Jibu Water could be on its way of cracking Uganda’s drinking water puzzle. The previous players in the market always solved for one specific type of consumer, the kind with a water dispenser. That means, homesteads without a water dispenser were excluded from accessing these bottles.
When Jibu came into the Ugandan market, it did two things:
One, it ran a franchise model that allowed individuals to acquire a license at around UGX 38 million. This allowed Jibu water to quickly solve for the distribution challenge. If you go to Naalya Estate, there’s a Jibu water refilling station. You go to Namugongo or Luzira, you will find a Jibu point.
Secondly, Jibu introduced the Tap bottle to the Ugandan market. This meant that consumers without a dispenser could now access Jibu’s drinking water. A new Jibu 20 litre tap bottle is sold at UGX 45,000 with a refill going for UGX 6000. With this strategy, Jibu was able to open an unserved market and potentially recruit homesteads into the water purchase movement. The tap bottle innovatively created and transformed the drinking water market.
Over the water, Jibu has layered up with the cooking gas supplies thus finding the right product diversification. In a way, Jibu is positioning itself in the home refillable category and is on its way to market leadership.
At all its refill centres, Jibu has the TukTuks to help in the distribution to supermarkets and shops that are supported by the refill centre. It’s an interesting company to watch and is a beautiful story of great distribution strategies in an emerging market.