Larvae Discovery Incident... Bottled Water 'Ttutta' Instead of Faucet Use

Bottled Water Consumption Increasing Nationwide
Convenience Store Sales Up to 48% in Incheon and Others
Bottled Water Companies Flooded with Safety Marketing

[Asia Economy Reporters Hye-seon Lim, Seon-ae Lee] As reports of insect larvae found in tap water in the Gyeonggi area continue, bottled water consumption is increasing across all regions.

Surge in Sales of Large-Capacity Bottled Water

According to the distribution industry on the 17th, after reports of larvae found in tap water in Incheon were received, total bottled water sales at Lotte Mart from the 14th to the 16th increased by 20.2% compared to the previous week. Sales of bottled water on the online mall SSG.com rose by 9.2%. Demand for bottled water also increased at convenience stores. At CU convenience stores operated by BGF Retail, bottled water sales increased by 8.1% during this period.

In particular, the growth rate of bottled water sales in areas where tap water larvae were found, such as Seo-gu, Bupyeong, Gyeyang, and Ganghwa in Incheon, was explosive. E-Mart reported that bottled water sales near the Incheon area increased by 33.3% compared to the previous week. CU also saw a 47.9% increase in bottled water sales in the same region. GS25 convenience stores operated by GS Retail reported that bottled water sales at 50 stores in the Incheon area on the 15th increased by 177.1% compared to the previous week. By product, sales of 2ℓ and 500㎖ bottled water increased by 269.9% and 103.8%, respectively, indicating relatively higher consumption of large-capacity bottled water. The convenience store side analyzed that the sharp increase in large-capacity bottled water sales reflects more customers purchasing bottled water as a substitute for tap water for daily use.

With nearly 200 reports of tap water larvae and the spread to the Gyeonggi area, bottled water sales are expected to increase further. A convenience store official explained, "As temperatures gradually rise and anxiety about tap water grows, bottled water sales are rapidly increasing."

Bottled Water Companies: "Our Water Is the Safest"

Bottled water companies are also moving quickly. As anxiety about tap water grows, competition in the bottled water industry, which has so far been price-based, is expected to rapidly shift to quality competition.

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corporation, which produces Jeju Samdasoo, the number one bottled water brand, operates a real-time monitoring system around the water source, observing and collecting water level and quality data every hour and continuously monitoring it. Although domestic inspections are legally required twice a year, they have increased the number of inspections to insist on the highest quality, conducting daily, monthly, and quarterly water quality tests simultaneously. To manage the strict quality of Samdasoo, they established the Quality Research Headquarters in 2017 to strengthen company-wide quality research, improvement, management functions, and to oversee the Water Resources and Water Industry Research Center.

Along with quality management, they are leading stable production through on-site quality and safety improvements. To strengthen safety management on-site, they designated the safety and health management officer as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), deployed safety managers on-site 24 hours a day, and established a 24-hour safety management system. A Jeju Samdasoo official said, "The most fundamental strategy of the bottled water business is 'quality' itself," adding, "Continuous investment in quality capability, quality management, and related research and development is our competitiveness and core strategy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.