Bottled water market is really difficult to distinguish

With the hot summer coming, bottled water market is bound to usher in a sales peak. According to public information, only the annual demand for bottled water in Beijing has exceeded 150 million barrels, and the average daily consumption is 600,000 barrels. Therefore, the quality of bottled water is also of particular concern. Five years ago, there were reports that the bottled water market in Beijing was "half a false water." After several years, has Beijing's bottled water market improved?

Farmers, Nestle and other five brands of fake water up to

Recently, the journal received an insider from the industry, Mr. Xiao (a pseudonym) broke the news that: bottled water market prices are confusing, true and false doping, bottled water distribution stations incomplete qualifications, storage conditions are not up to standard, the production and sale of fake water plants is difficult to ban , And has become the norm in the industry, Beijing bottled water market is still worrying.

Mr. Xiao said that in 2012, more than 1,000 companies using bottled water in the Beijing area were surveyed and found that more than 50% of the bottled water used by the surveyed companies was fake water, and they were mainly concentrated in five brands: farmers. Springs, Nestle, Robust, Yanjing, and Wahaha.

In the more concentrated areas such as Beijing Guomao, Jianguomen and other high-end business buildings, fake bottled water has become a “disaster” - drinking fake water on every floor. For example, about 30% of merchants located in Heqiao Building near Beijing Guomao have fake water, among which the five brands of Nongfu Spring, Nestle, Robust, Yanjing, and Wahaha account for more than 80% of fake water.

Sales of fake water profits will be "addicted"

Mr. Han operates a water station in a community in Chaoyang District, Beijing. "Three years ago, there was always someone who came to sell the 'No. 2 water'. The so-called 'No. 2 water' was fake water, and I didn't dare to sell at the beginning," recalled Mr. Han. On one occasion, the outsourced logistics of a branded water plant sent false water, which was discovered by customers after he sold it. However, Mr. Han complained to the manufacturer that the manufacturer only lost a few buckets of water, and then nothing happened.

Since then, his courage has grown and he has also started to sell fake water. "To be honest, selling fake water is addictive, because profits are high."

"A lot of water stations are real water, fake water mixed with sales, but different degrees." According to Mr. Han’s introduction, some water stations are very likely to grasp the customer’s psychology, and they generally send true and false water wheels. The customer has just changed a new brand, the water shop must be very careful, will generally send real water.

After the water is delivered, the workers will take the plastic bag together with the sealed plastic film. In fact, it is afraid that the customer calls to check the security. "The water is hard earned, mainly because the profits are too thin, which has caused some shopkeepers to try to attract children..." Mr. Han calculated a bill. If he were to sell real water, the monthly profit of a water store would be only around $1,000. About 4,000 yuan rent; a small water station at least two people, one person to answer the phone one person to send water, a total of 6,000 yuan in wages have to eat and shelter; plus meals, utilities and telephone bills, about 2,500 yuan. "The cost of a small water shop is a total of 12,500 yuan per month, which is the minimum standard." Because the profit is too low, he has already ended his water shop business last year.

However, if the water station is mixed with water, profits will be different. It is understood that the cost of sending a bucket of water at the water station is: the water sender will send a bucket of water for 2 yuan, rent 1 yuan, office fee 1 yuan, customer service 1 yuan, tax money 2 yuan, and water station manager's wage 1 yuan. A total of 9 yuan. The purchase price of fake water is about 2 yuan, the purchase price of real water is 8-15 yuan, and the market price of fake water is generally 13-16 yuan, and the market price of real water is generally 18-25 yuan. From this we can see that the profit margin of fake water is very large, which is why some water stations will take the risk.

As for the current status of the mixed bottled water market, major water companies are not unaware of it. According to a salesperson of Nongfu Spring Co., the reason why companies are so "brilliant" about false water is that they are limited by the company's low production capacity. Since companies cannot supply enough water stations and are afraid of losing their markets, they can only "hold one eye closed."

Terminal agent problem multi-supervision code can be directly forged

The fake water is generally filtered by tap water or "drain water" filtration, and the filtered water is poured into a real brand bucket. The process of installing fake water cans is seldom sterilized. The buckets are only one thing, or they are not even convulsions.

The water treatment equipment is only forty-five, while the regular manufacturers can handle at least 24 cans. In addition, the source of the false water has not been professionally identified, and the formal water plant should be fully tested. The water source has no excessive heavy metals, no chemical substances, and no pollution. Only afterwards can the water source of bottled water be determined. Too high, fake water plants simply can't afford it. The fake water has a smell of fish, and some bacteria exceed the standard by more than 800 times, which is very harmful to the human body.

At a water station in a community in Shijingshan District, Beijing, when the reporter asked for his copy of the business license, health permit, tax registration certificate, and authorization issued by the manufacturer in the name of purchasing water, the owner of the water shop was very impatient: "If you want to buy, buy it. If you don't buy it, go to another home. I'm busy. I haven't seen this before buying water." Afterwards, chat with others.

Afterwards, the reporter visited several water stations again, and these shopkeepers were reluctant to show the reporters' qualifications for providing bottled water suppliers. When the reporter stated that the company was ordering water, one of the shopkeepers said: "If you don't want those cards, I can give you a cheaper one."

“The bottled water inspection standards in the market today are mainly QS certification, but there are very few regular inspections of companies that pass certification approval. The biggest problem with bottled water is often not in terms of manufacturers but in terminal sales. The agency's chain stores are unlikely to run fake water. Once they are found, they will cancel the agency rights. Inadvertently, the fake water is mainly in the small door faces (stores) that are so numerous.” Xiao told reporters.

At present, all qualified bottled water in Beijing will be affixed with a “supervisory code” printed with the “China Electronic Product Quality Supervision Network” logo. Bottled water information can be queried from this, but the vast majority of consumers will not verify it. The reporter randomly picked up a few barrels of false water monitoring code, and some of them were broken, and they couldn't identify the supervision code at all; some were told after the query that "the supervision code you are looking for does not exist"; some can be queried, but the query The results show that the date of production was long before the date of the inquiry, and that this supervisory code has already been queried previously.

In this regard, Mr. Xiao explained: “As long as there is profit, some people do. For this monitoring code, some manufacturers of counterfeit water collected a lot of real water security labels, and then use the sleeve number method to copy the countless stickers to the fake Water; some are using some technical means to repeatedly use the old monitoring code."

Consumer consciousness is weak and calls "I'm not going to drink anyway."

For the current status of the bottled water market, the best way is to strengthen supervision, but consumers should also increase the degree of emphasis.

On April 18, when the reporter interviewed a company on the 17th floor of Block C of Heqiao Building, it happened that a worker sent 3 barrels of Nestle bottled water. The reporter immediately opened a plastic bucket of water and dialed the “95001111” telephone of the China Electronic Product Quality Supervision Network. After entering the supervision code, the voice prompts that the supervision code was queried in May 2011 and used this monitoring code bucket. Water was produced in March 2011. However, some consumers are unaware of such situations when they knowingly drink faked bottled water. The company’s employees said, “Drinking for so many years is all right. Anyway, if you drink it anyway, what's the real relationship?”

In fact, there are still a few consumers who have such awareness. In the interview, the reporter once met a consumer, Mr. Li, who was setting water. When a reporter asked whether he had inquired about the electronic monitoring code on the bottled water, Mr. Li’s reply was: “This is also used for inspection. Is there any certificate of conformity or security?” said Mr. Li. He drank bottled water for several years. He made a security phone call for the first time in water, but he did not verify it anymore. "Whatever this thing is complete, and what you have ordered is also a good brand of water. The price is not cheap, and it cannot be false."

At present, "water" is still a product of low concern in the Chinese market, and consumers do not pay enough attention to the product. However, it is the weak consumer awareness of counterfeiting and rights protection that has led to serious flooding.