Bottled water – good or bad?

Canadean is a market research company specializing in beverages. It’s latest findings are that worldwide, bottled water is headed to be the dominant player in the soft drink sector within the next two years.

This is not surprising as people generally become more health conscious, however for the very well known soft drink and cola brands, this heralds some bad news. Most of the bottled water brands are already owned by the same companies that make these soft drinks and colas, so sales will not actually decrease, however the marketing mix will alter.

It is the Asian market that will be the main driver, as the research shows that one of every three litres of bottled water is consumed in Asia. This is being driven in part by the need for “clean” water and the desire to be seen drinking such a product within increasingly affluent areas.

There are several large Asian countries that still have low bottled water consumption, so there is a huge market potential.

In western countries, it is the health benefits and low kilojoule contribution that is seen as the main driver for these markets. So although these markets are not growing as quickly as Asia, there is steady growth but low margins.

There is a major problem with bottled water and that is the bottles themselves and especially what happens with them once the water is gone.

These bottles are now recognized as an increasingly significant environmental issue. The material they are made from does not generally break down well or easily and so millions of these bottles are being added to landfill annually. It is a big problem. On top of this problem, are the bottles that make their way into the oceans and become both pollution and risks to wildlife, both in and on the water.

The Australian Packaging Covenant requires that manufacturers must take responsibility for their product from development to disposal. It is voluntary but has increasing membership. The manufacturers of all bottled water in this country must follow the requirements of the Covenant to ensure that the material used is able to break down or be able to be easily recycled.

This is the only way that we can reduce the already large amounts of these bottles, and this quantity is set to increase based on the research by Canadean.

This article was written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach.