So when I read that William Chase, the entrepreneur behind Tyrrells Crisps and Chase potato vodka, is to put together a bid to restart production of the Queen’s favourite mineral water (Malvern Water), I was intrigued. Was this well-timed PR or a genuine opportunity to save a famous brand?
William Chase has apparently hired advisors BDO to approach the brand’s owner, The Coca-Cola Company, about buying the Worcestershire-based plant and brand. Coca-Cola stopped production at the plant at the beginning of November, saying that the volume of water it was able to extract from the Malvern Hills-based site wasn’t economic.
A spokesman for Coca-Cola said at the time that modern bottled water plants could often produce more water in a day than Malvern did in a month. “The size of our site, plus the amount of water we can actually extract, means Malvern is expensive to produce and cannot compete on price,” he said.
However, William Chase, who has enjoyed significant success with his crisps and vodka businesses, believes it could be a success if run for a smaller, more select market. He told The Sunday Telegraph, “Malvern is a Great British brand with such an incredible provenance behind it”.
Malvern Water has been a favourite of the Royal Family for more than 400 years, after Queen Elizabeth I drank it for its purported medicinal value. Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin travelled to the town to drink the water and the present Queen is said to take supplies of bottled Malvern Water with her when she travels abroad.
The modern story began in 1851 when Schweppes supplied Malvern Water to the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. Coca-Cola began working with Schweppes in 1987 and took over the brand in 1999.
Source: Sunday Telegraph/Guardian
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