Ambo Mineral Water is a brand of naturally-carbonated bottled

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. Tra ...

, sourced from the springs in Ambo Senkele, near the town of

Ambo Ambo may refer to: Places * Ambo, Kiribati * Ambo Province, Huanuco Region, Peru ** Ambo District ** Ambo, Peru, capital of Ambo District * Ambo Town, a town in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia ** Ambo, Ethiopia, a capital of West Shewa Zone ...

in central

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It is a popular drink in Ethiopia, and has been described as the "oldest modern mineral water" and Ethiopia's "oldest mineral water bottler." It has been bottled since 1930. Since 2017, the company Ambo Mineral Water S.C. is owned by

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is a company that was formed in 2014 from the merger of SABMiller plc, The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments beverage bottling operations in Southern and East Africa. Overview On 27 November 2014, S ...

History

Ambo Mineral Water has been bottled since 1930. The last

emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...

used to travel here to drink the water, which has been described as "holy water" by local residents per its prized status for having alleged restorative properties. Local residents have stated that the water can improve digestion, be used as to ease rheumatism and can cure ailments of the stomach. Generations ago, local farmers noticed lost cattle drinking the water.

Ambo Mineral Water has been in business since 1930 and is sourced from a
thermal A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...
that has significant amounts of "natural calcium, magnesium, potassium, bicarbonates and carbon dioxide". The water is naturally carbonated by the carbon dioxide at the source. The water is derived from a
volcanic fissure A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide and may be many kilom ...
, from which it runs down a stream in a montane environment, and is collected in Ambo Senkele, Ethiopia. Ambo Senkele is approximately 130 kilometers from Addis Ababa.

Today
The company was purchased by
SABMiller SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world's ...
in 2009. In 2011, SABMiller invested around US$20 million modernizing the bottling plant and operations. After these improvements, the plant produced 40,000 glass bottles hourly. Previous output was approximately 12,000 bottles per hour. In November 2014, Ambo Mineral Water was jointly purchased by SABMiller PLC and SouthWest Development, with plans to join Coca-Cola as SABMiller. During this time, it was announced that Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Sabco were going to form a new company named
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is a company that was formed in 2014 from the merger of SABMiller plc, The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments beverage bottling operations in Southern and East Africa. Overview On 27 November 2014, S ...
. According to Ambo's web site, it was purchased by CCBA in 2017. In a 2020 interview, the CEO of
East African Bottling Share Company East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
(EABSC) said that Ambo Mineral Water and EASBC were "sister companies" under CCBA. Tours of the bottling factory are offered to the public. Ambo is exported to Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, England, Sweden, the United States and Toronto, Canada. It is bottled in 330 ML, 500 ML, 750 ML 1000 ML and 2000 ML bottles. The bottling plant operates 24 hours a day. It is sold in Ethiopian shops for around US$0.30 per bottle, and is typically priced higher in Ethiopian restaurants and hotels. At restaurants in New York City, it is sold for around US$6 per bottle.

Products
Ambo Mineral Water began to be packed in
plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from v ...
s relatively recently, and prior to this was packed exclusively in glass bottles. New products introduced circa November 2014 were Ambo flavored water, which was formulated in several flavors, and Ambo Lite, a product with a lower mineral and carbonation content.

See also
*
List of bottled water brands This is a list of bottled water brands. Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., well water, distilled water, mineral water, or spring water) packaged in plastic, cartons, aluminum, or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not ...
*
List of companies of Ethiopia Ethiopia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. According to the IMF, Ethiopia was one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, registering over 10% economic growth from 2004 through 2009. It was the fastest-growing non-oil-dependen ...

References

Further reading
*

External links
* {{official website, http://www.ambomineralwater.com Bottled water brands Mineral water Products introduced in 1930