A new company, Kushilaa Plc, is constructing a water packaging plant on 10ha of land in Tatek Industrial Zone, Burayu, Oromia, where it also expects to engage in water extraction.
The company leased the land in, in April 2015 and is currently drilling for water at the site.
Moreover, according to Tinsae Zeleke, manager and shareholder of the company, construction of the main plant of the company is at its initial stage of excavation on 1,600sqm plot of land.
“We believe the area will come up with an ample supply of mineral water, which we calculate to be five litres per second,” said Tinsae. “If we get that, we will begin bottling 40,000lt of water a day.”
The water will be bottled in half litre, one litre, 1.5lt and two litres, targeting markets along the Rift Valley as well as towns in eastern Ethiopia.
With concern about quality over the last fiscal year, the Ministry of Trade (MoT) has been setting and postponing deadlines for water bottling companies to have their products certified by the Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise (ECAE), with the required labelling including their logo on the bottles.
Bottled water is on MoT’s list of 57 products that have to meet compulsory standards, with the companies having to pass through an inspection by ECAE.
The first bottled water, called Highland Spring Water was introduced to Ethiopia in 1999 by the Appex Bottling Company, a company established by Ermias Amelga and partners. There are now around 40 companies in Ethiopia who engage in the water bottling industry.
Tinsae and his friends from the Ethiopian Diaspora have also been involved in textile imports.
Kushilaa Plc is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2015. It has now applied for a patent for the shape of the bottle and to register the company’s name.
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