ICE, the beverage industry partner for water management

(translation of the French article “Industrie des boissons, success story française”)

ICE Water Management is the partner of the leading brands of bottled water and beverages. The company designs, builds, and installs water treatment systems for the beverage industry. From the origin of the water to the closing of the bottle, whatever the source of the water used. A company from Haute-Savoie, 100% “Made in France”, ICE offers its services worldwide.

At the international level, the beverage market is growing at about 7% per year. Big companies such as Nestlé or Danone represent a significant market share; however Europe, America, Asia, Middle East and Africa have seen an increase in the number of independent players. In the Arab Persian Gulf, more than 500 companies are working in this market. ICE Water Management successfully positioned itself in the installation of the beverage industry infrastructure. Its know-how allows ICE to assure that water is always hygienic and that it’s not exposed to risks which could degrade its original quality. ICE can advise and implement necessary water treatment units, so that the water meets the consumer requirements. In this area, France is a mature market and infrastructures have existed for a long time. “We are still working in France, mainly to optimize existing installations and modernize them. Our customers are Nestlé, Danone and independent bottlers such as Orezza and Quézac. For example, we have installed a recovery and treatment system using the Lake Léman water to clean bottles for water. This allows the factory use the source water only for consumption. Our real added value is in the design of new installations or on important modifications of the process.” explains Philippe Martin-Monier, ICE Water Management President. For new installations, ICE support starts at the beginning of the project, in the very definition of the needs with the water quality asked for by the customer.

Water as a health guarantee

The top of the line market on which ICE operates, represents a turnover of approximately 200 million Euros in a global market of one billion Euros. “We have a hundred active customers and we carry out about twenty projects per year, mainly abroad. We are working from sea water, domestic water, well water and even surface water. We remove all that it can contain and are able to realize a recipe which brings to the water all the properties required, by the contribution of mineral salts. We go beyond the simple installation. Recently, some bottlers from the Arab Persian Gulf have asked us for a water with a very high Ph and low sodium: characteristics that would be a guarantee of health. We integrate the best technologies available to ensure the quality and hygiene of a complete installation that sometimes includes several hundred kilometers of pipes, ensuring that no water stagnation is possible. With stagnation, water can quickly become contaminated.”  ICE designs the plans, builds the installation in France, and delivers it in several containers by sea. Then an ICE team oversees installation and connections to water and electricity. Once installed, tests are realized. In addition to ensuring the installation of a perfectly hygienic installation, ICE brings to its customers a very high profitability of the installation. “The design of our systems takes into account the industrial profitability needed. Where many of our competitors offer a facility that requires the use of 2 to 3 liters of water to achieve 1 liter of bottled water, we only use 1.3 liters!” We strive to make our customers save water and contribute to the company’s environmental social responsibility. ICE has the wind in its sails and innovates. It offers its customers an IT service, ICE CONNECT, able to provide in real time all the parameters of the water treatment, which is a precious help to avoid any contamination. “This system uses artificial intelligence. This is a real 4.0 plant that gives us a significant competitive advantage”. ICE’s ambitions should soon drive the company to North America. ICE is already present in Africa with a subsidiary created in Ivory Coast in October 2018, in Asia with a commercial representation, and in Arab Persian Gulf in Dubai where ICE is implanted since last October.

Key figures

1987 creation of ICE, taken over at the end of 2014 by its current shareholders
31 years experience dedicated to beverage industry
Workforce: 65 people; in Haute-Savoie
Turnover between  20 and 25 millions Euros
Present in 25 countries
320 plants equipped
500m³/hour: ICE’s biggest water treatment turnkey project

You can find the article “Beverage Industry, a French success story” on the Informations entreprise website.

You can also read the article which was published in “Les Echos” from March 2019.

05/2019