A New English natural mineral water brand, Iceni Water was launched in March 2008. The launch was supported by a US$13million campaign that included extensive in-store activity, consumer sampling, advertising, sport sponsorship, consumer and trade PR.
The company could see a clear niche in the market for a truly English brand, particularly one that could serve London and the South East of England where the bottled water consumption was highest.
The water is named after a famous Anglian tribe which ruled Boudicca in 60AD. The drink which is naturally high in calcium and low in sodium, is being bottled at a purpose built bottling plant in Duxford, Cambridgeshire. It is claimed to be the most technically advanced plant of its kind in Europe, costing US$21.8 million.
The plant was entirely designed by and fitted wtih OCME equipment. The new plant provides labour cost savings, minimizing the need for human intervention at the key stages in the production process. PET bottles are blow moulded in-line and conveyed to the OCME HYDRA Filler, SAGITA Roll Fed Labeller, VEGA Shrink Wrapper and PEGASUS Palletiser. OCME also supplied the conveyors and automation maximizing productivity and efficiency.
The plant design maintains a constant overflow of filtered air pressure to ensure products are free from bacteria. An important factor in the design was the minimization of waste, which will reduce the carbon footprint on the environment.
It is projected that production of Iceni Water for 2008 will be more than 25 million litres, which will place it in the top ten bottled water brands in the UK and it is anticipated that production will double in two years.
OCME is represented by HBM Plastics & Packaging technologies in Oceania.
