The bottled mineral water sector in Tunisia has an impressive production capacity, but faces significant storage, distribution and price challenges, Lotfi Riahi, president of the Tunisian organization for consumer orientation on Tuesday.
According to Riahi, Tunisia has 30 mineral water traffic jam units distributed in 13 governorates, with a production capacity of up to 500,000 bottles per hour. In 2024, the production volume amounted to around 3 billion bottles. Despite these figures, the operation of these traffic jam units does not exceed 0.19 % of the total water stock.
The president of the organization highlighted major problems concerning the methods of storage and conservation of bottled water. If the producer initially provides adequate conditions to the wholesaler, irregularities occur during transport to retailers, where the bottles are often exposed in full sun in unsanitary conditions. This practice potentially alters the quality of the product and poses risks to consumer health.
Lotfi Riahi has also attributed the high cost of mineral water to the proliferation of intermediaries. To reduce the final cost for the consumer, he recommended solutions, including the adoption of 3 -liter economic bottles.
