Ganesh Iyer, Managing Partner, Indian Subcontinent, VEEN: Our main focus is to give the hospitality industry in India access to a unique Natural Mineral Water in premium recyclable glass packaging

Being India’s first certified water sommelier, Ganesh Iyer, Managing Partner, Indian Subcontinent, VEEN speaks to Suchitra C of WOH News about the company’s strategy way forward with The Zero Percent Shop that aims at becoming the ‘go-to’ platform for consumers seeking to adopt a mindful lifestyle.

What are the critical business segments you are targeting? How did the pandemic affect the business?

VEEN since its inception has traditionally been an HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes) centric brand across all international markets that we operate in. The pandemic has made us realise that one-dimensional channel business could be a great positioning for the brand; however, for such unforeseen circumstances, it’s very important and practical to have other alternative channels to operate in. Therefore, we have now moved into other channels such as home and office and are exploring traditional retail in the future.

Which parameters are critical that make VEEN water what it is?

Without water, there would be no wines. You would neither be sipping your favourite single malt or brewing your relaxing cuppa. Similar to growing different grape varieties in different regions and vineyards, VEEN has found multiple unique natural spring sources where it produces distinctive bottled water products of individual characteristics.

Finnish Lapland is VEEN’s place of origin and the home of its first spring source. The brand discovered its second home in 2014, the source of its natural mineral water spring in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.

VEEN’s water sources are amongst the purest waters and environments on the planet. Our sources are exceptionally rare in characteristic, in that they are in extremely remote, unpopulated, and unpolluted parts of the world. Additionally, the sources are no less than superior in virginal which means the water is unspoiled by nitrate with 0 mg per litre. Along with this, we bottle this natural mineral water in Food Grade Flint Glass bottles which is heavy metal compliant as per US FDA standards. What this means to the layman is that the above quality of glass helps maintain the neutrality of the mineral composition even after a year’s period after having it bottled at source.

VEEN also believes in holistic wellbeing through its unique offerings like Ayurveda water or Ayurveda Super Shots. What is the demand for such offerings in the market?

One of the learnings from this unfortunate pandemic has been the oft-ignored aspect of our daily lives – which is our own health. People have realised the bitter truth about the importance of one own wellbeing. Trends across the globe indicate that there is a significant and rising demand to  consume ‘good for you’ products and, in that context, we have these two offerings in the international market catering to upscale retail and HoReCa.

What is lined up next for 2021?

People are thinking about what they eat and drink like never before, whether it’s about avoiding alcohol, cutting down on dairy, enjoying fine water, or becoming vegetarian. Happily, thanks to huge advances in technology, it’s now easier than ever to be part of this mindful consumption movement.

The Zero Percent Shop was created with the aim of becoming the ‘go-to’ platform for consumers seeking to adopt a mindful lifestyle. The first of its kind, the shop focusses on a unique selection of curated food and beverage brands in the categories of 0% alcohol, 0% dairy, 0% pesticides, 0% sugar, 0% microplastic, 0% meat, and Fine Water to empower the mindful consumption movement by building awareness and making zero percent brands easily accessible to people who want to consume more responsibly, whilst still enjoying themselves.

We will also foray with the whole range of Zero Percent Portfolio into e-commerce and upscale retail and also catering home deliveries to HNI (High Net Worth Individuals) and corporates.

Being an eco-sensitive organisation, what would be your new initiative towards recycling and awareness towards reducing water wastages?

At VEEN our main focus is to give the hospitality industry in India a solution to having access to a unique Natural Mineral Water in premium recyclable glass packaging.

We believe that the choice of water plays a crucial role in the overall dining experience and must be appropriate for the environment.  We want to help the hospitality industry with new solutions to recycling and responsible waste management.

One of the projects we are currently working on is to provide our hotel customers with an on-site Glass to Sand Crusher, which reduces their glass waste by 90% and ensures that the recycling is done onsite itself rather than being left to someone else to do. One of the big challenges we are facing is that although so many products are marketed as ‘recyclable’, only about 7-8% of recyclable products actually do get recycled.