Unique Masafi ‘Thank You’ Auction for Precious Water Bottle Concludes

Masafi ‘Thank You’ campaign in partnership with Dubai Cares scores big with standard 1.5 Litre Water Bottle selling for a staggering at 10,000 AED
Online Auction/donation net a total of 32,507 AED to benefit the Masafi, Dubai Cares Joint ‘Thank you’ Fundraising campaign.

Dubai, UAE – July 1st, 2013: Masafi – one of the region’s leading FMCG brands – and the UAE-based philanthropic organization, Dubai Cares, have announced the successful conclusion of their unique Online Charity Auction event. The event ran for three months as an integral part of the innovative ‘Thank You’ fundraising campaign that Masafi has been spearheading to support the development of quality primary education in developed countries.

Under the online auctioneer’s hammer was a 1.5 Litre standard size Bottle of Masafi natural mineral water. This was the first-of-its-kind online philanthropic auction for an everyday bottle of natural mineral water – and achieved a final sale price of 10,000 UAE Dirhams. The highest bid for the bottle of Masafi came from Mr. Tony Youssef, Founder and CEO of Ecocube FZE LLC.

Explaining his charitable gesture, Tony Youssef said: “I am delighted to be the highest bidder and the new owner of one of the most precious bottles of water. The news could not have come at a better time, particularly as we approach the Holy month of Ramadan and the season of giving. The ‘Thank You’ Campaign has given me an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of children through this excellent Masafi and Dubai Cares partnership which in my eyes has been a winning combination and a very successful campaign.”

The ‘Thank You’ campaign benefitted not only from the auction itself but from the part of the proceeds of the sale of large and small Masafi water bottles – which were sold nationwide and all carry the logo of Dubai Cares and the message “On behalf of all the children you’re helping, Thank You”.

Commenting about the hugely successful partnership and innovative auction fund raising event Mr. Reginald Randall, CEO of Masafi, said: “Masafi is extremely proud to have been the driver behind this first of its kind auction campaign held for such a noble cause. On behalf of all the children that will benefit from these funds, I would like to say Thank You to each and every one that contributed and for the continuing support weak link) and partnership we have with Dubai Cares.”

“At Masafi, we are well aware of how precious water is to the community in the UAE and the region, and we are more than happy to have found that the wider public of the UAE and the region share these values and were ready to show it through a noble act of contributing through the online auction or choosing Masafi in the supermarket.”

The online auction ran from April 11 till June 30, 2013, bidders and donors could log on to www.mostpreciouswater.com to place their bids for the bottle which is estimated to be the most precious and valuable regular mineral water bottle in the world.

Those who were outbid in the auction were given the option of donating the bid amount to Dubai Cares through the auction site. In addition to the actual sale price of the bottle of xx,xxx AED, the auction in total has raised a total of xx,xxx AED which will help fund primary education in developing countries.

About Masafi:
Masafi, the leading producer of pure natural mineral water in the entire Gulf, was established in 1976 with a paid-up capital of approximately $5.5 million. The company has retained its market leadership for over three decades by providing world-class products which are renowned for their pure natural freshness. This has seen Masafi become the premium reference for bottled mineral water in the entire region. In the process, it has built an extremely strong distribution network to consistently deliver to dynamic market requirements and has continuously upgraded its state-of-the-art equipment to keep pace with technological advances around the globe.

Being a leading brand that delivers to consumer needs, Masafi’s wide product portfolio includes Pure, Natural Mineral Water, Tissues, Juices, Flavored Water, Basmati Rice and Gourmet (Chips). The mineral water product line comes in bottles of 1.5 litres, 1 litre, 500ml, 330ml (regular and sports) 4 gallon bottles, 330ml kids packaging (regular and sports); mineral water cups in sizes of 250ml, 200ml, and 125ml. All Masafi product bottles are 100 per cent recyclable and only for one-time-use. The tissue line includes boutique fragrant tissues in four scents, floral tissues in purple, pink and green colors, and car tissue boxes. Masafi leads the UAE market in the Brand Equity Index in the water and tissue categories. The hugely popular Masafi Juices come in an array of original flavors and rich fruit blends available in 2 litre, 1 litre and 200ml bottles and a 100% juice blend tetra pack product line. The flavored water is available in four flavors — strawberry, lemon, peach and mint & lemon in 500ml sizes. The Gourmet potato chips come in five flavours – sea salt, sweet chilly, ‘four cheese’, salt & vinegar and Labneh & Zaatar. The 100% natural Masafi Premium Basmati Rice is the finest quality basmati offering an unique aroma, authentic taste and pure goodness.

The company was the first recipient of the ISO 9002 certification in the entire Middle East and was awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification for developing and maintaining a high standard Quality Management System. Masafi has also been awarded the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) certification. Masafi is also a member of International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and Asia Bottled Water Association (ABWA). Masafi Water is tested and approved by NSF International, USA, which carries out annual unprompted audits on behalf of IBWA. Masafi is the first mineral water company in the region to be awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management.

About Dubai Cares:
Dubai Cares, a UAE-based philanthropic organization, was launched in September 2007 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to improve children’s access to primary education in developing countries.

Dubai Cares works with organizations such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Care International, GAIN, Global Network, Oxfam GB, Plan International, Room to Read, Save the Children, Scholastic and UNICEF. It implements comprehensive primary education programs in 28 countries and communities including Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Yemen, and with Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, to help reach by 2015, the United Nations Millennium Development (UN MDG) Goals 2,3 and 8 of guaranteeing universal primary education, promoting gender equality and forging a global partnership for development, respectively. To learn more, please visit www.dubaicares.ae