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*UK based contract bottler Fonthill Water has launched a new 13.5 litre one-way Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) cooler bottle. The new size is the latest in a line of one-way PET products from the bottler, the first company in the UK to break into this one trip market for the water cooler industry. The new size bottle stands alongside 7, 10 and 15 litre versions already in production. *

Working with partner Drinks Brokers, Fonthill is offering the one-way bottles to the retail industry, and has already signed up supermarket giant Asda and office suppliers Viking to take the bottles.

Speaking about the one-way bottles, Director Jonathan Brown commented: “We have taken a considered punt on the potential growth of the one trip bottle in the UK, looking at the example already set in Europe and the United States.

“The bottles really appeal to retailers who can now offer customers a water cooler machine, sanitisation kits and bulk water all in one place,” he added.

The new bottles have led to Fonthill making a large-scale investment in a new blow moulding machine direct from Italy, which is where the preforms are sourced from too. The new 13.5 litre size also benefits from being more environmentally friendly than the smaller 7 litre size as it uses the same amount of plastic but contains more water.

Fonthill is currently producing around 3,000 of its 15 litre size one-way bottles per week and is expecting demand to grow, especially with the new size bottle.

“Along with the retail channel, this system could be well suited to distributors with clients in remote locations, such as oil rigs, ships and so on as this nil-deposit system would be a great solution,” Jonathan continued. * Opening up the market*

Although the one-way bottles are available at a higher cost to distributors in the short term, they could offer a different route to market for the residential sector and small business set-ups. But it could be a challenge to change the somewhat conservative nature of the water cooler industry.

“We are attempting to open up the market,” he stated. “The residential sector is still the holy grail for distributors in this industry. But we have been trying to squeeze these home-based customers into our traditional methods of rentals and deposits, when perhaps we need a new and more varied approach.”

Simon Hardy, who founded Justeau around two years ago, took inspiration from the US market where the cooler market has seen a shift from a traditional rental model to a purchase model across large home stores, such as Costco and Home Depot.

“A lot of commercial and residential customers in the US and Canada are opting for this model of purchasing one-way bottles and coolers in one go. There is even growing availability of returning bottles for rinsing and refilling at the stores,” he commented.

Justeau offers a range of quality water coolers sourced from China, all available to purchase for under £80 alongside the one-way bottles of spring water from Fonthill. “We initially worked with Ebac and now with Fonthill and launched 18 months ago, firstly with wholesale retailers Makro and Booker, plus trials with Costco.

“We then became involved with office suppliers Viking, who have a huge small to medium enterprise client base, as well as supplying to wholesale distributors Spicers and Kingfield Heath.”

Justeau has also developed a special handle for the bottle for ease of carrying and a cleaning kit tested and endorsed by a leading micro-biologist.

The coolers, bottles and kits are now also available in the Asda Wal-Mart supermarket chain.

“From reviewing who registers their cooler for warranty purposes, we have seen that around 40% of our business is now in the residential market.”

Simon continued: “Our business is growing significantly and we know it’s a dynamic market. We sold close to 20,000 coolers last year and around 150,000 of the 15 litre one-way bottles. We hope to sell a further 100,000 bottles in 2008. We are now working very closely with Fonthill to boost sales potential.” * Southern roots*

Fonthill is a pure English spring water from a historic protected source, found deep in the hills surrounding the 7,000 acre Fonthill-Bishop Estate in Wiltshire, South West England. The water is naturally filtered through limestone rock before emerging from modern boreholes close to the Penning and Berwick Wells.

The company has been trading for seven years, with a range of customers from some of the big players to smaller, local distributors.

Fonthill completed development of its new 16,000 sq ft filling hall, office and warehouse in spring 2007, fulfilling its goal to keep at the forefront of the contract bottling industry. It now has an annual capacity of around 40 million litres and filling speed of 500 bottles per hour.

“It’s important to make long-term investments in this industry,” Jonathan concluded. “With our enlarged team and premises we are now looking forward to providing the highest levels of customer service to our clients over the busy summer period and beyond.”

*History in a bottle - the fool of Fonthill *

Notable amongst Victorian eccentrics was William Beckford, sometimes know as the ‘Fool of Fonthill’ after his Wiltshire folly home which he tried to make into a rival to Salisbury Cathedral.

William Beckford was the son of a wealthy English plantation owner who, in 1771, inherited £1,000,000 at the age of just ten (almost £320,000,000 in today’s amounts). The newspapers of the time described him as “the richest commoner in England”.

The flamboyant Beckford lived alone in his abbey and used only one of its bedrooms. His kitchens prepared food for 12 every day although he always dined alone and sent other meals away afterwards.

He entertained guests only once, in 1800, when Admiral Horatio Nelson and Lady Hamilton visited the Abbey.

He lived in the abbey until 1822 when he began to lose his fortune. The main tower collapsed for the last time in 1825 and the rest of the abbey was later demolished. Only a gatehouse and a small remnant of the north wing remain to this day. \_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\\_\_\_|\_

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