NON-Refillable PET ensures 100% pure natural mineral water, in 100% fresh bottle.

Dedicated Toll-free number 8005455 to source, deliver bottles

Dubai, September 24, 2007: Masafi, one of the leading FMCG brands in the Gulf and Middle East, today announced the launch of the four-gallon one-time-use mineral water bottles.

The non-returnable PET gallon bottles guarantee 100 per cent purity in a 100 per cent fresh bottle, every time, anytime. The bottles ensure a hygienic and safer option to refillable water gallon bottles that risk containing impurities or chemical residue as a result of the cleaning process before being refilled.

The company has committed $30 million to the production, distribution, sales and marketing of the gallon bottles and aims to capture 15 per cent of the UAE's bulk water sector within the first year of sales.

Masafi has set up a dedicated toll-free number 8005455 to facilitate the sourcing and delivery of the gallon bottles. Masafi has put into place a mechanism to deliver the innovative single-use gallon water bottles at the doorstep at home or office, besides strategic geographic outlets across the UAE and region.

In his comments, Mr Ashraf Abushady, Chief Executive Officer of Masafi, said: "The launch of Masafi four-gallon bottles is a significant step towards the company's evolution as a complete FMCG brand by 2011 and signals our strategic growth direction. The innovative bottle packaging is expected to completely revolutionize the multi-gallon water packaging in the Middle East as we reiterate our commitment to our consumers to offer pure, natural mineral water, now in four-gallon bottles."

He added: "The bottle is for one-time-use only with no refills, making Masafi the pioneers in offering this technology in the Middle East. The bottles are completely recyclable and forms part of our concerted initiatives to safeguard the environment."

The four-gallon bottles, which come in a unique, sophisticated design, are equipped with their own dispenser units. The water purity is ensured with a unique, state-of-the-art bottle cap encompassing three hygiene filters to counter dust and bacteria.

The Masafi gallon bottles are 100 per cent recyclable - the first-of-its-kind in Middle East - and are expected to completely revolutionize the regional gallon mineral water bottling segment.

The empty bottles will be collected by Masafi personnel upon delivery and can also be dropped at select recycle collection centres, run by Masafi and its strategic environment partner - the Emirates Environmental Group, a UAE-based non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting civic awareness. The bottles will be later recycled for non-food applications, making it 100 per cent environmental friendly.

The bottle collection centres are located at The bottle collection centres which are currently operation are located at Al Rifaa Health Care Centre (Bur Dubai), Marriott Hotel (Deira), Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (Al Ain Highway), Desert Group (Sheikh Zayed Road),Emirates Driving Institute (al Quoz), Emirates Driving Institute (Al Qusais) and Imam Hasan Islamic Madrasa (Al Barsha ).

The launch of the bottles epitomize Masafi's rich heritage and unique brand promise - 'Premium Products for Better Life' and are designed to communicate the values which drives Masafi - 'Quality, Purity and Transparency'. The high-decibel launch campaign includes a mix of print and radio and liberal use of outdoor communication as well as promotional branding with special Masafi door hangers to be distributed across 80,000 households in the UAE.

Masafi, which has successfully retained its market leadership in the UAE mineral water segment with more than 40% share, distributes approximately 20 million cases or 320 million bottles across UAE, which boasts of the highest per capita consumption of mineral water in the world. The company registered revenues of the order of AED273 million last year.

Nearly 30 per cent of Masafi mineral water production is exported to different countries across the globe, including Japan, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Germany, UK, Australia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Morocco, Yemen, Sudan, Bangladesh and the Ivory Coast.

Masafi had recently unveiled a new brand identity that signifies its evolution as a complete FMCG brand. As part of this new identity, Masafi has rolled out a new, refreshing look for water to lead the mineral water category through innovative strategies.

The new brand logo encompasses all natural elements with a refreshing silver outline. The new brand identity simplifies and unifies the look and feel of Masafi in an effort to better communicate its vital characteristics and values to consumers.

As a firm, the company intends on being present across all categories in the food and beverage sector. Masafi aims to strengthen its market leadership through a process of continuous reinvestment and innovative manufacturing and distribution strategies.

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About Masafi:
Masafi, the leading producer of pure natural mineral water in the entire Gulf, was established in 1976 with a paid-up capital of approximately $5.5 million. The company has retained its market leadership for the past three decades by providing world-class products which are renowned for their pure natural freshness. This has seen Masafi become the premium reference for bottled mineral water in the entire region. In the process it has built an extremely strong distribution network to consistently deliver to dynamic market requirements and has continuously upgraded its first-class equipment to keep pace with technological advances around the globe.

Being a leading brand that delivers to consumer needs, Masafi's wide product portfolio includes mineral water, tissues, Masafi Juices and the newly-launched Masafi Flavoured Water. The mineral water product line comes in bottles of 1.5 litres, 1 litre, 500ml, 330ml (regular and sports), 330ml kids packaging (regular and sports); mineral water cups in sizes of 250ml, 200ml, and 125ml. The tissue line includes boutique fragrant tissues in three scents, floral tissues in purple, pink and green colors, and car tissue boxes, while the hugely popular Masafi Juices come in an array of original flavors and rich blends available in 2 litre, 1 litre and 200 ml bottles. The flavoured water is available in 3 flavours -- strawberry, lemon & peach in 500ml sizes.

The company was the first recipient of the ISO 9002 certification in the entire Middle East and was awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification for developing and maintaining a high standard Quality Management System. Masafi has also been awarded the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) certification. Masafi is also a member of International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and Asia Bottled Water Association (ABWA). Masafi Water is tested and approved by NSF International, USA, which carries out annual unprompted audits on behalf of IBWA. Masafi is the first mineral water company in the region to be awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management.

For further information, please contact
Naeem Badiuzzaman,
PanGulf PR,
Dubai.
Tel: +9714-295 3456;
Fax: +9714-295 1027
E-mail: naeem@batespangulf.com 

© Press Release 2007