The move is likely to create new players in the point-of-use (POU) market, yet Stephen is confident this will not threaten the core business that he and his family have spent twenty years building from modest beginnings.
Vivreau is now synonymous with table water bottling systems supplying in excess of 65% of FTSE 100 companies and thousands of high profile customers in the hotel, restaurant and catering sector.
The first Verteau product to be marketed is the Verteau Bottler system. The Bottler comes in two designs; floor standing and counter top, both giving the same great performance and more than capable of keeping pace with demand at peak times.
According to Vivreau, both models also boast strong environmental credentials including new energy efficient internal motors. The Verteau Bottler uses a 0.2 micron carbon membrane filter to remove impurities from water, including 99.9% of all known pathogenic bacteria, without reducing its natural mineral content.
The system comes with a choice of designer bottle sizes: 330ml; 500ml; 750ml and 1-litre, on which Vivreau’s in-house printers will reproduce the customers’ (or their clients’) branding along with an environmental statement.
The Verteau Bottler will be similar in some ways to Vivreau’s existing products so why would Vivreau choose to supply the trade, including potential competitors, with such a similar product to theirs and even allow them to re-brand the machine as their own?
Stephen Charles explains his thinking: “The difference is service. Vivreau will remain the flagship brand for the highest quality service. We will only install and maintain Vivreau machines. There are also some high-spec features such as very high volume throughput, CO2 pressure alarms, and a brand new bottle design which will be exclusive to Vivreau products.
“Vivreau has for many years jealously guarded its brand and reputation for excellent customer service. Over the years we turned down requests from other companies to purchase our technology because I was worried about damaging our brand by losing control over the servicing of the machines.
“Nowadays there are a lot of cheap, low quality products on the market and my worry is that our reputation could be impacted by a generally negative perception of quality standards in the industry. As the market leader, it’s now in our interests to help raise the quality standard across the industry. The launch of Verteau to the trade enables the industry as a whole to benefit from nineteen years of research and development at Vivreau.”
Vivreau has ambitious international plans for its new trade division having recently expanded its operations to the USA, Canada and Switzerland.
Stephen Charles says: “I am confident that the water cooler industry has a promising future, despite the economic downturn. The Verteau Bottler offers a high quality and affordable product to the trade for the first time. Verteau will expand its product range over the coming years.”
Source: Cooler Innovation
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