours they’re drinking.
Asmaryan: Extremely important because some waters can spoil the taste of food or wine.
Soifer: The selection of the right water can increase the enjoyment of the overall dining experience.
Langley: As a rule of thumb, the more the meal and beverages cost, the more important the choice of water. Water should complement the other food and beverages, not crowd them. There are certain foods that pair well with a sparkling water, in which case the water becomes more involved in the meal. To be on the safe side, choosing a water that has TDS levels between 50-120 will serve the purpose of enhancing the dining experience.
Grönfors: Very. Water is ‘the’ ingredient when it comes to food and wine. A soft, well balanced spring water will support the taste of the food and wine. On the other hand, a bucket of ice water can numb the taste buds and turn Pinot Noir into just ‘red wine’.
Martí: There are very few tasters who really know mineral water and can distinguish its values and characteristics. Choosing a good mineral water is fundamental for accompanying a meal, just as it is with wine.
Smith: The choice of water for a dining experience is very important! The neutral pH balance should cleanse the palate and not interfere with the food.
Is there a good level of awareness among the public about choosing the right water when dining out? How are you increasing this awareness?
Clegg & Bickerton: In reality, the restaurant chooses the water and the customer chooses the restaurant. However, a bad experience is always remembered so it’s important that we explain to the restaurant buyers the benefits of a good quality mineral water with a subtle taste over other waters that can invoke strong likes and dislikes.
Our independent taste and quality award proves to buyers that we have third party endorsement of the quality of our water. More importantly, the restaurant and the customer favour a good-looking bottle. We therefore changed our glass and PET bottle design to be more luxurious and meet this need. To our knowledge, a customer will never walk away from a restaurant because it doesn’t sell the particular brand of water they like, but if they are served a poor quality water, they will remember the negative experience, which could impact on their view of the restaurant.
Asmaryan: Sometimes, diners are not knowledgeable about which water to choose and just rely on waiters’ suggestions, but the situation is changing and people are becoming better informed about water properties.
Soifer: The public is becoming more aware of the effect of plastic on water and the environment, the difference between natural mineral water and artificially mineralised water and the importance of the source. We increase awareness by doing water tastings with sommeliers, wine consumers and chefs.
Langley: Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of choosing the right water to accompany their meals. The people who pay particular attention to their food and beverages understand that mixing a high end single malt scotch with tap water, or even tap water ice cubes, defeats the purpose of the intended flavour experience. Icelandic Glacial tries to increase awareness by becoming involved in great culinary events such as the New York Culinary Experience and placing our product in front of world-class chefs.
Grönfors: The premium water trend is growing and there are more and more people who are interested in water. Naturally, we educate our Horeca clients and use all possible channels, including public relations, social networking media and our website.
Martí: Through its communication activities and events relating to the Horeca sector, and specifically to wineries, premium distributors and sommeliers, Vilas strives to encourage in-depth knowledge of mineral water. We believe that a restaurant with a list of waters must be able to describe the basic differences between them, otherwise it would be like not knowing the difference between a Rioja and a Bordeaux.
Smith: Awareness among the public in choosing a water is increasing substantially, especially at the fine dining level. We continue to market our product at that ‘high end’ level.
What is the latest product in your range for the dining sector, and what makes it stand out from other table waters?
Clegg & Bickerton: We have a new glass bottle design that’s reminiscent of the 135-year history of the water and carries the company name embossed in the glass. We have received many compliments about the new design and it has definitely helped increase sales of the water.
Many restaurants are looking for a different product that is in keeping with the unique image they’re seeking to portray. This leads them to stock brands that cannot be found everywhere else. They also want to sell water at a price they choose, rather than a supermarket product at a more expensive price.
Asmaryan: Etrusca mineral water: we don’t add anything else to it. The name, design, origin, source, composition, lightness and excellent taste ensure it stands out.
It’s also very low in sodium and nitrates compared to other waters, which means it’s pure and good for health.
Soifer: Gota is producing special limited label editions for some exclusive brands. We are working with exclusive customers to introduce their logo and brand values into Gota’s packaging. Our customers include The Luxury Collection (Sheraton) and Ellerstina Polo. It stands out due to it neutral pH (7.2), low level of sodium, its unique mineral combination of minerals and its distinct origin, the Guarani Aquifer in the Mesopotamia region of Argentina.
Langley: Icelandic Glacial has a stainless steel outer sleeve for presenting its 1-litre bottle in white tablecloth fine dining establishments. From a taste perspective, it clearly stands out from other table waters with an optimum 62 parts perm Total Dissolved Solids. This, combined with a naturally high pH of 8.4, and classified sodium-free, allows the consumer a healthy, alkaline water that’s free from aftertaste. Even ambient, Icelandic Glacial produces a clean, crisp flavour with just the right amount of mouth softness and feel. Our bottle instantly resonates with consumers as a super-premium product.
Grönfors: The small variant, called LongJohn33, which is a 0.33-litre size in still and sparkling. Its low minerality and in the case of the sparkling option (Veen Effervescent), its gentle bubbles.
Martí: The Vilas 33cl.
Smith: We have recently designed a ‘neck ring’ for premiere hotels to use in their guest room programmes.
Is sustainability an important issue in the horeca sector, and how are you addressing it?
Clegg & Bickerton: To sustain sales in this market, it’s important to have a quality brand image, consistent quality product, competitive price, and product availability to deliver when an order is placed. In this market sector in particular, there are often group contracts that have to be negotiated, rather than restaurant by restaurant, or hotel by hotel. The image of the restaurant, hotel or caterer in this sector is a very important part of their offering, as it is of ours, so all of the aforementioned points are part of that sustainable image.
Soifer: Some hotels are starting to choose our brand because we use 100% recyclable materials, adhere to sustainable development practices and allocate part of our revenues to programmes facilitating access to safe water in Argentina. A couple of years ago, this would have been a business attribute, but now it’s becoming more valuable as awareness about sustainable development is changing the ways hotels are constructed and managed.
Langley: Sustainability is without a doubt one of the top issues today. Fortunately, Icelandic Glacial’s founders were inspired to protect the planet from day one, and we have a multifaceted strategy for leading this cause in the bottled water industry.
The source of Icelandic Glacial is the legendary Ölfus Spring in Iceland. The spring is one of the largest sources in the world, flowing out about twom gallons of water to the ocean daily. Earlier this year, the Icelandic Glacial’s water source was declared certifiably sustainable by Zenith International, Europe’s leading food and beverage consultancy.
Additionally, Icelandic Glacial’s bottling facility is 100% powered by hydroelectric and geothermal energy, emitting no CO2 or greenhouse gas pollutants. Through this commitment, we’re very proud to be the first bottled water company to be carbon neutral for product and operations by investing in renewable energy.
Grönfors: Sustainability is important in any business. All of our products are fully recyclable.
Martí: We don’t want to sell our water to everybody because we simply can’t. Water resources are not infinite and we must protect our spring from overuse. Having said that, Vilas Del Turbón was repositioned on the market to only be aimed at the Horeca premium segment in one-way glass, so it has become the table water of choice for the best restaurants in the country.
Smith: Yes, sustainability is at the forefront of the bottled water industry. Our spring produces over 525,000,000 gallons of water a year. Last year, we used approximately 3m gallons, so we use less than 1% of our aquifer’s capacity.
Medina Bailey is former editor of Water Innovation magazine.
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