VEEN to Launch Ayurveda Water Soon

VEEN – a Finnish luxury water brand founded in 2006 has carved a niche for itself as one of the purest natural mineral waters available. Spearheaded by Aman Gupta, the brand discovered its second home in 2014, in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, where VEEN’s natural mineral waters come from. Currently present in 17 countries, VEEN plans to extend its footprint in four more countries this year. BW Hotelier spoke to Aman Gupta, where he told us about the company's future plans.

Brief us about your sales in the Indian market?

We have been distributing VEEN in India with our natural mineral water from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan since 2014 exclusively to hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Our first client in India was the award-winning restaurant, Indian Accent in New Delhi. Since then the brand has been very well accepted in the hotel and restaurant fraternity, something we are extremely grateful for. Currently, we are present in hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs in 35 cities in India.

Apart from B2B model, are you planning to come into the retail market soon?

Currently, our waters are sold exclusively to hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs. We also do home deliveries direct to corporate offices and for private events and private consumers. Our new Craft mixer range and our wellness range, Ayurveda Water will be sold in all the above channels as well as retail.

What are the retail brands, you will be targeting?

In the Indian market, we will be targeting the Modern retail format of chain outlets that are focused on good quality, natural products. In addition to the chains, we will also target premium independent retailers that focus on good quality, premium products.

Which are the hotel brands in India with whom you have tied up?

Some of the hotel brands that we have worked with in India include Hyatt, Lalit, ITC, Marriott, Oberoi, Sofitel, St. Regis, Radisson, Shangri La, Hilton, IBIS, Mercure, Swissotel, Novotel, Taj, Westin and Leela.

How do you plan to promote VEEN in Indian consumer market?

Our focus has been to promote serving Natural water v/s purified water in 100 percent recyclable glass packaging in the dining environment in India. This is what is appropriate and is something that is prevalent in most parts of the world. We will continue to spread awareness, educate and work closely together with our colleagues in the hotel and restaurant fraternity to bring about further awareness to our consumers also.

Apart from India, which are the countries that bring in potential growth?

VEEN is currently sold in 17 countries – Finland, Italy, UK, Denmark, Estonia, France, Russia, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bhutan, India, Thailand, Taiwan and China. We are currently in talks with distributors in Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, and Bahrain amongst others and hope to start distributing our brand in these markets in 2018.

What is your further expansion plan?

Our current expansion plans are to launch our Craft Mixer range in India followed by our wellness range, Ayurveda Water. We intend to continue to grow our portfolio of products and widen our distribution within the premium beverage segment with a focus on high-quality natural ingredients and 100 percent recyclable glass packaging.