Tuesday, October 24, 2006 Vending machines for water bring down filtered water cost
CLEAN water coming in sachet form has lowered the cost of filtered water in Cebu, making them available and affordable to everyone from all walks of life.
According to ATM (automated tubig machine) Water Ventures Corp. (AWVC) vice president and marketing director Anthony Leuterio, prices of filtered water in Cebu has gone from P50 down to an average of P25 per five gallon the introduction of the ATM water vending machine.
Earlier, Kinvara Corp. president Joy Climaco said the introduction of 2big, a mineral water that comes in 250 milliliters and sold at P5, has also helped bring down the cost of mineral water sold on the streets.
“Water is free. The only cost a manufacturer of mineral water incurs is on packaging and a little on processing,” she said.
Inventor
Meanwhile, the ATM was invented by Luzon-based inventor Ted Bergado.
The concept was, however, introduced first in the Visayas because of Cebu-based AWVC, Bergado’s marketing arm.
Some 260 ATMs are now found all over the Visayas and Mindanao after the self-service water vending machine was introduced last year.
“This concept has excited the market, especially those in highly public areas like schools, big communities, because people can not only get the one-shot drinking water in a peso cost, they can also refill their five-gallon container at the station,” Leuterio said in an interview.
Franchise
He said the product has also opened business opportunities to prospective entrepreneurs via franchising aside from providing affordable clean water at a minimum cost of P1.
The company has four kinds of ATMs available for franchisees.
Among them is the mother machine, which costs P500,000 for a one- time franchise fee and a fixed P1,000 monthly royalty fee, regardless of sales performance.
Leuterio said there are 12 ATM mother units in Cebu.
These units also provide the filtered water requirements of the other smaller machines, such as the portable and the newly introduced mini-machine
The mini-ATM, which can be bought at P65,000, is projected to hit canteens, carenderias and can be used in special events. (JBN)
