JAKARTA: Danone has defended its sourcing practices for Aqua, the country’s leading bottled drinking water brand, after a consumer watchdog summoned the company to clarify whether its products truly come from mountain springs, following public scrutiny over its use of groundwater wells.
Vera Galuh Sugijanto, vice president general secretary of Danone Indonesia, said Aqua’s water is indeed sourced from mountain springs, consistent with the claim printed on its label, but explained that the extraction is carried out through regulated deep-well drilling.
“The source is mountain water, as stated on our label. However, like any industry utilising deep groundwater, the extraction is done through drilling,” Vera said on Tuesday (Oct 28), as quoted by Bisnis.
She added that the company holds the necessary permits from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry for its water extraction operations. All Aqua products, she continued, also meet the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) and comply with safety requirements set by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
“Aqua’s bottled water meets SNI parameters, and we go beyond that with over 400 internal parameters to ensure quality consistency across all our plants,” she emphasised.
The statement came after the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) announced plans to summon PT Tirta Investama, Danone’s local subsidiary and Aqua’s producer, for clarification following concerns that the water might not come from mountain springs as advertised.
BPKN chairman Mufti Mubarok said the agency received multiple public complaints and media reports after West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi visited Aqua’s water processing site in Subang and questioned its water source.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, a company employee told Dedi that the water was drawn from underground wells through drilling, sparking public concern over the claim and its potential environmental impact.
“We’ve received public reports and we want to ensure consumers’ rights to accurate and transparent information, as guaranteed under the Consumer Protection Law,” Mufti said. He later added that BPKN had obtained a technical explanation from Aqua, which stated that the company uses deep drilling to extract water from mountain aquifers.
“We’ve been given a clear, scientific explanation that it is indeed mountain water obtained through drilling,” Mufti said on Tuesday.
To follow up, the BPKN will conduct an on-site inspection at Aqua’s production plant on Thursday to verify the company’s explanation and compare it with actual operations. The visit will also include laboratory testing to assess the quality of the water extracted through drilling.
The watchdog added that it would recommend Aqua revise the “mountain spring water” label on its packaging to better reflect its extraction process and prevent potential “overclaims,” as the brand has long marketed itself under that tagline.
“We’ll advise Aqua to reconsider its advertising, because consumers already associate the brand strongly with mountain springs,” Mufti said. “Perhaps a modification of the label would help align public perception with actual practice.”
The government has issued around 4,700 groundwater utilisation permits nationwide, including those held by bottled water producers, according to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
