Bottled Water Is Projected To Be No 1 Packaged Drink By 2016

DALLAS -- Building on the previous year's growth of 4.7%, bottled water again posted increases in both sales and consumption in 2014, according to preliminary data from the Beverage Marketing Corp. released by the International Bottled Water Association.

Gary Hemphill, managing director of research for New York City-based BMC, presented the information during IBWA's annual business meeting, which was collocated with the National Automatic Merchandising Association's Coffee Tea and Water conference in Dallas.

"While other beverages struggle to gain or maintain market share, bottled water is expected to have a 7.4% increase in 2014 -- that equates to 10.9 billion gallons," Hemphill reported. He said every segment of the bottled water industry is growing and that BMC considers it to be the most successful mass-market beverage category in the United States.

Posting an increase of 8.4 %, single-serve PET plastic bottled water outperformed all other beverage categories. Sales of bottled water in 2014 were expected to grow to $13 billion, an increase of 6.1% over 2013.

Reflecting a clear trend of consumers increasingly choosing "healthy," convenient, zero-calorie bottled water, BMC reported that over the past five years alone, bottled water has increased its "share of stomach" of the overall beverage market from 14.4% in 2009 to 17.8% in 2014. With 20.9%, carbonated soft drinks still hold the No. 1 position. However, BMC now predicts that by 2016 bottled water will be the No. 1 packaged beverage sold in the U.S.

On the retail shelf, bottled water already outsells soft drinks in 17 major cities, including New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as Las Vegas, Houston, Miami and Washington, DC. As overall soft drink consumption continues to decline, the beverage research firm predicts that more cities will join that list.

Historically, bottled water has been on a long-term upward trajectory. Between 1976 and 2013, the category grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 9.5%, outperforming every other beverage category. On a per capita basis in 1976, every American drank (annually) 1.6 gallons of bottled water. In 2014, that figure is expected to reach a record 34.2 gallons per American.

Despite its continuing growth and increased consumption, bottled water still has the smallest water and energy use footprint of any packaged beverage, according to IBWA. The results of a recent benchmarking study show that the amount of water and energy used to produce bottled water products in North America is less than all other types of packaged beverages. On average, only 1.32 liters of water (including the liter of water consumed) and 0.24 mega joules of energy are used to produce one liter of finished bottled water, IBWA said.