The Way forward for the Bottled Water Business

Water is a elementary a part of all our lives, however bottled water can characterize vital each day merchandise for some or a deal with for others. With many British customers opting to drink extra free water to restrict their spending on bottled water, and fewer than a 3rd of People opting to drink premium bottled water, it seems that tighter financial circumstances have pushed customers to suppose twice about ingesting bottled water. 

With financial issue, in addition to a client pattern in direction of sustainability, how has the bottled water trade fared in 2023? Be part of Mintel as we discover the trade, client preferences, and the way forward for the worldwide bottled water trade.

Within the UK, consumption of bottled water is evenly cut up throughout women and men, who sometimes drink bottled water as usually as each other. Nonetheless, after we dive additional into typical customers of bottled water by way of age group, youthful customers are much more prone to drink bottled water than older customers. Three-quarters of Brits aged 16-19 drink bottled water, in comparison with lower than a 3rd of customers aged 65 and over. This determine has stayed the identical between 2022 and 2023, which means that on a constant stage, youthful customers are inclined to drink extra bottled water than older customers.

Apparently, throughout all forms of bottled water, consumption declines as demographics become older. This contains nonetheless and glowing, in addition to flavoured and unflavoured water. No matter flavour and champagne, younger customers are extra avid customers of bottled water than older customers within the UK.

This may be defined, partly, by a notion of security, which can be a key buy issue. 3 times as many younger customers than older customers suppose that bottled water is safer than faucet water. In the meantime, round two-thirds of all customers suppose that filtered water and bottled water style equally good. Customers place significance in hygiene, and benefit from the style of filtered water. Manufacturers might harness these client priorities by driving curiosity in water-filter merchandise, which can supply customers the specified hygiene and style coupled with comfort and sustainability.

Nonetheless, as utilization of reusable water bottles declines with every age group improve, we will see that sustainable water consumption continues to be essential to younger customers – however maybe sustainable packaging is extra of a priority than sustainable water sourcing.

Evaluating US bottled water consumption to that of the UK, the identical generational divide doesn’t translate. Whereas the UK sees a major generational disparity in bottled water consumption, within the US there’s a vary of lower than 10% between the age teams. There’s a better generational disparity regarding glowing water than nonetheless water – 18% extra younger folks drink glowing water than older customers, whereas there’s an insignificant distinction of two% as pertains to nonetheless water.
So, the age of customers seems to have much less influence on water consumption habits within the US than within the UK – however what does affect customers’ choices? For many, the key consider ingesting water has to do with hydration relatively than security. Evaluating American customers who worth hydration as a well being purpose and who suppose bottled water is the safer ingesting water possibility, a 3rd extra customers worth hydration than bottled water for security. What’s extra, virtually three-quarters of American customers famous that they drink faucet water to economize, which highlights thrift as a key decision-making consider water habits.

With sustainability representing a world pattern, particularly inside product packaging, it can come as no shock to most {that a} main pattern within the bottled water trade globally is a shift in direction of extra climate-conscious packaging. For a lot of bottled water producers, which means shifting away from bottles and in direction of cans. That is a part of a pattern of recent launches in cans relatively than plastic bottles which has been ongoing for the previous couple of years, and that continued considerably in 2023. 

Within the UK, 60% of customers agreed that plastic bottles are the least environmentally pleasant drink packaging, whereas a 3rd agreed that non-plastic packaging is extra sustainable. With round half of British customers discovering sustainable packaging to be an essential a part of drinks packaging design, it seems that bottled water producers are shifting away from plastic bottles in a bid to seize a sustainable market. 

To get on board with this pattern, manufacturers can incentivise and assist customers of their efforts to recycle. In 2022, Evian partnered with Sainsbury’s for a two-week ‘Return4Reward’ digital reward scheme. This invited customers to carry their Evian bottles and cans to be recycled in one of many chain’s shops in North London to enter a draw to win tickets to the 2023 Wimbledon ultimate. This can be a nice instance of manufacturers bringing collectively client values with a advertising and marketing technique.

With sustainable water prioritised within the UK, what about the remainder of the world? Within the Center East and Africa, bottled water merchandise with added nutritional vitamins and minerals are thriving, with extra recorded new launches than in earlier years. That is additionally distinguished in America, the place virtually half of customers get pleasure from bottled water with added dietary advantages as a way to be higher hydrated.

Within the APAC area, sustainable launches have additionally been important in 2023. Though bottles are undoubtedly the first packaging alternative for water, canned water launches have tripled since 2019. Usually related to flavoured and glowing waters, there’s room for sustainable packaging innovation in Asia.

With sustainability and added diet on the coronary heart of recent bottled water product launches in 2023, who’re the most important gamers?

In recent times, sustainability has pushed manufacturers to innovate in direction of much less plastic packaging, so we anticipate to see a continuation of recent launches showcasing various, and extra conservative, packaging types. That is prone to embrace canned water choices, in addition to plastic bottles with decreased packaging and plastic bottles constructed from recycled supplies.

As youthful customers are usually the standard bottled water client, largely on account of security and hygiene issues, we may additionally see manufacturers capitalising on the notion of bottled water as safer than faucet water. This can be exaggerated with an current pattern in direction of bottled water with added minerals and nutritional vitamins. If bottled water merchandise can supply a clear, nutritious beverage, then they are going to be focusing on client priorities.