Ito En, Itochu set up mineral water sales venture

Thursday 10th April, 05:50 AM JST

TOKYO —

Major Japanese soft drink maker Ito En Ltd said Wednesday that it and major trading house Itochu Corp have set up a joint venture to import and sell mineral water.

The new company will start operations next Monday. The joint venture is capitalized at 300 million yen, of which 65% was put up by Eto En and 35% by Itochu.

The move came as Ito En has obtained the exclusive right to sell Evian mineral water in Japan from Groupe Danone SA, following the termination of lactic drink maker Calpis Co’s exclusive Evian marketing contract with the French food giant.

Ito En expects Japan’s mineral water market to expand further as consumers are becoming more health-conscious.

JCN

› Login to comment

2 Comments

kemiko at 08:39 AM JST - 10th April

Do not buy the mineral water, just drink tap water. It is safe enough. The companies go into this market because it is just easy to make money selling water. Further more, this market is full of trouble [ http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=240#water ]. Use money wisely.
GrouchyGaijin at 09:19 AM JST - 10th April

E V I A N spelt backwards is N A I V E!