VaiWai water makes waves at London’s Caffe Culture

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Cate Pleass, Marketing Director of Fiji-based Pleass Global Limited’s VaiWai natural artesian water. Picture: FT FILE

LONDON,22 NOVEMBER 2018 (PACIFIC PERISCOPE) – Cate Pleass, Marketing Director of Fiji-based Pleass Global Limited’s VaiWai natural artesian water is clear about her reasons for making the decision to invest in exhibiting at London’s two-day trade-only Caffe Culture Show 2018:

“Taking part and exhibiting on the Pacific Trade Invest-Europe stand at the Caffe Culture Show 2018 in London was an opportunity to explore the relationship among the ever increasingly sophisticated cafe industry, high quality coffee and our premium bottled artesian water VaiWai.

“Most coffee vendors not only sell large amounts of water, they are also increasingly interested in the quality of the water used in the process of making their coffee.

“This was the first opportunity for Pleass Global to delve into this particular market segment and channel. Taking part in Caffe Culture has provided an opportunity to make contacts, gather ideas for marketing in this particular space and discuss opportunities with contacts made.”

Robyn Ekstrom, Trade Promotion Adviser from PTI Europe elaborates, “The opportunity for Pacific Island producers of high-quality beverages is based on identifying and finding a genuine ‘best fit’ with the requirements of specific target markets.

“Really all that means is — what do the customers and the customers’ customer want? What are the product attributes that are important to them? What attitudes, needs and desires do we as producers and exporters of unique products need to convey and provide to the buyers, distributors or retailers within this market segment to help them achieve their objectives?

“On the PTI Stand at Caffe Culture, our exporters are specifically targeting the café and café bar industry with an overlap into the HoReCa (Hotel / Restaurant / Café or Catering) market. Consequently, the emphasis is not only on the generic standards; quality, taste, safety and price, it is also about highlighting genuine linkages to trends and attitudes such as: ethical and socially responsible production; sustainable and environmentally responsible products and packaging; authenticity; and innovation.”

VaiWai is an award winning natural artesian water sourced from a well that taps a confined aquifer located in Namosi, Fiji. The onsite bottling facility and process has been audited by Australian Certified Organic (ACO) and awarded the status of BFA Registered Product # 11129AP and the packaging utilised is not only original and striking, it is biodegradable.

Pleass adds, “There is also the opportunity to co-brand with boutique coffee producers and vendors which is a new concept for us. In business you can’t stop progressing or evolving, so new ideas, new partners and new channels are all positive developments.”

Speaking to Pacific Periscope about her experience at the show,Pleass said, “The trade contacts made were very good and most interest was from cafe chain owners and franchisees, this segment is an ever-increasing channel and a channel continually looking for innovation and point of difference. We are in contact with a number of strong leads and we hope to finalise some new export opportunities in the near future.”

Pleass said there was great interest in VaiWai’s origin story: “The fascination with Fiji Islands was strong and the overwhelming view was that our water tasted pure, was beautifully packaged and of premium quality. There was some element of curiosity about the VaiWai story, our ‘Organic Approved’ status and of course our strong CSR [corporate social responsibility] position.”

Appreciating the opportunity to participate in the Caffe Culture Show, Pleass said, “Pleass Global is very grateful to the PTI Europe office for this wonderful opportunity, it is quite something to travel around the world to meet new clients and PTI Europe made this a well organised and worthwhile exhibition.”

PTI Europe will be providing the opportunity for three Pacific Island exporters of premium branded coffee, tea, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic products to showcase their wares at the European Coffee Expo, Olympia London from 21st and 22nd May 2019.

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