Water, water ever ywhere…

Classic Mineral Water does exactly what it says on the tin… or rather bottle. As Ireland’s oldest water bottling company,

But the very foundations of the company are its still and sparkling mixers foundations being the operative word, because the firm is literally sitting on its own product in the ground beneath them

Classic Mineral Water is one of the very few companies that hold Mineral Water status and they have access to over 100 000 litres of water per hour from the four on-site borewells

These were discovered more than 40 years ago when, in 1980, the company carried out extensive geological research in their local area of Lurgan

This resulted in the discovery of a chalk aquifer 150 metres below ground level, which has a water source that is extremely palatable and of high beneficial mineral content

The composition and quality of this water source has remained unchanged for centuries because of the geological structure of the surrounding area

The unique location of Ireland on the western edge of Europe has resulted in an environment that is unspoilt and high in natural resources

For more than 60 million years, basalt lava overlaying chalk has been subject to weathering and erosion which has resulted in the formation of a multi-layered mass of rock – an excellent filter 150 meters deep which permits only slow percolation of ground water It is this long slow filtration that gives Classic Mineral Water its exceptional purity and unique mineral composition Mineral Water status is recognised as the highest standard for bottled water

That s the science bit The human story began in 1948, when James McKee founded the company, originally to sell soft drinks directly to customers in their homes The products at this time were originally made from water supplied to the nearby town

And it was a success, but the discovery of the mineral water source in 1980 was a game-changer

The McKee family decided to diversify its product range and commenced production of bottled and flavoured water

This allowed the company to start supplying directly to shops and supermarkets which resulted in The

Classic Mineral Water being listed as a preferred supplier to all the key retailers in Ireland

During the subsequent 40 years, the company has developed a wide portfolio of quality products and to this day is one of the few bottling companies that can produce a full suite of products to its customers

In 2018, the McKee family decided to retire from the business and sold the company to Liam Duffy and Gerard Watters, two friends Since 2019, a total of £6m has been invested in installing three high-speed bottling lines and ancillary services to meet customer demands This investment has seen the company s turnover rise from £2m in 2018 to more than £15m in 2023 The owners are confident that they will reach over £20m in 2024

That resulted in recently a £3 4m investment to develop a third bottling line that will enable the production of isotonic beverages for the private label market for the first time in Ireland

The move follows significant investments in recent years, which have seen Classic Mineral Water increase capacity and efficiency, and reduce production costs

Liam Duffy, CEO and owner of Classic Mineral Water, said: Through investment in innovative technology and skills we have transformed Classic Mineral Water into a high-speed, state-of-the-art, soft drink processing facility and have achieved a six-fold increase in sales to £15m in just a few years

“ This latest investment, which includes the installation of a new pasteurisation system, supports our next growth phase, enabling us to respond to market demand for high-value isotonic products We are confident that this will push our overall sales up significantly, reaching over £20m by 2024, and vastly increase our productivity

The investment will create 16 jobs bringing the company ’ s total employment figure to 76, with 10 of the new jobs already in place

It was supported by a capital grant from Invest Northern Ireland which has worked closely with Classic Mineral Water over a number of years, providing a range of financial and non-financial support

This has included strategic advice and guidance, access to leadership programmes, consultancy support, and assistance with resource efficiency job creation and management information systems

John Hood, Director of Food & Drink Invest NI said: This investment has enabled Classic Mineral Water to manufacture a high value-added product and to increase output and productivity It positions it strongly to increase sales into Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, potentially resulting in a 70% increase in turnover

Through a range of support Invest NI has helped the company to develop the infrastructure, expertise and support systems that are essential to enable it to realise its vision of becoming a major player in export markets

Classic Mineral Water is the oldest water bottling company on the island of Ireland and is an approved supplier of ALDI, Lidl, Dunnes Stores, Musgraves, Bestways and Tesco It recently announced that it has signed a new £3 8m deal with ALDI Ireland

Duffy added: “ We have been working with ALDI since July 2019, developing a strong business relationship over the past three and a half years

Despite all the challenges that we have faced as a business over the past few years, we have continued to work together to ensure that ALDI customers have access to high-quality products at an affordable price

Pragmatic growth continues as Classic Mineral Water invests in production capabilities to allow the business to continue to grow and adapt over the coming years

John Curtin ALDI Group Buying Director said: “Classic Mineral Water has supplied our Irish stores for three and half a years and we are delighted to extend our partnership for a further year At ALDI we are committed to working with Irish producers like Classic Mineral Water who continue to expand and grow their business to deliver customers with a wide range of highquality products ”

Duffy added: After the installation of our third bottling line in early 2023, we can now offer our customers various bottle sizes from 250ml up to 5 litre bottles

We are one of the few water bottling companies that have the expertise and capabilities to produce the complete suite of products for our customers which includes Still & Sparkling Water, Still & Sparkling Flavoured Water, Full Range Of Mixer Drinks Isotonic Range & Glucose Range

This investment in the third production line is just the latest forward-thinking plan in a programme of expansion and modernisation that began when Duffy and Watters took over the company in 2018

By 2019 they were investing more than £3 7m in the factory, tripling the workforce and improving efficiency and sales

At the time, John Hood, Director of Food & Drink,

Invest NI said: This investment will allow the company to build on fresh opportunities within the sector and capitalise on the growth of the bottled soft drink business across Ireland and Europe Along with creating 39 jobs Classic Mineral Water is introducing new innovative technology to reduce costs and streamline production processes

“As well as providing financial support we have worked closely with the company providing strategic advice and guidance

This access to leadership programmes, consultancy support and strategic advice, ensures the company has the skills and knowledge to maximise this investment I wish the company success as it grows sales and profitability

The new roles include opportunities in administration, sales, maintenance and production, and will lead to additional salaries of £785 200 per year in the NI economy it was said back in 2019

Announcing the investment back then, Duffy said: “ We have over 70 years of expertise within the market We plan to expand on this through innovation and development delivering growth in export markets by increasing capacity and efficiency, alongside reducing production costs

“Invest NI’s support means we can make the investment quicker and respond to market demand for new products We are also able to expand our team in Lurgan, developing a strong skillset to help our company succeed as a major competitor in export markets ”

Food safety is of critical importance when working in the food supply chain and Classic Mineral Water take their responsibilities around quality assurance very seriously Every batch of product produced is lab tested before release for public consumption

They recently retained their AA BRC accreditation achieved by undertaking a third-party audit against standard requirements set by an accredited certification body The AA accreditation currently held by Classic Mineral Water is the highest grade achievable and this gives the Classic brand an internationally recognised mark of food quality safety and responsibility