Abebu Dinku Water Bottling and Non-Alcohol Beverage Factory has introduced a new bottled water product.
At a ceremony held on Thursday April 12 at Elilly International Hotel the company launched its Top water brand.
During his opening speech Abebe Dinku, General Manager and owner of the factory, said that his company would do well by supplying high quality products.
“To do that we have installed our own plastics factory, and a state of the art lab equipped with latest Italian technology,” Abebe said.
Abebe said that his company is one of the few that produces its own water bottles.
Soon they will install a second production line at their factory, increasing their capacity and turning them into one of the biggest bottled water producers.
The factory has obtained its machines from the global Chinese company Newamastar, which specializes in machine installation in bottled water production plants.
The production process at Top Water follows a very careful process. It is tested during various production steps and is never touched by humans, according to Tewodros Eshetu, Production and Technical Director of the company.
So far the company has installed a bottling machine at the industry located in Tatek, Gefersanono (Burayu), Oromia regional state, 18kms northwest of Addis Ababa, with the capacity of packing 18 thousand bottles of water per hour.
Tewodros said that Top Water employs the latest technology to control its production quality to the utmost level which is a stark difference from most in the industry.
“The fact that we produce the bottles along with their cover avoids shortages and ensures the quality of the water,” Abebe explained.
The company has invested more than 273 million birr to establish the factory and produce Top Water, which is sourced from a spring in the Aegedu Highland. Currently the company employs 147 people and that number will increase when they finish the expansion. After the expansion, the company will be able to produce 42 thousand bottles of water per hour at its 11,000sqm compound. The water will be sold in five sizes including a 20 liter jug.
During the ceremony company officials also talked about corporate social responsibility.
Shimeles Ajema, sales manager of the water company, said that Top plans to drill at least four water wells in places suffering from water scarcity.
“We have accomplished an adequate study to implement this by deducting 0.2 cents from every water bottle. We will have a sales of 67 million bottles of water per annum which means earnings of over 1.33 million birr, so that covers the cost of four wells,” Shimeles explained.
According to company experts, top water uses environment friendly technologies and a method to recycle the water bottles. The company they have plans to install plastic bottle collection sites in Addis Ababa.
Soon the company plans to make other products as well.

TECNO Africa has announced the release of its latest smartphone duo- the CAMON X and CAMON X PRo. The announcement was made during a glamorous Global Spring Launch at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Nigeria.The new phones have advanced designs and cameras.
The CAMON X Pro debuts a 24MP +16 MP front camera with an increased image definition of 30% over that of the CAMON CX to ensure that images are clear and sharp. It dons a 6 _inch FHD screen with 2.5D corning third glass,industry leading 18:0 view full screen, 64GB ROM, 4GB RAM and superfast face recognition technology.
Speaking at the launching event Andy Yan, Vice President, of TRANSSION Holdings-parent Company of TECNO said “We do not adopt a one -size-fits all approach in developing our products.We take insights from our customers’ habits, preference and needs to develop the next groundbreaking product that fits perfectly into their lifestyle and consequently displaces the competition.” The new phones will be expected to be introduced in Addis Ababa in one month.

Pizza Hut the first American restaurant chain, opened in Addis Ababa on the road to CMC on Tuesday and Bole Medhanealem near Edna Mall Saturday.
Yum Brands partnered with local Belayab Foods to open the first Pizza Hut restaurant at a building owned by national Oil Company around CMC area on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended by US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Michael Raynor and other government officials and businesspeople.
“We’re very excited about this milestone event,” said Belayab Foods CEO and shareholder Michael Ghebru. “While there are a few regional franchise restaurants in Ethiopia, Pizza Hut is the first global international restaurant franchise to enter the Ethiopian market.”
Pizza Hut says their restaurants feature a contemporary feel with modern furniture and fixtures, as well as imported branding materials. “Additionally, the restaurants include Pizza Hut’s most popular pizzas, meals, and desserts – which are all imported in an effort to keep the original taste and standard,” the statement added.
Depending on what kind of toppings and sides you order eating at Pizza Hut will run you somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 to 400 birr.
In the United States, restaurant franchises employ 3.8 million individuals of whom 85% are under the age of 25 years. According to the company’s statement, Belayab Foods aims to follow this trend by focusing on hiring youth straight out of school. In preparation for the Ethiopian opening, the company sent several of their young employees to trainings abroad to become familiar with the Pizza Hut brand.
The US restaurant chain formed in 1958 concentrated in traditional big markets, but recently it has been aggressively expanding its market in Africa.
The Ethiopian partner is expects to expand to 10 branches in the city. Some in the tourism industry feel more chain type restaurants or more variety in the type of cuisine featured at eateries would attract more tourists to Ethiopia. Because Addis Ababa is a major diplomatic center, hopes were that it would attract more international brands in the hospitality and food industry, so far however this has been slow to occur.
In the past decade the number of standard hotels and international chains has been growing, while the international restaurant business remains limited. Recently the South African restaurant chain, Spur Steak Ranches, has commenced its business around Bole, one of the luxury locations in the capital.
Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum! Brands, also owns KFC and Taco Bell restaurant chains. It is investing heavily in Africa and working with franchises to expand its presence across the continent. With more than one billion people, 53 countries and consumer spending predicted to reach USD 2.5 trillion by 2020, the company sees an opportunity for growth in Africa.
In the near future it plans to open a KFC with another local partner in Addis Ababa.

Castel Group has taken a 58 percent stake of the budding brewery Zebidar as part of a deal with Belgian brewery Unibra S.A.
The brewery is located about 166km south west of Addis Ababa at Gubre Woreda around Welkite town of Gurage Zone, SNNP. It began making beer on January 5, 2017. So far shares have been purchased by Jemar, an Ethiopian Company with over 1,000 Ethiopian Shareholders, and Unibra, the major shareholder.
Last March Castel Group, the owner of BGI Ethiopia, the biggest brewery in the country, and Unibra announced that the Belgian firm would transfer its 58 percent share at Zebidar Brewery to the French company.
Zebidar was established 15 months ago with an investment of 1.2 billion birr and an initial capacity of producing 350,000 hectoliters per year. It featured a unique pull-off cap bottle.
According to a statement from Castel Group, Zebidar has now joined, effective March 28, Castle Group’s four other breweries in Ethiopia. This transfer will enable Zebidar to reinforce the presence of the Castel Group in Ethiopia and to consolidate its activities in the south and south west regions.
Currently GBI has diversified its breweries, including; south Ethiopia at Hawassa, 275km of south of Addis Ababa, in north Ethiopia at Kombolcha, 376km of Addis Ababa in Amhara region in addition to its factory in the heart of Addis Ababa city around Mexico Square.
Recently, BGI took complete ownership of Raya Brewery located at Maychew town, 667km north of Addis in Tigray region. Initially BGI was the major shareholder at Raya by taking 42 percent, while it has now taken the remaining 58 percent of the share by investing 2.5 billion birr.
In its statement the French beverage giant said “the Castel Group presence in Ethiopia for the last 20 years confirms its strategy to bring growth and to develop its activities in the country.”
It is not yet been disclosed whether Castel Group will negotiate with the remaining 1,100 Ethiopian shareholders that have a minor share in Zebidar.