Kazakhstan-Water Purifier Market Update

Insufficient Maturity of Water Treatment Equipment Market
I visited Kazakhstan twice in 2014 and 2015, and at that time, the water purifier market was not yet sufficiently mature. According to Taiwan Customs export statistics, the total export value of two water treatment equipment CCC Codes from Taiwan to Kazakhstan in 2011 was only USD 2,400. Although Taiwan’s water purifier exports to Kazakhstan grew in 2012, it was merely USD 150,000.

There were very few dedicated water purifier shops in the market; instead, numerous shops selling luxury brands like LV and Gucci were prevalent. From my careful observation, the water purifier brands seen in the market at that time included Atlas, Казахстан, and АКВАФОР. However, in terms of brand visibility, the Italian brand Atlas and the Russian brand АКВАФОР had the largest market share.

Significant Changes
Three years later, upon revisiting Almaty in Kazakhstan, I took a stroll through the city and found that hypermarkets were filled with specialised stores selling water purifiers, with over 90% of the supply coming from Russia’s Aquaphor.

Consequently, price competition became extremely fierce, as water purifiers from China also flooded the entire market. Ironically, the market retail prices of the German brand BRITA on the supermarket shelves would genuinely make you laugh out loud.

We can see that the market retail price for this 2.5-litre Aquaphor from Russia is 2490 Kazakhstani tenge, which is approximately less than 250 New Taiwan dollars.

However, the German BRITA brand 3.5-litre water filter jug comes with a filter cartridge and is retailing for 2499 Kazakh tenge, which is less than £250

Interestingly, these two brands are in fierce competition. The Russian Aquaphor filter costs 1,290 roubles (approximately 130 TWD)

The German brand BRITA sells a filter cartridge for 3100 tenge (about 300 New Taiwan dollars). Surprisingly, the price of the filter cartridge is even more expensive than its water jug (which comes with one filter).

The editor thought: BRITA’s marketing strategy in Kazakhstan might be similar to Epson’s approach with their colour inkjet printers. A printer costs only 1500 tenge, but replacing the colour ink cartridges will also set you back 1500 tenge. However, since the product characteristics differ, whether this marketing strategy will be as successful as Epson’s remains to be seen in the market.

Local Importer Invites Factory Setup
Every time we visit Kazakhstan, we are invariably approached by local businessmen inviting us to set up a factory in the country. One particular client, who sees potential in Kazakhstan’s water purifier market, has been keen to collaborate with us on establishing a factory, as he is struggling without the necessary technology. We have not agreed to this, yet he continues to linger at our booth.

Tap Water
Almaty’s tap water comes from the snowmelt of the Tian Shan mountains. I asked some restaurants in Almaty about their water supply, and they also use purifiers for their serving water, but they rely on standard purifiers with two to three simple filtration stages. Strangely, Almaty’s tap water does not contain added chlorine.