Industrial water bottlers have lodged complaints and a plea for assistance before the authorities at the Ministry of Trade & Industry, claiming that issues with foreign currency shortages and disruptions in the supply of raw materials have placed them in dire straits.

The industry's complaints were submitted to the Ministry through the Ethiopian Bottled Water, Soft Drink, Fruits & Vegetable Processing Industries Association, run by Getnet Belay. Leaders of the Association, which is comprised of 83 members, have also filed their complaints with the Customs Commission, claiming taxation imposed on importing raw materials is "unfair," Ashenafi Merid, the Association's general manager, disclosed to Fortune.

Data is hard to come by to understand the industry, although an average of nine million bottles of water is produced hourly, according to industry sources. The lowest rate of bottling at any individual plant is 8,000 litres an hour, while the largest plant bottles 120,000 litres an hour. At full capacity, the industry may produce close to 77 billion litres a year, alluring for many entrepreneurs aware of the potential market worth hundreds of billions of Birr.

Nonetheless, the water bottling industry was already struggling from a decline in demand due to the cancellations of meetings, conferences and exhibitions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the industry began to show signs of revival after the national state of emergency was lifted late last year. According to insiders in the industry, things looked like they were turning around until a series of issues surfaced at the beginning of this year.

Water bottlers now report that they are struggling with foreign currency shortage problems, a lack of raw materials, disruptions due to power outages, and the overpricing of raw materials necessary for production.

The bottlers claim that foreign currency shortages have hindered importing raw materials, forcing them to source from the local market, which has exhibited price increases of up to 150pc in recent months. The price for a kilogram of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), an essential component of bottled water, has increased from 52 Br to 120 Br.

Abyssinia Springs, one of the over 100 water bottling companies operating in the market, is currently producing at 40pc capacity, Amare Kassa, manager of Great Abyssinia Plc, disclosed to Fortune.

"We're close to laying off employees or closing the factory," he said.

Managers at the bottling companies believe prices of locally-sourced raw materials have increased because producers face the problems of power outages and shortages of foreign currency. Although bottle producers have increased their prices by 100pc, adding production costs and losses to the supply cost, bottled water plants are obliged to buy because they have no choice, according to a manager of a raw material importing company, who asked to remain anonymous.

"We're both in a dilemma," the manager told Fortune.

Operating in an underdeveloped market with fierce competition, the bottlers are not in a position where they can push the climbing costs onto their customers. Many are simply resorting to cutting back on production and labour costs, as is the case with Konjo Water.

The company used to produce in a 24-hour production cycle but has cut that down by two-thirds to stay afloat, according to Amaha Kebede, marketing manager.