A Bigger, Better Bottled Water Coming to Your Grocer's Shelves Soon (WTER, PRMW)

Look out Primo Water Corporation (NASDAQ:PRMW), there's a serious threat nipping out your heels, and there way of "doing bottled water" may be a heck of a lot easier for consumers to swallow than your way. The name of that budding competition? Alkaline Water Company Inc. (OTCBB:WTER). In fact, WTER became just a little more competitive on Tuesday thanks to widening its reach.... again.

If you've never heard of Alkaline Water Company or its flagship product Alkaline 84, don't worry - you're not alone. That's because the bottled water brand, for all intents and purposes, was only launched a couple of months ago. It's been a smash hit everywhere it's been put on grocers' shelves, however, and that momentum seems to be reaching a critical mass (read 'self-sustaining') where the more consumers, grocery stores, and distributors buzz about it, the more other consumers, other grocery stores, and other distributors want it.

WTER fills-in a surprisingly-still-open gap in the bottled water market, filling the void between the cases of Dasani or Aquafina a water drinker may grab in a beverage aisle at a local grocer, and the Primo Water 5-gallon jug refill dispenser at the front of the store.

The former (small 20 ounce bottles) may be handy for "on the go" situations, but wasteful when it comes to landfills, and not particularly convenient for family-sized, from-the-fridge needs. At the other end of the spectrum is PRMW. Admittedly, the large refilling jugs are eco-friendly, in that the system doesn't pollute landfills or crowd recycling centers with plastic bottles, but let's face it - a five gallon jug of anything isn't convenient for most families because of its weight or its size. A fully-refilled Primo Water container weighs about 40 pounds, and carting the thing to and from the store isn't exactly convenient regardless of the weight. The Alkaline Water Company solution? A one-gallon and 3-liter container you can grab right off the shelf. The PET, BPA-free bottles are also eco-friendly.

It's not just the convenience of the jug that has the likes of Primo Water Corporation, Dasani (owned by Coca-Cola) or Aquafina (owned by Pepsi) sweating, though. Alkaline 84 is packed with key minerals - 84 in all - including key alkalis a body needs to be as healthy as possible. Most other waters, in any form, don't offer the same health benefit.

Great, but what was it that Alkaline Water Company did yesterday that's causing another round of angst for PRMW? It added another distributor; a company called KeHE Distributors, which puts goods on the shelves of over 33,000 different grocery venues all across North America. That's a HUGE proverbial widening of the footprint.

While WTER could choose to market itself to retailers, and perhaps (though not guaranteed) enjoy slightly wider margins as a result, that's not the most effective move for the budding company. In the food and beverage world, it's the distributors that have the leverage with, and exposure to, the retailers. The goal is to get the right kind of distributor fronting for you so you can focus on making a great product. KeHE is very much a "right kind of distributor."

Here's the thing... this isn't the company's first distributor. It's not even the second or third distributor WTER has put in its corner. It's the fourth distributor that has taken on the Alkaline 84. The big deal is, that's a large number of front-men, especially considering the company's only been up and running for a few weeks. If the early interest in carrying the product from distributors is any indication, then Alkaline 84 could build a nationwide presence in just a few months. Considering that the bottled water business is worth more than $6 billion per year in the U.S. alone. [Primo Water did $91 million in sales last year, fueled by a questionably-convenient 5-gallon jug refilling business.]

The bottom line is, though most investors and consumers may not have heard of the company yet, given the growth rate and the growing number of channels, and investment in WTER at this stage of the company's life is very much a ground-floor opportunity. Speculative? Sure - what isn't with a new company? But, with bottled water overtaking soda consumption in the United States last year - with the lead poised to widen this year - while consumers continue to get pickier about the quality of water they're drinking, Alkaline Water Company Inc. is a right-time, right-place proposition.

For more on the Alkaline Water Company, visit the

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