Luding establishes a joint venture with water supplier Dausuz

The reduction of foreign brands of premium water in the Russian market may create incentives for local brands. Thus, the alcohol distributor Luding Group has created a joint venture with the water producer from Karachay-Cherkessia Dausuz to develop the brand. Luding already supplies these products and now, according to experts, can become a co-owner in exchange for investment.

The head structure of the alcohol distributor Luding Group and associated with the production of Dausuz water Dausuz-Aqua LLC established Dausuz Brand LLC on August 30, follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The partners each own 50% in the new company, its main activity is the production of soft drinks, mineral and other bottled waters. The main owner of Dausuz-Aqua, Kristina Moskalets, also owns a 50% stake in Dausuz LLC, which owns the right to the brand and a license to extract water in Karachay-Cherkessia. And the general director of Dausuz Brand, Natalya Kol, simultaneously heads LLC TD Aqua-Dyu, which is engaged in bottling. Aqua Dew Trade House declined to comment.

Luding is already supplying Dausuz. The distributor’s online showcase says that this is a young premium brand of drinking mineral water, which is bottled directly at the source. In the Luding catalog, water costs 54–57 rubles. for 0.33–0.5 liters, taking into account the discount and about 100 rubles. for 1 liter The brand is also sold in Azbuka Vkusa for 106 rubles. for a bottle of 0.5 liters.

Luding CEO Ernest Khachaturian said that the company has long been developing the Dausuz brand with a partner, being responsible for distribution and marketing. “The form of partnership between us has changed, but work on the development of this brand continues in the same mode,” he said. One of the founders of Famous Amazing Brands (Vanilla Flight and Anarchy drinks) Anton Stelmakov believes that by participating in a joint venture, Luding can become a co-owner of the brand in exchange for investment. Dausuz structures, in particular, plan to build a water bottling plant with a capacity of 33 million bottles per year at the Nevinnomyssk TASED, according to the materials of the city administration. The Dausuz distribution center should also appear here, Mikhail Minenkov, Mayor of Nevinnomyssk, said.

Aleksey Voinov, director of the Aqua-White mineral water plant, notes that Dausuz can take a share in a niche among a more affordable alternative to European water brands that have either left Russia or have risen in price significantly. Danone in April 2022, in particular, announced the cessation of imports of the Evian brand into the Russian Federation, and now the brand is apparently imported by third-party suppliers. In the Azbuka Vkusa online store, Evian costs 149 rubles. for a bottle of 0.5 liters.

Svyatoslav Vilk, General Director of Akva Holding Group of Companies (Essentuki, Narzan, Arkhyz VITA), says that the premium mineral water market in Russia has always been predominantly represented by imported brands. In the last year, the market has been shrinking, and foreign brands are being replaced by Russian waters from the North Caucasus, Siberia, and other regions, and new foreign players have appeared, for example, from Kazakhstan, he says. According to Mr. Voinov, a project for the production of such water as Dausuz can have a good profitability, but one should not expect large turnovers: this is a narrow segment limited by the largest cities. But, he continues, expensive soft drinks in glass bottles are more resistant to crises than the middle and mass segments.

Anatoly Kostyrev