Aug. 17, 2005 - Issue #513: Fringe A-Go-Go

Message in a bottle

Edmonton-based Earth Water International rides in on a wave of increased social consciousness

To the casual observer, the bottled water market might seem pretty well saturated—with brands like Dasani, Montclair, Aquafina, Vittel and Evian crowding the shelves, you’d think there wouldn’t be much room for any new brand at all, much less a new brand based out of Edmonton. But walk into any one of 31 different retailers in this city and you’ll find just that: Earth Water, a local brand that’s only 10 months old, yet has already managed to expand out of Edmonton into the rest of Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, distributed by total of almost 150 retailers nationwide, from local organic food markets to big corporations like Safeway and Save On Foods.

So what’s Earth Water’s secret? A brilliant marketing campaign? Ridiculously low prices? No, according to 26-year-old Kori Chilibeck, founder, president and CEO of Earth Water International, what sets Earth Water apart is its socially conscious mandate, unusual for a corporation of any size. After three months of negotiations, Chilibeck and his staff of three struck a deal with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that sees 100 per cent of Earth Water International’s net profits—after what needs to be held back for salaries and expansion—going directly to the UN for water aid programs around the world.

“I really believe that ethical business is good business right now,” explains Chilibeck. “I think people are really starting to try to be careful where they buy their stuff from, and they’re starting to think as socially conscious consumers. They’re asking themselves, ‘Is this an organic product? Where is it made? Is it made in Canada or is it made in the Philippines by some little four-year-old?’ Let’s face it: the Canadian economy is doing very well right now; people have disposable income, and I think they’re becoming more aware of what they’re doing with it.

“This business is really controlled by the big companies, like Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle, and they don’t need another brand of bottled water,” he continues. “But when we put our water on the shelf with a poster and an explanation of what Earth Water is next to a Coke product, for instance, we outsell them two, maybe even three to one.”

Unlike most businessmen, Chilibeck is only interested in the potential profitability of his company because it will allow him to fulfill his lifelong dream of helping others through the UN.

“When I was a kid, I always wanted to work for the UN, but the idea for Earth Water came to me probably only two years ago,” he explains. “I was doing my political science degree at the U of A, and I was doing lots of traveling at the time with the Model UN Club and also lots of travelling on my own. I would take six months off here, six months off there, and I traveled to 33 different countries. And being in Nepal and places like that, where water is such a closely guarded commodity, where it’s more expensive than oil, it really struck me how much of it we have in Canada. My ultimate goal was to have a job and get paid and make a living, and then whatever was left over could go back to the people who need it most. So I guess the idea is that our shareholders are every man, woman, and child all around the world, living in the worst types of situations.”

Even though UNHCR has yet to see much money coming directly from Earth Water’s sales—the company just broke even for the first time about two months ago—the UN was so impressed by the company’s ability to raise money through various charity events and their website that they’ve since agreed to display the UNHCR logo directly on Earth Water’s bottles.
UNHCR’s timing couldn’t be better, as Earth Water has plans to push into Quebec, the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan within the next year or so. Chilibeck is also in the midst of striking a similar deal with the UN’s World Food Programme. Ultimately, his goal for the company is to grab hold of three per cent of the worldwide market share of bottled water sales.

“That would put Earth Water on every shelf of every developed country in the world,” he says. “So the projection that we made is that if we could get up to three per cent of the worldwide market share, we would be donating more to the UNHCR and the World Food Programme than the top five donating countries combined. And that would make us one of the most powerful aid organizations in the world.”

Lofty goals, perhaps, but the UN certainly isn’t complaining. According to Jonathan Wade, fundraising officer for UNHCR Canada, it’s incredibly rare for a company like Earth Water International to offer its unfettered assistance to the United Nations.

“It’s a luxury to work with an organization like Earth Water where the whole business plan that was put together was predicated on the desire to help people overseas. It’s actually kind of an unusual circumstance, because in some ways they’re operating more like an individual donor than as a corporate partner,” explains Wade. “I can’t speak highly enough of the importance of having partnerships with organizations like this. While most corporations are obviously designed to make money for the owners or the shareholders, Earth Water was designed to make money for the people who are in the greatest need.”

And, according to Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, the need is indeed great. “The greatest problem is the failure to meet basic human needs for water for everyone, and I think the financial commitment on the part of nations and the international community has been grossly inadequate,” he says. “There are billions of people without access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation services worldwide, and that’s something we tend to take for granted in the developed world.”

According to the UN’s numbers as of 2000, there are 1.1 billion people worldwide without access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion people without access to adequate sanitation. Because of this, it’s essential that corporations like Earth Water are willing to be flexible, allowing their donations to go where they are needed most, says Wade.

“Although Earth Water has expressed an interest in having the net profits of their work go toward water projects, that doesn’t keep us from putting the money towards water projects in Africa versus other parts of the world. So that broad-based kind of earmarking is, in fact, quite ideal for us,” explains Wade. “When people make very, very specific designations—for example, a donor might say, ‘I would like to give you $10,000 and I would like you to use that in this specific community in this specific country”—that is much harder for us to manage. We ask the majority of donors that give to us to give support in order to allow us to determine the greatest needs and to be able to meet those needs.”

Specifically, Wade explains that there are usually three levels of water needs in refugee situations. First, when refugees flee a country or a region, water is often not available in the places they flee to and it has to be trucked in. Second, once the initial humanitarian emergency is over, the water supply will be systematized through processes like the drilling of wells. Third, if refugees find themselves living in a camp for many years, a proper water distribution network of pumps and pipes will be set up. Another important area that Earth Water’s money will go towards is the development of sewer systems to keep existing water supplies clean and safe, according to Wade.

Unfortunately, Earth Water has yet to overcome some of the most basic problems that commonly face new companies, including a lack of funding. However, Chilibeck hopes that if his company continues down the same successful road, he’ll be able to convince the banks that it’s not as ridiculous an enterprise as it may first appear. “It’s kind of scary sometimes, because there’s not a lot of capital out there,” he explains. “Banks don’t particularly want to look at a CEO who’s only 26 years old and who drives a $500 car. That’s our biggest problem, so it’s kind of all or none right now, and everything I have is in this company.”

But despite the lack of easily accessible funding, Chilibeck’s enthusiasm should be a relief to Wade, who is wildly enthusiastic about Earth Water and the principles behind it. “I can’t understate the value of working with organizations like Earth Water,” he says. “‘Corporate responsibility’ is a term that’s used regularly by various different organizations, but Earth Water really is a company that’s built on the principle of helping others, and I think that’s exceptional. It’s very rare, and it’s commendable.” V

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