Market assessment of Folia Water
Project timeline: August 2018 – Jan 2020
Partners:
BoP Innovation Center, Bangladesh
Project objective:
In areas where communities face barriers towards accessing clean water, Folia materials, a material science company based in the US has developed antimicrobial water filter paper named Folia Water which removes bacteria, viruses, protozoa, dirt, worms and iron from the source water and provides clean and safe drinking water for low income consumers. iSocial conducted an extensive field trial over a one-year period testing technical, operational and financial feasibility on the ground. The insights uncovered through the project helped Folia Water understand the right consumer insights, market feasibility and to develop an initial product- market fit. We have provided around 78 tons of safe drinking water to more than 4,000 BoP consumers through folia water filters.
Project outcome:
Positive Features of Folia Water
Negative Features of Folia Water
Why do customers buy Folia?
Why don’t customers buy Folia?
Returning customers: What causes customers to quit, continue, and linger?
How to increase sales?
How to improve the product?
Locations the project served: Jessore, Bangladesh
Impact:
The success of competitors proves there is a BoP market for water purification products.
• Price is less of a sticking point than capacity of each paper and frequency of replacement. Higher capacity papers should be developed.
• Some inconveniences in product use have been identified. Minimum viable convenience is probably somewhere between securing bottle to top of filter and providing a bottom bottle/stand with a tap.
• Price appears competitive. Focus should be given to marketing & BCC campaigns.
• Retailers unwilling to push new products. So demand creation needs to precede retail drive.
• Finding recurring customers will be difficult for retailers. Kallyanis/BPs can play a role here.