He considers himself an adopted child of Bucovina, because since 1992, when he arrived in Bucovina, he fell in love with the places and the people here, with their faith in God, with the hospitality and piety of the Romanians whom he considers brothers of the Greeks. He developed a very successful project in Romania, but he wants to turn it into a country brand, after promoting Romanian waters, the best in the world.
Jean Valvis also founded a mineral water bottling company in Vatra Dornei, in 1992, then, in 1994, he founded Valvis Holding, establishing Dorna Apemin, a joint-stock company with Romanian-Swiss capital, within which, between the years 1996-1999, under the Dorna brand, three new mineral water exploitation factories were built in Vatra Dornei, Suceava (Dorna, Poiana Negri, Izvorul Alb). In 2010, the Aqua Carpatica brand was launched, the only water with 0 mg nitrates/liter.
“Romania, the homeland of mineral waters” is the country brand project proposed by Jean Valvis. “I firmly believe that this project will succeed, because the waters in Romania are the best in the world. I submitted a project for this country brand. When we gather the whole mineral water industry around this idea and have the support of the Government, we will be able to implement this project. This advantage of having mineral waters of the best quality is a basic feature of Romania. That’s what I’ve been doing since 2010. You know I do marketing, I’ve created six successful brands and I’m very proud of them. Everyone is successful, independent of me. I presented my ideas, showing where Romania has a comparative and competitive advantage. When we say “Swiss watch” everyone knows it’s good, we say “Scotch Whiskey” and everyone knows it’s good, We say “Girl”, from Greece, everyone knows it’s good, we say “German car”, everyone he knows she’s good. What are we the best at, in Romania? We have 40% of the world’s mineral water reserves, we have 110,000 square km that receive pure water and we don’t have fertilizer problems like other countries. We are number one in the world, as a mineral water force, worldwide”, says the founder of Aqua Carpatica.
Economic ambassador to partners
Jean Valvis launched the brand and protected it, but he is still waiting for support from the state, especially because in recent years several governments have changed and no consensus has ever been reached, following discussions. “I am absolutely convinced that Romania’s successful future will be based on private initiative, on private entrepreneurship, but the role of the state is important in the case of this country brand project, “Romania, the homeland of mineral waters”, which I will cede to the Romanian state the day he shows he wants him,” Valvis explained.
In the absence of information about Romania’s mineral water resources at the international level, Jean Valvis also did diplomatic work, to convince his business partners from other countries of the benefits of Romanian waters. “I am very proud that I took Romania’s reputation to 16 countries with Aqua Carpatica. I have become a kind of economic ambassador of Romania and I struggle to explain what Romania is. In Phoenix, Arizona, they didn’t know what Romania was. I am obliged, in order to define the origin of mineral waters, to explain. A mineral water atlas, that is, a database, must be created to show why we are number one in the world in this regard. We must structure the true information that is our privilege. Private entrepreneurs can create the country’s reputation,” the entrepreneur added.
Internationally, demand is increasing
On an international level, it is expected that business in the mineral water industry will exceed 174 billion euros in the next period, and the idea presented by Jean Valvis, the president of Valvis Holding, is to promote Romanian water and create this brand so that it has to gain both the state and the private sector, which could double or triple its sales volume in the coming years. “It is clear that there is a future for this industry, from the point of view of domestic consumption. Our message is that this sector, in addition to other performing ones, such as wine, IT tourism, etc., is a world champion in a tangible, objective, sustainable, protected and natural way. We have much better and cleaner waters than others, with their salty waters. And Aqua Carpatica, Borsec, and Dorna are better than brands from other countries. We are not known, because we do not promote ourselves intelligently”, explains the Greek entrepreneur. He started a new round of negotiations with the current government, for the state to take over this country brand project and implement it together with the private sector.
International expansion
International statistics show that Romania is at the top of Europe in terms of the number and quality of mineral water springs, having 60% of Europe’s mineral water springs, over 12% of the total production in Eastern Europe and over 3% of that registered in the EU . From 2010 to 2020, the number of companies in Romania that bottle mineral waters, juices and natural non-alcoholic drinks almost doubled.
Last year, in August, Valvis concluded a partnership with PepsiCo, selling 20% of Aqua Carpatica shares, but kept control of the company and the executive functions it holds. The negotiations that formed the basis of this partnership lasted two years and will allow the Greek entrepreneur to take Aqua Carpatica to all the markets of the world. PepsiCo took over 20% of the shares of Carpathian Springs (Aqua Carpathica) and the exclusive distribution rights on specific channels in Romania, Poland, other international countries, with the prospect of being extended to other markets, including the United States of America, and Jean Valvis personally went to present the advantages of mineral waters from Romania to all these countries.
Box
Aqua Carpatica, the brand created by Jean Valvis in 2010, is already present, since 2016, on 16 international markets. “Through the strong partnership we concluded, the materialization of our bold vision of positioning Romania as the “Motherland of Mineral Waters” at the international level now becomes a tangible objective. Carpathian Springs, the company that operates the Aqua Carpatica brand, had a turnover of 333 million lei (68 million euros) in 2021, up 20% compared to 2020, and a net profit margin of 14%, after a result of 47 million lei, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
The largest amount of natural mineral water in Romania comes from the central and northern areas of the country. Most springs of natural mineral water are in the counties of Suceava, Covasna and Harghita, according to the data from the List of recognized mineral waters in Romania, from the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM). This is where the bottled water of the most famous brands comes from – Borsec, Dorna, Aqua Carpatica and Perla Harghitei. AQUA Carpatica has eight sources, in two counties, namely Suceava and Harghita.
Long live Greece! Every year be better! Happy birthday to the Greeks! And let us have peace!
Jean Valvis, Carpathian Water
Our country can also be promoted as a top tourist destination, internationally, through the best quality natural mineral waters.
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