It is time for Evian to focus more on addressing its recurring quality problems rather than seeking revenue growth if it wants to maintain its market position in China, industry insiders said yesterday, after the French water brand was again blacklisted for quality problems - the sixth such instance during the past six years.

"From a strategic point of view, quality is of greater importance to high-end brands compared to the average ones. Foreign players like Evian should strictly abide by the Chinese national standards," Yang Qingshan, an expert with the China Brand Strategy Association, told the Global Times yesterday.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the country's quality watchdog, announced Friday that excessive nitrite was found in around 2.38 tons of Evian mineral water imported by a Beijing trading company.

It is the sixth time Evian mineral water has been exposed to such quality problems. In November, excessive nitrite was found in 9.6 tons of mineral water imported by an official distributor of Evian in Beijing. In 2006 and 2007, the bottled water was found to contain excessive total bacteria count.

Excessive nitrite creates dizziness and even cancer risks in serious cases, while excessive bacteria count may cause diarrhea and damage organs like liver.

Wan Jun, an engineer from Anhui Province who often takes Evian on his business trips, said that "as a well-known brand, Evian shouldn't repeatedly let consumers down."

Analysts said deteriorating water resources and lengthy chain of warehousing and logistics are possible reasons behind the quality problems.

Danone Premium Brands (Shanghai) Trading Co, a branch of Paris-based Danone Group which owns Evian, yesterday said it will "ask for a second test on the samples of Evian water" and that the brand complies with Chinese national standard, China Business News reported yesterday.

Evian bottled water is marketed as a high-end product in China, and costs much more than the domestic brands. One 500ml Evian bottled water, costing no more than 0.5 euros ($0.65) in France, is sold in Chinese stores at around 10 yuan ($1.57), up to 6 times higher than the price of local brands.

The brand leads the high-end drinking water market in China with a 25 percent market share.

"An early market entry and high-end brand image built though marketing channels of upscale hotels and club houses explained its success," Fan Jie, a consultant on consumer goods at Beijing-based Adfaith Management Consulting, told the Global Times yesterday.

With growing affluence, consumption of high-end mineral water is rising, which has lured more brands like domestic Kunlunshan to the high-end market segment.