The Latest Trend in Japan: Bottled Deep-Sea Water from Hawaii

Japanese consumers, in particular, are paying top dollar for desalinated Hawaiian deep-sea water, which is marketed as a dietary supplement that aids weight loss, stress reduction, improved skin tone and digestion.

Hawaiian seawater may soon become the state's No. 1 export if demand in Japan continues to grow.

For four years, Japanese consumers have been thirsting for deep seawater and Hawaiian water is considered by many to be the best. Just how long the boom will last is unknown. For now, demand is outstripping production and five companies are betting the trend will continue.

Small bottles of Hawaii Deep Marine Inc.'s Kona Nigari sell for $33.50 at the Key of Life store in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.

The business has grown large enough that Gov. Linda Lingle decided it is time to issue an official Hawaii deep-sea water certificate. The state will charge companies a fee to use a special logo, certifying that the seawater is from Hawaii. The program could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the state.

The deep sea water  is pumped from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority pipeline, which extends 2,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) is a state agency that operates a unique and innovative ocean science and technology park in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii. Strategically located at Keahole Point next to the Kona International Airport and adjacent to one of the steepest bathymetric offshore slopes in the Hawaiian Islands.

Generally, deep seawater is difined as seawater deeper than 200 meters below the surface where photosynthesis cannot occur. In Hawaii the deep seawater is extracted from the depth of 915 meters after drifting the deep sea from the north Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ocean for more than 2000 years.

Today desalinated deep sea water is among the state's fastest growing exports in terms of dollar value, said Mark Anderson, administrator for the Foreign Trade Zone division of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The state's Natural Energy Laboratory stands to gain thousands of dollars for allowing the companies to use its pipeline. Under an agreement with the state, bottlers will pay the lab an undisclosed amount per bottle produced.

The research facility currently spends about $500,000 more per year than it takes in, said Jeff Smith, executive director of the Natural Energy Lab. But the fees from seawater bottling should make up that deficit and possibly exceed it.

Resources:

Enzamin USA Inc. 
Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELAHA)