Spring Water: export from Canada to ASEAN

Bottled water is the hardest product on this site to make work economically, and a buyer should confront that before falling in love with the source. It is heavy, low-value per unit and competes against local bottling in every market. The only viable positions are genuine premium (a documented source with a story) or a specific channel such as hospitality, gifting or duty-free.

Where it does work, the specification is source provenance, the mineral analysis, and packaging format and integrity. Glass carries the premium and the freight and breakage cost that come with it.

Source and health-related claims are tightly regulated in most destinations and differ from Canadian rules, so confirm what may appear on the label before designing it: the claim is usually the entire commercial proposition, and losing it removes the reason to import.

Bottled water classifies under its own heading, usually distinguishing still from carbonated and sometimes flavoured from unflavoured. Confirm the line, though on this product the freight economics rather than the duty will decide viability.