Sergio Pérez has recently been named as Chairman of ADEAC (Spanish acronym for Asociación de Distribuidores y Envasadores de Agua en Cooler), the Association of Water Cooler Distributors and Bottlers. The first ADEAC meeting took place in Madrid in February and WE took the opportunity to find out everything about the Spanish water cooler market.

• WE

  Could you give us your personal opinion on the water cooler, bottled water and POU market in Spain?

• Sergio Pérez

  In Spain, the water cooler and bottled water industry is in a different position from the one they were before the economic crisis. After a few years of high growth the crisis has created a different situation, full of challenges and opportunities.The number of companies in the sector is decreasing. We experience market consolidation and some companies disappear because they are not viable; Personally, I think that the companies, which will take advantage of the situation, will be those who provide a better quality of service and resist the temptation to reduce prices and offer a reduced service to its clients.

• WE

  What can Spain learn from other countries?

• Sergio Pérez

  Well, other markets are more mature than ours and POU has a larger penetration in them. I think Spain is different and for this reason: the water cooler is here to stay because bottled water quality is an important part of the service that we deliver. However, companies must be ready to offer their clients the kind of water that they require.

• WE

  During the ADEAC workshop and round-table discussions, we heard that Spain was pioneering installing pump water fountains, which were shown to the rest of the countries. Is there any product or innovation at this moment that can make Spain ‘shine’?

• Sergio Pérez

  The sector is too new for Spain to have developed any products to make it shine yet. But I do think that the Spanish market has some great possibilities, be it in the workplace, public building, residential or retail sectors.

• WE

  What, in your opinion, would Spain need to do to create a distribution and commercialisation chain for supplying administrative buildings, schools and homes as is commonplace in the UK or the USA?

• Sergio Pérez

  I think our network is already set up for supplying to administrative buildings and schools. However, residential clients are a new challenge for our industry. We need to understand their wishes and demands to enable a profitable growth in this segment. This might require a new distribution model since residential customers are different from our traditional B2B customers.

• WE

  It is well known by now that the Spanish home-consumer still finds HOD neither useful nor valuable. He is still not even used to having a foreign object in his kitchen! Would it not be necessary to invest in communication and marketing strategies to modify or correct this situation?

• Sergio Pérez

  Water cooler companies do not have big economic resources at their disposal to invest in mass media promotion. Local marketing, which is based on social networks and on-the-ground campaigns in neighbourhoods, cultural-social centres and at events… or even, on the most basic method of marketing - word of mouth - is more feasible.

• WE

  One of the ADEAC strong points is its role as a social agent; acting like a mediator between the industry and administration once market regulation is required. What is the main challenge in this regard for 2012?

• Sergio Pérez

  Following the latest regulations to affect the bottled water market we now have to adapt to fulfill these requirements. There is a new legislation with regard to quality, and this makes it clear that the condition of the coolers is the responsibility of the owner. Companies have made an effort to ensure that the coolers are kept in good condition through training workshops, the communication of concerns about hygiene and customer education. This will ensure that clients make good use of the dispensers.

• WE

  With regard to this first water cooler and bottled water industry meeting in Spain, do you consider it successful? Are you planning to repeat it annually?

• Sergio Pérez

  I consider the meeting has been a great success because of the high level of participation and company representation. The round-table discussions were very interesting and the speakers were large players from the business world. The networking was intense too and; a high volume of information has been shared between companies and suppliers…

Past interviews

• 

  Gustav F. Felix

  WE-Director General, Chairman of ABWA and Managing Director of GWCA

• 

  Derek Callaghan

  Director of Sales & Marketing for SIP Technologies LLC

• 

  Jeroen Peters

  WE's Chairman

• 

  Diane Koyich

  International Liaison for Crystal Mountain