Bottled water predicted to overtake soft drink sales by 2015

Soft drink sales will no longer reign as the leaders in global soft drink category with sales of bottled water expected to overtake carbonates within the next two years according to recent data.

The claim made by beverage market research firm Canadean, said that the findings highlighted the global trend toward the healthy image that bottled water portrays as well as a necessity for safe drinking water around the globe as reported by AFN.

The demand for bottled water is predicted to rise in Asia by up to 16 percent in 2013, a figure which is greater than double the current global rate of increase.

Asia is reported to consume a third of bottled water globally however the per capita consumption is significantly lower than international averages. Canadean believes that there is significant market potential across the continent, especially in developing marketing such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Pakistan.

The market for packaged water in North America is also very lucrative with sales growing to over 30 billion litres according to Canadean.

Despite attractive production rates, the US and Canadian markets took at drive during the recession of 2008 and have taken time to recover. This is reflected in the decline in sales of more expensive offerings as consumers chose to switch to lower priced beverage categories.

Conditions for marketers in the region remain turbulent due to low growth and slim profit margins making long-term investment in brand support challenging. Initiatives such as the promotion of tap water in Italy as well as competition from water filters also pose major hurdles for the industry worldwide.

Challenges aside, Canadean believes that there is a “positive future” for the bottle water industry globally.

Source: foodmag.com.au

Collected by Nhu-Vu SAPUWA